US President-elect Donald Trump on Saturday said that the United States should stay out of Syria, calling it a “mess" and adding that the removal of President Bashar al-Assad could be “the best thing that can happen" to the country.
Trump’s comments came as fast-moving rebel forces in Syria claimed they had begun encircling the capital, Damascus. The rebel groups, led by the Islamist coalition Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), have intensified their offensive, posing the most significant challenge to Assad’s regime in years.