President-elect Trump reacted Sunday morning to the news that Syrian dictator Bashar Assad had fled Syria after rebels stormed the capital city of Damascus.
‘Assad is gone,’ Trump wrote on his social media platform Truth Social. ‘He has fled his country. His protector, Russia, Russia, Russia, led by Vladimir Putin, was not interested in protecting him any longer. There was no reason for Russia to be there in the first place. They lost all interest in Syria because of Ukraine, where close to 600,000 Russian soldiers lay wounded or dead, in a war that should never have started, and could go on forever.’
‘Russia and Iran are in a weakened state right now, one because of Ukraine and a bad economy, the other because of Israel and its fighting success,’ his post continued. ‘Likewise, Zelenskyy and Ukraine would like to make a deal and stop the madness. They have ridiculously lost 400,000 soldiers, and many more civilians. There should be an immediate ceasefire and negotiations should begin.’
Trump added: ‘Too many lives are being so needlessly wasted, too many families destroyed, and if it keeps going, it can turn into something much bigger, and far worse. I know Vladimir well. This is his time to act. China can help. The World is waiting!’
Assad, who used chemical weapons multiple times on his population, and his British-born wife, Asma al-Assad, fled with their three children, according to Syrian television reports, although it was not known where they were headed.
A video statement from a group of men on Syrian state TV said that Assad had been overthrown and that all prisoners had been released.
The man who read a statement said the Operations Room to Conquer Damascus is calling on all opposition fighters and citizens to preserve state institutions of ‘the free Syrian state.’
‘Long live the free Syrian state that is to all Syrians and all’ their sects and ethnic groups, the statement said.
Syrian Prime Minister Mohammad Ghazi al-Jalali said early Sunday he did not know where Assad was.
Crowds of Syrians gathered in the central squares of Damascus to celebrate Assad’s departure.
Syria has been embroiled in a bloody, nearly 14-year civil war as Islamist rebels sought to overthrow Assad and end more than 50 years of Assad family rule over the Syrian Arabian Republic.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.