Syrian leader Bashar Assad: Donald Trump is the ‘best U.S. President’

The Syrian leader, who allegedly committed war crimes against his own people to suppress public demands and win a bloody civil war, seemed to approve of Trump’s honesty.

Syrian President Bashar Assad speaks during an interview with Russian television channel NTV, in Damascus, Syria in this handout released on June 24, 2018.  (photo credit: SANA/REUTERS)
Syrian President Bashar Assad speaks during an interview with Russian television channel NTV, in Damascus, Syria in this handout released on June 24, 2018.
(photo credit: SANA/REUTERS)
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said that US President Donald Trump is the “best US president” so far in his opinion because he is honest about American intentions to grab Arab oil, Reuters reported on Friday citing Syrian official television. 
 
Assad also said he is skeptical about Trump’s declaration US forces killed ISIS leader al-Baghdadi. In this perspective, he seems to be in-line with the Russian view as Russia also expressed desire to see further evidence to the claim. 
 
Speaking about Trump’s decision to remove US forces from Syria, which allowed Turkey to begin its military operation there against the Kurds and was widely seen as a US betrayal of its Kurdish allies – Assad said diplomacy must be allowed to do its part before further military actions are taken against either Turkish forces in Syria or militias in Idlib. 
 
The Kurds, after the US decision, decided to create an alliance with Assad and the Syrian forces against the Turkish operation.