President Trump may be unlikely to partner with Syrian dictator Bashar Assad to defeat the Islamic State, despite previously suggesting he would be open to working with anybody to combat the radical Islamic terror group.
Speaking to reporters on Monday, White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer said the new administration is going to approach its campaign to counter the Islamic State “smartly” and will only work with countries that have America’s interest at hand.
“Let’s be clear, part of it is to make sure that they have America’s interest in what they’re doing and who they are,” Spicer said when asked if Trump would consider aligning itself with Assad.
“We’re not going to get together with people under the guise of defeating [the Islamic State] if that’s not truly their guise,” he added. “So let’s not take that too far.”
Assad has spoken highly of Trump and praised his tough talk on terror. The Syrian leader told a state news agency last month he is hopeful that relations may improve under the new administration and that Trump could become a “natural ally” if he aggressively combats terrorism in the Middle East.
But Spicer’s comments indicate that Trump may be abandoning his campaign trail position that assisting Syria in the fight against Islamic State radicals should be a top priority.
“I’ve had an opposite view of many people regarding Syria. My attitude was you’re fighting Syria, Syria is fighting ISIS, and you have to get rid of ISIS,” Trump had told the Wall Street Journal after his victory in November.
A departure from that attitude suggests a kind of rare critique of Russia, which has assisted Assad in his fight against U.S.-backed rebel forces and justifies it as assisting in the battle against Islamic terror.
The Russian Defense Ministry said Monday it had carried out a joint airstrike mission with U.S.-led warplanes in Syria, though the Pentagon quickly refuted the report.
