Presidential debate moderator Chris Wallace pushed Donald Trump on Wednesday night on whether the Syrian city of Aleppo had fallen, saying Trump said “things that were not true” during the previous debate.
Wallace began his question by saying the city has not fallen and that there are still a quarter of a million people in the war-torn city. Trump responded that it is being bombed relentlessly and is a “disaster.”
“It’s a humanitarian nightmare, but it has fallen from any standpoint,” he said. “What do you need, a signed document?”
The humanitarian situation in Aleppo has deteriorated after weeks of bombing from Russian and Syrian aircraft, although that bombing was paused this week to allow humanitarian aid to be distributed. A week-long cease-fire brokered by the U.S. fell apart this month when Russia restarted its bombing campaign after a matter of days, prompting Secretary of State John Kerry to threaten to end talks with Russia.
Despite Russia announcing a “humanitarian pause” to allow aid to get into the city, Kerry cautioned that he was not optimistic that talks in Geneva would end with a more permanent ceasefire.
“I’m not approaching this with a high sense of expectation and nothing is based on trust,” Kerry reportedly said.
Jacqueline Klimas contributed to this report.
