Trump taunts Bahar al- Assad as Syria government falls to rebels

US President-elect Donald Trump took to social media early Sunday morning to weigh in on the collapse of the Bashar al-Assad regime in Syria.“

Assad is gone. He has fled his country. His protector, Russia, Russia, Russia, led by Vladimir Putin, was not interested in protecting him any longer,” Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social.

“There was no reason for Russia to be there in the first place,” he said, adding “They lost all interest in Syria because of Ukraine.”

“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,” Trump said.

The president-elect then highlighted the number of soldiers killed on both sides in Russia’s war on Ukraine and called for an end to the fighting.

Syria’s armed opposition had earlier said its fighters have captured the capital, Damascus, and that President Bashar al-Assad had fled the country.

The commander of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, Abu Mohammed al-Julani, says all state institutions will remain under the supervision of al-Assad’s prime minister until they are handed over officially.