Trump Already Facing Syrian Dilemma

Joe Biden has handed over quite a mess to Donald Trump, and the incoming president will face several major challenges.

In terms of foreign policy, Trump has the Ukraine war, the Israel-Hamas war, and a surging problem in Syria.

Turkey Getting Aggressive

In recent weeks, Turkey has been getting extremely aggressive in attacking the U.S.-aligned Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).

According to the SDF, five of its soldiers were killed last weekend after an attack that was led by Turkish-backed forces in northern Syria.

The Biden administration had brokered a cease-fire deal between the two sides, but it was not worth the paper it was written on.

Bill Roggio, a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, offered some context, stating, "Turkey wants to destroy the SDF. Turkey has the ideal opportunity to destroy the SDF, and it will take advantage of this unique situation. I expect attack[s] against the SDF to increase."

US Strikes Back

There has been an uptick in strikes, the most recent reportedly taking out ISIS leader Abu Yusif aka Mahmud.

CENTCOM confirmed the report, however it is not clear if US forces were used in any way carrying out the attack.

This is creating a hot potato for Trump, which he will have to address as soon as he takes office. Brian Hughes, Trump-Vance Transition spokesperson, confirmed, "We continue to monitor the situation in Syria.

"President Trump is committed to diminishing threats to peace and stability in the Middle East and to protecting Americans here at home."

To Intervene or Not

Donald Trump has a very serious problem to address now as soon as he takes office.

Does Trump intervene, or does he allow this to play out, possibly allowing Syria to turn into a terror state? Based on his most recent comments, it could be the latter.

In a December 7 post on Truth Social, Trump wrote, "Syria is a mess, but is not our friend. THE UNITED STATES SHOULD HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH IT. THIS IS NOT OUR FIGHT. LET IT PLAY OUT. DO NOT GET INVOLVED!"

Trump does have options other than sending troops in, which we know he does not want to do, but they are limited and a real roll of the dice. As we noted above, this is something Trump will need to address as soon as he takes office, and he may be in a no-win situation by then.