Trump and Biden on Syria: Maybe not so different
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President Biden responded to the collapse of Bashar al-Assad's brutal regime in Syria by bombing ISIS camps to try to prevent the terror group's resurgence.
- President-elect Trump wants little to do with the havoc in Syria, if his social media posts are gospel. He says the country "is a mess, but is not our friend," and that he doesn't want to get involved — a reflection of the isolationist banner he carried in the recent campaign.
Why it matters: Biden has less than six weeks left in office, so how the U.S. proceeds will largely be up to Trump. And while the president-elect's base may support steering clear of Syria's chaos, certain national security officials won't.
- "Going forward, there's a pretty good chance his advisers say, 'Look, Mr. President, this ISIS problem is pretty serious. We need to take it seriously,'" Brian Carter, the Middle East portfolio manager at the American Enterprise Institute, told Axios.
Axios is hearing similar takes around Washington: That for all their differences on Syria, how Biden and Trump deal with the situation there is unlikely to be radically different.
- Instead, expect shades of change between administrations.
- "I think the strategies will largely be similar in the sense that neither Biden or Trump will want to commit ground troops inside of Syria," Alex Plitsas, director of the counterterrorism program at the Atlantic Council, told Axios.
- But "neither will want or allow Syria to become a safe haven for groups like the Islamic State," he added.
- "So while the public statements have been very different, I believe the policies will actually be very similar."
State of play: U.S. A-10, B-52 and F-15 aircraft pounded 75-plus ISIS targets in Syria over the weekend, part of an effort to keep the terror group from exploiting Assad's ouster by rebels.
- Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, traveling in Japan, described the strikes as "pretty successful."
- Some of Trump's most loyal MAGA followers chided the Biden administration over the attacks, reminders of Trump's frequent criticism of U.S. interventions abroad.
- Matt Gaetz, the former Florida congressman and Trump's failed initial pick for attorney general, criticized Biden for bombing Syria while Trump was in "Europe to make peace."
Biden has a little more than a month on the White House clock. That's not much time to:
- Decipher the role of the militant group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, a former Al-Qaeda affiliate that's now commanding the spotlight on the ground in Syria.
- Help stabilize a country ravaged by civil war and chemical weapons, some of which are still there.
- And put his own stamp on the broader, raucous Middle East.
What we're watching: Some 900 U.S. troops are stationed in Syria, where they are charged with rooting out ISIS.
- Trump might want to pull them out — he's promised to "end endless wars," a hazy metric.
- But he tried that in Syria during his first term — and wound up keeping hundreds of troops there to protect oil fields.
Go deeper: Trump inherits a Middle East in flux
