Trump Says He'd 'Sit Back,' 'See What Happens' in Syria as Russia Conducts Airstrikes
Donald Trump says he'd wait before taking action in Syria.
— -- With Russia conducting airstrikes in Syria this week, Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump told ABC News he’d wait to see how the situation develops before taking action, suggesting that Russian President Vladimir Putin may be falling into a trap, much like the Soviet Union did with its invasion of Afghanistan several decades ago.
“I think what I want to do is I want to sit back, and this does not sound like me very much, but I want to sit back and I want to see what happens,” Trump told ABC News’ chief anchor George Stephanopoulos on “This Week” when asked if he’d be in favor of establishing a no-fly zone in the country.
“Now they’re going into Syria. There are so many traps, there are so many problems. When I heard they were going in to fight ISIS, I said, ‘great,”’ the Republican front-runner told ABC News.
Trump also expressed concern about the makeup of the rebels in Syria, some of whom the U.S. supports.
“Assad’s a bad guy, but they’re all bad guys. We’re supporting rebels. You know they talk about the Syria Free Rebels. We’re supporting rebels. We don’t even know who they are,” he said.
The ongoing conflict in Syria -- which has left tens of thousands dead – has contributed to the massive flow of refugees out of the country. The refugees from Syria and surrounding countries into Europe has caused chaos as the continent’s nations struggle to absorb the mass of humanity.
For his part, Trump expressed bewilderment at what he perceived to be the makeup of the refugees.
“There aren’t that many women, there aren’t that many children. It looked like mostly men and they looked like strong men. These looked like physically strong people. And I’m saying, ‘Where are all the women? Where are all the children?’” he said.
The former reality show star, who spoke to ABC news on Friday, rejected the plan to allow more Syrian refugees into the United States.
“We don’t know where they’re coming from, we don’t know who they are. They could be ISIS. It could be the great Trojan Horse. I mean this could be one of the great Trojan Horses ever since the original ... There’s no way they can prove where they’re coming from,” he said.
“I have a bigger heart than you do, OK? Believe me. I have a very big heart and I understand the whole thing with migration. It’s a horrible thing should have never happened in the first place. We’ve screwed up, this country has screwed up the Middle East so badly, breaking up Iraq we have so destabilized the Middle East. It is a mess. So I said there is no way they come in. If they do come in, if I win for president, they’re going out,” Trump said.