Syrian President Bashar al-Assad Thursday said President Donald Trump is the "best American president," because he's the "most transparent president" for publicly stating his wish to maintain U.S. control over Syria's oil fields.
“All American presidents commit crimes and end up taking the Nobel Prize and appear as a defender of human rights and the ‘unique’ and ‘brilliant’ American or Western principles,” Assad said in a state television interview, according to a translation from NBC News. "All they are is a group of criminals who only represent the interests of the American lobbies of large corporations in weapons, oil, and others.”
But Trump, however, "speaks with transparency to say, ‘We want the oil,’” said Assad. "What do we want more than a transparent foe?"
In addition to saying he wants to leave some U.S. troops in the Deir ez-Zor province to safeguard oil fields, Trump came under fire last weekend when he suggested making a deal with an oil giant such as ExxonMobil to operate the Syrian oil fields "properly."
His comments came during a news conference about the U.S. Special Forces operation leading to the death of Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.
Defense Secretary Mark Esper, one day before the Baghdadi operation, said the U.S. is sending armored reinforcements into eastern Syria to defend them against a move by ISIS to seize the oil fields that are under the control of American-backed Syrian Kurds.
"This is the reality of American politics since the Second World War at least," Assad said in his interview about Trump's goals for the oil in his country. "'We want to get rid of this person...we want to provide a service in return for money.' This is the reality of American politics.'"
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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