WASHINGTON — The prospective fall of rebel-held eastern Aleppo to the Syrian regime and its allies could bolster President-elect Donald Trump’s administration. Trump has already expressed openness to work with Russia to fight the Islamic State (IS) and disinclination to support Syrian rebel groups seeking the ouster of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. But the incoming US administration may soon find that it needs vetted Syrian rebels for a task Trump has consistently prioritized in his campaign: combating IS and seizing and holding IS-held territory in eastern Syria, and preventing it from returning.
With the Syrian regime and its allies making rapid gains in their push to retake rebel-held eastern Aleppo in recent days, Russian officials say they hope that the situation in the ancient city, once Syria’s commercial hub, will be resolved by the time Trump is inaugurated on Jan. 20.
