Trump Promises Syria 'Safe Zones'

Situation 'so sad,' he tells crowd at victory rally
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Dec 16, 2016 1:34 AM CST
Trump Promises Syria 'Safe Zones'
President-elect Donald Trump speaks to a packed house at the Giant Center on Thursday in Hershey, Pa.   (James Robinson/PennLive.com via AP)

Donald Trump's "Thank You" tour rolled into Hershey, Pa., Thursday night, where he promised to do something to end suffering in Syria. "When I look at what's going on in Syria, it's so sad," he said, per the New York Times. "It's so sad, and we’re going to help people." He promised to "build and help build safe zones in Syria, so people will have a chance," and said Gulf states would help pay for the move. Analysts have warned that such a move could set up a confrontation with Russia, and the Times notes that this is the first time Trump has repeated his "safe zones" promise since he started receiving security briefings.

Trump also used his speech to criticize the media and recap the election, describing his victory in Pennsylvania as a "landslide," though the Times notes that his margin of victory over Hillary Clinton was 44,292 votes out of a total of 6.1 million. He also thanked black voters for being "too smart" to turn out to vote for Clinton, the AP reports. "That was the big thing, so thank you to the African-American community," he said. Many in the crowd wore Santa hats instead of Trump hats, and Will Bunch at the Philadelphia Inquirer describes the rally as "the political equivalent of Festivus—all about the airing of grievances and Trump boasting about his feats of strength." (Earlier Thursday, Trump attacked Vanity Fair after it published a scathing review of the steakhouse in Trump Tower.)

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