Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi

Assad: Trump Is ‘Best U.S. President’ Because He Is ‘Transparent’ About Wanting Oil

Syrian President Bashar Assad gave an interview to Syria’s state-run SANA news service on Thursday in which he offered Donald Trump backhanded praise for being “transparent” about U.S. interests in Syrian oil, unlike his predecessors. Assad also questioned the U.S. narrative about the demise of Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi and suggested his death had been faked.

Western leaders now say Syrian president Bashar al-Assad must be involved in peace talks.

Islamic State Names Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurashi as Leader

The Islamic State finally acknowledged the death of former “commander of the faithful” Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi on Thursday and announced his successor, Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi, who was given the additional surname “al-Qurashi” to highlight his purported connection to the tribe of Mohammed.

islamic state fighters

Not Forgotten: President Trump Calls Parents of Kayla Mueller, American Victim of al-Baghdadi

President Donald Trump, Vice President Mike Pence, and White House National Security Advisor Robert O’Brien have all contacted Kayla Mueller’s parents in separate phone calls, letting them know that their daughter has not been forgotten. Kayla was one of the Americans captured and tortured by ISIS, and was raped by the terror group’s leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, who was finally killed during a U.S. raid on Saturday.

The Kayla Mueller Proof-of-Life Video ISIS Sent Her Parents