WASHINGTON — President Trump told The Post he posted private text messages from French President Emmanuel Macron and NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte because they “made my point” — as he revealed he spent Monday halting a prison break in Syria by European terrorists.
Trump posted fawning messages from Macron and Rutte praising the US president for unspecified actions in Syria — and pleading with him for dialogue on his bid to annex Greenland — hours before world leaders gather at the Davos summit in Switzerland.
“It just made my point. They’re saying, ‘Oh gee, let’s have dinner, let’s do this, let’s do that.’ It just made my point,” Trump said of the leaders’ private deference after Trump threatened 10% tariffs, effective Feb. 1, on eight European nations opposed to his bid to acquire Greenland.
Trump said that Macron and Rutte praised his previously unknown work in Syria because “I did a great job. You know what I did? I stopped a prison break.”
“Oh, we did a good job with Syria. They had a prison break. European prisoners were breaking and I got it stopped. That was yesterday,” Trump said.
“European terrorists were in prison. They had a prison break. And working with the government of Syria and the new leader of Syria, they captured all the prisoners, put them back to jail, and these were the worst terrorists in the world, all from Europe.”
The prison break from Al-Shaddadi prison in Syria’s northeastern Hasakah province came as Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa’s troops advanced against the formerly US-backed and Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces troops who had battled and incarcerated the extremists for the past decade.
The fighting ended with the Kurdish group agreeing Sunday to relinquish regional autonomy and hand over control over facilities holding an estimated 8,000 Islamic State fighters.
Syria’s Interior Ministry said Monday that 81 of 120 ISIS escapees had been recaptured, Al Jazeera reported.
Trump’s unusual decision to post private text message on Truth Social showed backchannel diplomatic outreach as the US president increased pressure on European allies to force Denmark to transfer control over the world’s largest island.
Macron wrote to Trump: “My friend, We are totally in line on Syria[.] We can do great things on Iran[.] I do not understand what you are doing on Greenland[.] Let us try to build great things: 1) i [sic] can set up a g7 meeting after Davos in Paris on thursday afternoon. I can invite the ukrainians, the danish, the syrians and the russians in the margins 2) let us have a dinner together in Paris together on thursday before you go back to the us.”
Rutte’s wrote: “Mr. President, dear Donald — what you accomplished in Syria today is incredible. I will use my media engagements in Davos to highlight your work there, in Gaza, and in Ukraine. I am committed to finding a way forward on Greenland. Can’t wait to see you.”
