--- title: Donald Trump Syria: He's Open to Joint Russia Strikes description: In a significant break from the Obama Administration, President Trump is open to conducting joint strikes between U.S. and Russia on ISIS. canonical: https://time.com/4644036/donald-trump-russia-syria-joint-strikes/ author: Zeke Miller article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-01-23T20:22:38.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T02:53:56.109Z article:section: Politics og:title: Trump Open to Joint Russia-U.S. Strikes In Syria og:description: "He’s going to work with any country that shares our interest in defeating ISIS." og:url: https://time.com/4644036/donald-trump-russia-syria-joint-strikes/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte025e734de852534/6988b6dd0a4a2268709ccaa8/gettyimages-632497728.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Sean Spicer Holds Daily Press Briefing At The White House og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Trump Open to Joint Russia-U.S. Strikes In Syria twitter:description: "He’s going to work with any country that shares our interest in defeating ISIS." twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte025e734de852534/6988b6dd0a4a2268709ccaa8/gettyimages-632497728.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # President Trump Open to Joint Russia-U.S. Strikes In Syria by [Zeke Miller](https://time.com/author/zeke-j-miller/) ## Zeke Miller Jan 23, 2017 8:22 PM UTC  White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer holds the daily press briefing in the James Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House Jan. 23, 2017 in Washington, DC. White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer holds the daily press briefing in the James Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House Jan. 23, 2017 in Washington, DC.Chip Somodevilla—Getty Images by [Zeke Miller](https://time.com/author/zeke-j-miller/) ## Zeke Miller Jan 23, 2017 8:22 PM UTC In a significant break from the policy of the Obama Administration, President Trump is open to conducting joint strikes between U.S. and Russian forces on the Islamic State group, [White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer said Monday](http://time.com/4643724/donald-trump-first-press-briefing/). After the Pentagon disputed Russian reports that such coordination had already taken place,[ calling it “rubbish,” ](http://www.militarytimes.com/articles/russia-says-it-joined-us-led-coalition-in-anti-isis-airstrikes)Spicer maintained in his first press briefing that the new president would be open to such an effort. “The president has been very clear that he’s going to work with any country that shares our interest in defeating ISIS,” Spicer said. “I think that if there’s a way that we can combat ISIS with any country, whether it’s Russia or anyone else, and we have a shared national interest in that, sure, we’ll take it.” The announcement signals a stark departure from the Obama era, where the Pentagon and Russian military forces only worked to “deconflict” air strikes for the safety of flight crews over Syria. The previous Administration [refused to work directly](http://time.com/4512785/us-has-weak-hand-syria-russia-knows-it/) with Russia due to it’s support for Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad, who has carried out horrific human rights offenses as he seeks to suppress a civil war. Asked whether President Trump’s maxim indicated he would be open to working with Assad, who is fighting the radical group and the remnants of a moderate opposition, Spicer signaled Trump would not. “Let’s not take that too far,” he cautioned, of his earlier comments. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4644036/donald-trump-russia-syria-joint-strikes/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4644036/donald-trump-russia-syria-joint-strikes/"},"headline":"President Trump Open to Joint Russia-U.S. Strikes In Syria","datePublished":"2017-01-23T20:22:38.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T02:53:56.109Z","description":"In a significant break from the Obama Administration, President Trump is open to conducting joint strikes between U.S. and Russia on ISIS.","url":"https://time.com/4644036/donald-trump-russia-syria-joint-strikes/","keywords":["Foreign Policy","russia","White House","Syria","Donald Trump"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte025e734de852534/6988b6dd0a4a2268709ccaa8/gettyimages-632497728.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Zeke Miller","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/zeke-j-miller/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte025e734de852534/6988b6dd0a4a2268709ccaa8/gettyimages-632497728.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Sean Spicer Holds Daily Press Briefing At The White House","caption":"Sean Spicer Holds Daily Press Briefing At The White House","creditText":"Chip Somodevilla—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/foreign-policy/","name":"Foreign Policy"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4644036/donald-trump-russia-syria-joint-strikes/","name":"President Trump Open to Joint Russia-U.S. Strikes In Syria"}}]}] ```