Syrians have a new nickname for President Donald Trump following his punishing strike against the Assad regime.
People across the Arab world are referring to Trump as “Abu Ivanka al-Amriki,” or “Father of Ivanka, the American,” on social media, reports The Telegraph. The nickname is a term of admiration and respect for the president, following his decisive action in response to the chemical weapons U.S. officials believe President Bashar al-Assad ordered.
“One Syrian tells me the new nom de guerre for President Trump on the ground in Northern Syria is Abu Ivanka al-Amriki,” a CNN international correspondent tweeted.
Will this presidential election be the most important in American history?
One Syrian tells me the new nom de guerre for President Trump on the ground in Northern Syria is Abu Ivanka al Amriki. #syria
— Clarissa Ward (@clarissaward) April 7, 2017
Syrians in the U.S., too, praised Trump for the punishing strike, expressing relief that the U.S. finally acted against Assad, who has been brutally slaughtering civilians for years in an attempt to suppress the uprising against him. Many have expressed frustration over former President Barack Obama’s policy of avoiding direct action against the regime, despite repeated words of compassion and statements of condemnation for Assad’s brutal actions.
“When I saw President Trump and the United States taking action for the first time after six years of calling for help, we felt happy and grateful,” Kassen Eid, a Syrian refugee who survived a 2013 chemical weapons attack told Fox News following the strike. He, like many other Syrian refugees, hopes Trump’s policy change will eventually result in a safer Syria that will allow them to return home.
Some restaurant owners in Syria have gone so far as to change the name of their shop in honor of Trump, reports The Telegraph. One Syrian man who opposes Assad told the outlet he wants to name his first son after Trump.
“Maybe you in the West hate Trump, but he has already done far more for us than Obama,” Najim Hassan, a Syrian who lives in a city occupied by rebels against Assad, told The Telegraph. “We love him because he does more than he says, he’s a man of action and at least he gives us something to hope for.”
This report, by Rachel Stoltzfoos, was cross-posted by arrangement with the Daily Caller News Foundation.
