The president-elect of the United States, Donald Trump, has the fall over of Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad as an "unfriendly takeover" by Turkiye, which aligned itself with several of the opposition groups that led the lightning offensive on Damascus.

Trump made the comments -- in apparent praise of Ankara -- during a wide-ranging news conference Monday at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida. His comments offered a window into his foreign and domestic policies weeks before he was due to re-enter the White House on January 20.

“I think Turkey is very smart... Turkey did an unfriendly takeover without many lives being lost. I can say that Assad was a butcher, what he did to children,” Trump said, referring to the Dec. 8 ouster of the longtime Syrian leader.

Al-Assad's forced departure followed a surprise offensive across the country by rebel groups, led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS). Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has long opposed al-Assad's rule and supported the Syrian National Army (SNA) opposition group based in northwestern Syria.

Trump has previously weighed in on the conflict, saying it is "not our fight".

During his first term, he tried to withdraw about 900 US soldiers based in Syria in advisory roles to the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), a US-backed opposition group, but refused due to pressure from allies concerned about the revival of ISIL ( ISIS).

Trump said Monday when asked if he would withdraw U.S. forces.

He said that "no one knows" what the future holds for Syria, which has been at war since 2011.

However, he added that he thinks "Turkey is going to hold the key to" the nation.

Ankara has broadly supported the opposition offensive, but the full extent of its support for groups such as HTS has remained unclear. The SNA has continued to fight the predominantly Kurdish SDF since the fall of al-Assad.

Trump on Gaza

While in the Middle East, Trump also said he had "a very good conversation" with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, saying they discussed efforts to negotiate the release of prisoners held in Gaza before he holds office.

Those talks have long stalled, with critics accusing Netanyahu of blocking progress under the current administration of US President Joe Biden.

"I warned that if these hostages are not home by that date, all hell is going to break loose," Trump said, adding a earlier threat he made on social media about the release of the Israeli prisoners in Gaza in exchange for a ceasefire.

"It was a summary more than anything else," Trump added of his conversation with Netanyahu.

He did not say when he spoke to the prime minister, but Netanyahu's office said the two men spoke on Saturday.

Russia-Ukraine

On Russia's invasion of UkraineTrump deflected when asked about conversations he may have had with Russian President Vladimir Putin since winning the election in November.

He later said he planned to speak with Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Trump has repeatedly promised to bring a swift end to the war, but statements from his allies have raised concerns that he will pressure Ukraine to cede territory to Russia.

"We will talk to President Putin, and we will talk to the representatives, Zelenskyy and representatives of Ukraine. We have to stop it. It's carnage," Trump said.

"It's just rubble," Trump said of cities destroyed by the fighting. "Just like when I knock down a building in Manhattan, which is actually, it's actually worse because we're doing it step by step."

In TikTok

Trump also weighed in on a looming federal ban on the China-based TikTok social media platform. The US Congress passed a law in 2023 that said the popular social media platform must cut ties with its China-based parent company or be banned in the US by mid-January.

Without going into detail, Trump credited the platform — popular with young people and less politically engaged Americans — with helping him win the election. He said he would review the pending ban.

"We will look at TikTok," he said. "You know, I have a warm place in my heart for TikTok."

Drone observations

On the domestic front, Trump has on a list of drone sightings reported in the eastern US.

Federal law enforcement officials said most of the sightings were believed to be from manned aircraft flying regular routes and did not appear to be a national security threat.

Trump called for more transparency.

"The government knows what's going on," Trump said. "For some reason they don't want to comment. And I think they would be better off saying what it is that our military knows and our president knows."

He added, "I can't imagine it's the enemy," without elaborating.

Controversial health choice

Trump also took time to defend his choice for health secretary, prominent vaccine skeptic Robert F Kennedy Jr.

The political scion is meeting with lawmakers this week to drum up support for his appointment, which must be approved by the Senate.

Over the weekend, Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell, who had polio as a child, spoke out in defense of the polio vaccine after a recent report revealed that one of Kennedy's advisers had a petition to revoke approval of the polio vaccine in 2022.

Trump said he remains a "big believer" in the polio vaccine and will maintain access to it.

“You're not going to lose the polio vaccine,” he said. "It's not going to happen."

"He's going to be a lot less radical than you would think," Trump said of Kennedy.

"I think he has a very open mind, otherwise I wouldn't have put him there."