1. Accept the results of the election, kids. Trump won. Full stop. Disgruntled millennials in Portland, Oregon, and tea cuppers who crack when the microbrewery short stocks their favorite craft beer need to learn to take a loss. The time for protest of vote totals? Election Day.

Do the results hurt, Little Miss College? Good. Remember that and yank yourselves from what the social critic Marc Maron calls “narcissism pods” (the self-absorbed bubbles of Twitter and Facebook and safe spaces and participation trophies, life among the like-thinking) into building for the 2018 election cycle with real political interaction.

Iowa Republican legislator Bobby Kaufmann of Wilton is right. Closing down interstates with demonstrations is dangerous business and deserves greater punishment than what is now available.

Sure, protest Trump policies and his rhetoric, but not the legitimacy of his presidency.

The election was not rigged â even though Trump said it was.

2. Expect the Trump administration and liberals, who have long wanted a massive infrastructure bill, to craft a deal. Iowa cities and counties and the Highway 30 Coalition of Iowa would be well advised to have shovel-ready projects and a strategy for steering work here from what will be a package of billions of dollars for roads and bridges and airports and infrastructure.

This prediction assumes, of course, that Trumpâs transition folks, they of little governing experience, are able to actually make appointments to the White House and Department of Transportation.

3. Is John Edwards allowed back into the public domain now? Can he come out of political exile?

The former North Carolina senator and Democratic vice presidential candidate had an affair and a kid out of wedlock, a sordid business that seems rated PG or even a bit Disney compared to the Trumpian display of back-from-the-1980s sexual bravado and no-blushing conquest we just witnessed.

The career-ending revelations about Edwards: He fathered a child with his lover, Rielle Hunter.

Edwards, who from my reading of the devastating book “The Candidate,” seemed to be the object of aggressive seduction in this relationship. He didnât just reach out and grab Hunterâs genitals and then brag about it on an “Access Hollywood” bus with Billy Bush.

On April 12, 2011, in a column, I called Edwards a “toxically narcissistic” “dirt bag” who “fooled Iowa.”

Ladies, Iâll leave it to you. Does it make any sense whatsoever that Edwards is dismissed from public life over an affair while Trump is elected president after admitted serial P-word grabbing and high-fiving misogyny?

4. The 2018 Iowa governorâs race, which likely would have been a GOP coronation during the mid-term of a Hillary Clinton administration, is a boarding-now vessel for voter dissatisfaction â and therefore an enormous opportunity for a Democrat.

A returned and rested Tom Vilsack is clearly a preferred candidate.

His no-nonsense style â what I termed a “towering competence” in a column this summer â could serve as antidote to the sickness borne from the fantasy virus Trump spread, the notion that people with no government experience are best suited to run government.

But Vilsack, 65, who served as a mayor, governor and U.S. secretary of Agriculture, could very well call it a career.

The best Democratic candidate for governor of Iowa not named Vilsack I see at this point: Des Moines Area Community College President Robert Denson, a man with rural and urban appeal, clear administrative skills and someone who can point immediately to accomplishments for white, working-class Iowa. Newton. Carroll. We get what DMACC means here. DMACC connects real people to real jobs in Iowa.

5. Gov. Terry Branstad will grow a larger mustache to obscure what surely wonât be a straight face if he sponsors an anti-bullying summit in Iowa next year.

How does that introductory speech go for Branstad, the earnest Trump backer?

If you supported Trump, you either cheered or went ostrich-in-the-sand on some of the more effective and consequential, boundaries-of-decency-shattering bullying in American history. Trump, you may say, used bullying for the greater good, to prevent Hillary Clinton from taking office or because you think Trump will create a better job for you.

Fair enough. I see that point of view.

But the teen boy seeking the affections of a fetching gal, the employee looking for a promotion, the salesman seeking to close all can point to a “greater good” in their own lives, a justification for using any angle (race, gender, disability, immigration status, “the chick is fat”) to vanquish a rival.

Trump colored outside the lines of civil civic engagement in such shocking fashion that he not only threw primary opponents off their games but shook their very senses of self.

Adults can learn business moves from “The Art of the Deal.” Why canât kids incorporate cyber-bullying and other Trump tactics for their own ends?

If President Donald J. Trump is a role model, as presidents are supposed to be, especially just-elected ones in the afterglow of victory, the youth of America surely can Tweet Like Trump. One other lesson here: start bullying early.

When Marco Rubio tried to fire back at Trump with some counter-bullying, it fell flat.

Why? Rubio had zero bullying skills, making him childâs play for Trump, a master of the craft who got started as a kid.

Donât fall behind in Trumpâs America. There may be nobody left who cares enough to catch a loser. â¦

Douglas Burns is a fourth-generation Iowa newspaperman. He and his family own and publish newspapers in Carroll, Jefferson and other neighboring communities.</s>(CNN) Three weeks have passed since President-elect Donald Trump delivered a gracious, sober and almost totally unexpected victory speech at his election night rally in New York City.

For nearly 48 hours, Trump embraced the role of decorous winner and temperate future commander-in-chief. He was uncharacteristically solicitous during an early meeting with President Barack Obama at the White House. The weight of the job ahead seemed hung around his neck like a steel collar. But then, with the third day on the horizon -- and street demonstrators on the march -- Trump cracked, tweeting falsely that "professional protesters" had been "incited by the media." It was all, he wrote, "Very unfair!"

And with that, life as we had come to know it during a long campaign was restored to an apparently indefinite state of rancor. The President-elect has vacillated on some pre-election promises , but the fundamentals of his hardline politics and unpredictable persona have emerged intact

Here is an abridged account of his 21 days on the cusp of power.

1. Meets Obama in the afternoon, attacks protesters at night

At 9:10 p.m. that night, he tweeted: "A fantastic day in D.C. Met with President Obama for first time. Really good meeting, great chemistry. Melania liked Mrs. O a lot!"

Nine minutes later, though, he switched gears, attacking protesters who had rallied against him in a number of major US cities.

"Just had a very open and successful presidential election. Now professional protesters, incited by the media, are protesting. Very unfair!"

Why did he back down after past promises to take the case to trial?

"I settled the Trump University lawsuit for a small fraction of the potential award because as President I have to focus on our country," Trump tweeted.

3. Goes to Twitter war with the cast of 'Hamilton'

Ten days after the election, Vice President-elect Mike Pence attended a Friday night performance of the super smash-hit Broadway musical. As the play ended, cast member Brandon Dixon addressed Pence from the stage, saying the cast represented "the diverse America who are alarmed and anxious" about the new administration.

"But we truly hope," he continued, "this show has inspired you to uphold our American values and work on behalf of all of us. All of us."

Despite the mild nature of the remarks, the video went viral. Trump reacted the next morning, tweeting that Pence had been "harassed." A few minutes later, he added: "The Theater must always be a safe and special place. The cast of Hamilton was very rude last night to a very good man, Mike Pence. Apologize!"

The self-described "alt-right" is considered by many to be a right-wing neo-Nazi-type movement.

5. Says maybe he won't seek to prosecute Hillary Clinton

"It's just not something I feel very strongly about," Trump said during a meeting with reporters from The New York Times.

"I don't want to hurt the Clintons, I really don't," Trump added, either skirting a potential abuse of power -- the attorney general, though appointed by the President, does not take orders from the White House on specific targets for investigation or prosecution -- or oblivious to the standard. "She went through a lot and suffered greatly in many different ways."

The comments marked a stark reversal from the second presidential debate in October, when Trump told Clinton that, if he won, "I am going to instruct my attorney general to get a special prosecutor to look into your situation."

Trump led the racist birther movement against Obama, who before and during the campaign, was a relentless and mocking critic. But following their meeting at the White House days after the election, the men have apparently taken to speaking "regularly" on the phone.

"You know, beyond the sitdown they had 30 hours or so after President-elect Trump won the election, they've been talking regularly on any number of issues," Trump top aide Kellyanne Conway told NBC on Sunday. "They talked just yesterday (for about 45 minutes)."

The contents of the conversations are, for now, a mystery.

7. Ousts Christie and allies from his transition team

But after Trump's historic upset, Christie got a second -- and final, as it turned out -- look from the President-elect. Within days, he and former Congressman Mike Rogers had been ousted as Pence took over the operation.

8. Stands by as top aide publicly campaigns against potential appointment

"I am so saddened to hear that," Trump told CBS' Lesley Stahl on "60 Minutes" after she brought up the mounting reports of harassment against Muslims and Latinos. "And I say, 'Stop it.' If it helps, I will say this, and I will say right to the cameras: 'Stop it.'"

Trump, though, mostly pleaded ignorance to the broader issue, saying he had only heard about a handful of attacks.

10. Asks about security clearances for his kids -- or not?

Conway provided a little more information the next day, saying there had been discussion but no explicit inquiry.

"It doesn't sound like it was a formal request," she told Fox News.

11. Praises the 'genius' of the Electoral College

Four years on, Trump, himself losing the popular vote but ascending to the presidency based on a strong Electoral College performance, took a different view.

"The Electoral College is actually genius in that it brings all states, including the smaller ones, into play," he tweeted. "Campaigning is much different!"

12. Claims massive fraud as reason he is losing popular vote

The comment above came on November 15. Trump was mum on the issue over the next two weeks, but as the margin in the popular vote surpassed 2 million, he lashed out.

On the Sunday afternoon of Thanksgiving weekend, he tweeted -- falsely and without evidence -- that he "won the popular vote if you deduct the millions of people who voted illegally."

There have been no reputable reports of mass fraud.

13. Brushes off concerns about conflicts of interest

Calls for Trump to put his assets in a blind trust have mostly been dismissed. And it might not matter anyway -- given the high profile nature of his holdings, it would be impossible for Trump to remain unaware of their fortunes.

14. Lobbied the UK to give a major diplomatic post to his political ally

Perhaps bored with stocking his own cabinet, Trump in a tweet on November 21 suggested that his ideological ally and campaign pal, the right-wing former UK Independence Party leader Nigel Farage, would make a fine diplomat.

"Many people would like to see @Nigel_Farage represent Great Britain as their Ambassador to the United States," Trump wrote. "He would do a great job!"

But a spokesman for UK Prime Minister Theresa May quickly shot down the idea. Farage is a longtime opponent of May's Conservative Party and the job is already filled. Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson -- like Farage, one of the leading Brexit advocates -- laughed off the tension with a droll reminder during a session of parliament.

15. Is maybe offering Ben Carson the HUD secretary job

No official word yet from the transition team on the offer.

16. Chooses Mike Flynn to be his national security adviser

Trump tapped retired Lt. Gen. Mike Flynn, a vocal campaign surrogate and controversial former Obama administration employee, to be his closest national security aide. A well-regarded intelligence officer for many years, Flynn was fired by the current White House from his position as director of the Defense Intelligence Agency in 2014.

Like Flynn, the Alabama Senator is a controversial choice. Unlike the former, though, he will need to be confirmed by his colleagues in the upper chamber.

Sessions has called the charges "false" and told CNN in 2009 that he "was caricatured in a way that was not me."

18. Gets nasty, then nice, with the media

In a whirlwind 48 hours, Trump last week first met with top executives and network anchors at Trump Tower, then made a trip to hold court with The New York Times.

A day later -- after canceling and un-canceling the meeting -- Trump went to the Times, where he answered a wide range of questions as reporters live-tweeted the conversation.

He also defended Bannon, who during his time at Breitbart boasted that the site had become "the platform for the alt-right," saying, "If I thought he was racist, or 'alt-right' ... I wouldn't even think about hiring him."

20. Announces plans for a 'thank you' tour

And you thought the campaign was over.

21. But still no press conferences

For all the news he's made, Trump has yet to hold a news conference since being elected. Most general election winners meet the press in the days or week after the vote. But Trump, for all his blustering online and in negotiated sitdowns with single outlets, hasn't taken questions from a diverse group of reporters since July.

On Wednesday morning, Trump tweeted that he is planning to hold a news conference on December 15.</s>President-elect Donald Trump, center, eats dinner with Mitt Romney, right, and Trump Chief of Staff Reince Priebus at Jean-Georges restaurant, Tuesday, Nov. 29, 2016, in New York. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)</s>Rebels face one of their gravest moments of the war after pro-government forces routed fighters over the past few days from more than a third of the territory they controlled in the city. Thousands of civilians have fled for safety.

The pro-government official, who declined to be identified in order to speak freely, nevertheless indicated that the next phase of the campaign could be more difficult as the army and its allies seek to capture more densely populated areas.

Rebel fighters fought fiercely to stop government forces advancing deeper into the opposition-held enclave on Tuesday, confronting pro-Assad militias who sought to move into the area from the southeast, a rebel official said.

The attack on eastern Aleppo threatens to snuff out the most important urban center of the revolt against President Bashar al-Assad, who has been firmly on the offensive for more than a year thanks to Russian and Iranian military support.

Capturing rebel-held eastern Aleppo would be the biggest victory to date for Assad in the conflict that has killed hundreds of thousands of people since it arose out of protests against his rule nearly six years ago.

As Russia and Iran have stuck steadfastly by Assad, the rebels say their foreign backers including the United States have left them to their fate in their besieged enclave of eastern Aleppo, Syria's biggest city before the civil war.

Government forces backed by Shi'ite militias from Iran, Lebanon and Iraq punched into the rebel-held area from the northeast last week. The senior, pro-Assad official said the rebel lines had collapsed more quickly than expected.

"The Russians want to complete the operation before Trump takes power," said the official, repeating a previous timetable which pro-Damascus sources had said was drawn up to mitigate the risks of any shift in U.S. policy towards the war in Syria.

The Russian Defence Ministry did not immediately respond when asked whether it had drawn up such a timeline.

Trump, who takes office on Jan. 20, has indicated that he may abandon support for Syrian rebels who have received military aid from states including the United States, Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Qatar, and could even cooperate with Russia against Islamic State in Syria.

The United States has offered aid including military support to some rebel groups under President Barack Obama, though the rebels have always said this backing has fallen well short of what they need against better armed government forces.

The rebel official said the outgoing U.S. administration was paying little attention to Syria. Assad and his allies were "trying to exploit the current circumstances, unfortunately, and the Western states can't do anything", he said.

France, another backer of the opposition, called for an immediate U.N. Security Council meeting to discuss Aleppo.

"More than ever before, we need to urgently put in place means to end the hostilities and to allow humanitarian aid to get through unhindered," French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault said in a statement.

Russia has consistently blocked attempts by Western states to take action in the Security Council against Damascus.

Accounts from eastern Aleppo, where the United Nations says at least 250,000 civilians are trapped with no access to the outside world, point to a dire humanitarian situation. People have been forced to scavenge in the garbage for food as aid supplies have run out, and all the hospitals in eastern Aleppo have been repeatedly bombed.

The civil defense rescue service that operates in eastern Aleppo said on Monday it had nearly run out fuel to power the equipment it has been using to pull people from the rubble of bombed-out buildings.

Pummeled by air strikes, artillery and ground attacks, the rebels were forced on Monday to withdraw to more defensible lines along a highway that runs through Aleppo, hoping that it would be harder for the government side to make further gains.

The rebel official with one of the main Aleppo rebel groups said the opposition fighters had managed to stabilize new frontlines, but were fighting to stop pro-government militias that sought to advance from the south.

"There is no progress but the bombardment and battles remain fierce, particularly in Aziza" in southeastern Aleppo, said the official with the Jabha Shamiya rebel group, which fights under the Free Syrian Army banner. "Yesterday evening there was a big mobilization by Iranian militias in Aziza," the official added.

The government and its allies gradually besieged the rebel-held sector of Aleppo this year before abandoning a ceasefire to launch a fierce assault in September.

The latest fighting has forced thousands to flee. Some have crossed the frontline to government-held areas, others have sought refuge in a Kurdish-controlled part of the city, and many more have fled deeper into the remaining rebel-held area.

Air strikes on Bab al-Nairab, a district in the rebel-held area, killed at least 10 people and left dozens more wounded or missing, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and the civil defense rescue service said. The Syrian military could not be reached for comment.

The civil defense said government planes struck as people were trying to flee the neighborhood on foot, killing 25.

The United Nations humanitarian chief and relief coordinator said up to 16,000 people had been displaced from eastern Aleppo.

A U.N. spokesman said that according to the Syrian Arab Red Crescent 10,000 people had moved into government-held western Aleppo, and 4,000-6,000 had moved into the Kurdish-held Sheikh Maqsoud district. Rebels say thousands more have moved deeper into the areas still held by the opposition.

The U.N. envoy for Syria, Staffan de Mistura, said he could not say how long eastern Aleppo would hold out.

"Clearly, I cannot deny - this is a military acceleration and I can't tell you how long eastern Aleppo will last," he told the European Parliament.

Russia said that the army's breakthrough in Aleppo had dramatically altered the situation on the ground, allowing more than 80,000 civilians to access humanitarian aid after years of what it described as being used by militants as human shields.

"During the last 24 hours, thanks to very well-prepared and careful actions, Syrian soldiers were able to radically change the situation," Major-General Igor Konashenkov, a defense ministry spokesman, said in a statement.

"Practically half of the territory occupied by rebels in recent years in the eastern part of Aleppo has been completely liberated."

A medic in eastern Aleppo who gave his name as Abu al-Abbas said however there was "intense fear of collective annihilation".

"This week I've changed locations three times," he added, speaking on Monday using a social networking site. "In the shelter, we had dead people who we couldn't take out because the bombardment was so intense," he said.</s>BEIRUT (Reuters) - Syria and its allies aim to drive rebels from Aleppo before Donald Trump takes office as U.S. President, a senior official in the pro-Damascus military alliance said, as pro-government forces surged to their biggest victories in the city for years.

A Syrian national flag flutters near a general view of eastern Aleppo after Syrian government soldiers took control of al-Sakhour neigbourhood in Aleppo, Syria in this handout picture provided by SANA on November 28, 2016. SANA/Handout via REUTERS

Rebels face one of their gravest moments of the war after pro-government forces routed fighters over the past few days from more than a third of the territory they controlled in the city. Thousands of civilians have fled for safety.

The pro-government official, who declined to be identified in order to speak freely, nevertheless indicated that the next phase of the campaign could be more difficult as the army and its allies seek to capture more densely populated areas.

Rebel fighters fought fiercely to stop government forces advancing deeper into the opposition-held enclave on Tuesday, confronting pro-Assad militias who sought to move into the area from the southeast, a rebel official said.

The attack on eastern Aleppo threatens to snuff out the most important urban center of the revolt against President Bashar al-Assad, who has been firmly on the offensive for more than a year thanks to Russian and Iranian military support.

Capturing rebel-held eastern Aleppo would be the biggest victory to date for Assad in the conflict that has killed hundreds of thousands of people since it arose out of protests against his rule nearly six years ago.

As Russia and Iran have stuck steadfastly by Assad, the rebels say their foreign backers including the United States have left them to their fate in their besieged enclave of eastern Aleppo, Syria’s biggest city before the civil war.

Government forces backed by Shi’ite militias from Iran, Lebanon and Iraq punched into the rebel-held area from the northeast last week. The senior, pro-Assad official said the rebel lines had collapsed more quickly than expected.

“The Russians want to complete the operation before Trump takes power,” said the official, repeating a previous timetable which pro-Damascus sources had said was drawn up to mitigate the risks of any shift in U.S. policy towards the war in Syria.

The Russian Defence Ministry did not immediately respond when asked whether it had drawn up such a timeline.

Trump, who takes office on Jan. 20, has indicated that he may abandon support for Syrian rebels who have received military aid from states including the United States, Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Qatar, and could even cooperate with Russia against Islamic State in Syria.

The United States has offered aid including military support to some rebel groups under President Barack Obama, though the rebels have always said this backing has fallen well short of what they need against better armed government forces.

THE WEST “CAN’T DO ANYTHING”

The rebel official said the outgoing U.S. administration was paying little attention to Syria. Assad and his allies were “trying to exploit the current circumstances, unfortunately, and the Western states can’t do anything”, he said.

France, another backer of the opposition, called for an immediate U.N. Security Council meeting to discuss Aleppo.

“More than ever before, we need to urgently put in place means to end the hostilities and to allow humanitarian aid to get through unhindered,” French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault said in a statement.

Russia has consistently blocked attempts by Western states to take action in the Security Council against Damascus.

Accounts from eastern Aleppo, where the United Nations says at least 250,000 civilians are trapped with no access to the outside world, point to a dire humanitarian situation. People have been forced to scavenge in the garbage for food as aid supplies have run out, and all the hospitals in eastern Aleppo have been repeatedly bombed.

The civil defense rescue service that operates in eastern Aleppo said on Monday it had nearly run out fuel to power the equipment it has been using to pull people from the rubble of bombed-out buildings.

Pummeled by air strikes, artillery and ground attacks, the rebels were forced on Monday to withdraw to more defensible lines along a highway that runs through Aleppo, hoping that it would be harder for the government side to make further gains.

The rebel official with one of the main Aleppo rebel groups said the opposition fighters had managed to stabilize new frontlines, but were fighting to stop pro-government militias that sought to advance from the south.

FIERCE BATTLES

“There is no progress but the bombardment and battles remain fierce, particularly in Aziza” in southeastern Aleppo, said the official with the Jabha Shamiya rebel group, which fights under the Free Syrian Army banner. “Yesterday evening there was a big mobilization by Iranian militias in Aziza,” the official added.

The government and its allies gradually besieged the rebel-held sector of Aleppo this year before abandoning a ceasefire to launch a fierce assault in September.

The latest fighting has forced thousands to flee. Some have crossed the frontline to government-held areas, others have sought refuge in a Kurdish-controlled part of the city, and many more have fled deeper into the remaining rebel-held area.

Air strikes on Bab al-Nairab, a district in the rebel-held area, killed at least 10 people and left dozens more wounded or missing, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and the civil defense rescue service said. The Syrian military could not be reached for comment.

The civil defense said government planes struck as people were trying to flee the neighborhood on foot, killing 25.

The United Nations humanitarian chief and relief coordinator said up to 16,000 people had been displaced from eastern Aleppo.

A U.N. spokesman said that according to the Syrian Arab Red Crescent 10,000 people had moved into government-held western Aleppo, and 4,000-6,000 had moved into the Kurdish-held Sheikh Maqsoud district. Rebels say thousands more have moved deeper into the areas still held by the opposition.

The U.N. envoy for Syria, Staffan de Mistura, said he could not say how long eastern Aleppo would hold out.

“Clearly, I cannot deny - this is a military acceleration and I can’t tell you how long eastern Aleppo will last,” he told the European Parliament.

Russia said that the army’s breakthrough in Aleppo had dramatically altered the situation on the ground, allowing more than 80,000 civilians to access humanitarian aid after years of what it described as being used by militants as human shields.

“During the last 24 hours, thanks to very well-prepared and careful actions, Syrian soldiers were able to radically change the situation,” Major-General Igor Konashenkov, a defense ministry spokesman, said in a statement.

“Practically half of the territory occupied by rebels in recent years in the eastern part of Aleppo has been completely liberated.”

Slideshow (6 Images)

A medic in eastern Aleppo who gave his name as Abu al-Abbas said however there was “intense fear of collective annihilation”.

“This week I’ve changed locations three times,” he added, speaking on Monday using a social networking site. “In the shelter, we had dead people who we couldn’t take out because the bombardment was so intense,” he said.</s>Rebels face one of their gravest moments of the war after pro-government forces routed fighters over the past few days from more than a third of the territory they controlled in the city. Thousands of civilians have fled for safety.

The pro-government official, who declined to be identified in order to speak freely, nevertheless indicated that the next phase of the campaign could be more difficult as the army and its allies seek to capture more densely populated areas.

Rebel fighters fought fiercely to stop government forces advancing deeper into the opposition-held enclave on Tuesday, confronting pro-Assad militias who sought to move into the area from the southeast, a rebel official said.

The attack on eastern Aleppo threatens to snuff out the most important urban center of the revolt against President Bashar al-Assad, who has been firmly on the offensive for more than a year thanks to Russian and Iranian military support.

Capturing rebel-held eastern Aleppo would be the biggest victory to date for Assad in the conflict that has killed hundreds of thousands of people since it arose out of protests against his rule nearly six years ago.

As Russia and Iran have stuck steadfastly by Assad, the rebels say their foreign backers including the United States have left them to their fate in their besieged enclave of eastern Aleppo, Syria's biggest city before the civil war.

Government forces backed by Shi'ite militias from Iran, Lebanon and Iraq punched into the rebel-held area from the northeast last week. The senior, pro-Assad official said the rebel lines had collapsed more quickly than expected.

"The Russians want to complete the operation before Trump takes power," said the official, repeating a previous timetable which pro-Damascus sources had said was drawn up to mitigate the risks of any shift in U.S. policy towards the war in Syria.

The Russian Defence Ministry did not immediately respond when asked whether it had drawn up such a timeline.

Trump, who takes office on Jan. 20, has indicated that he may abandon support for Syrian rebels who have received military aid from states including the United States, Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Qatar, and could even cooperate with Russia against Islamic State in Syria.

The United States has offered aid including military support to some rebel groups under President Barack Obama, though the rebels have always said this backing has fallen well short of what they need against better armed government forces.

The rebel official said the outgoing U.S. administration was paying little attention to Syria. Assad and his allies were "trying to exploit the current circumstances, unfortunately, and the Western states can't do anything", he said.

France, another backer of the opposition, called for an immediate U.N. Security Council meeting to discuss Aleppo.

"More than ever before, we need to urgently put in place means to end the hostilities and to allow humanitarian aid to get through unhindered," French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault said in a statement.

Russia has consistently blocked attempts by Western states to take action in the Security Council against Damascus.

Accounts from eastern Aleppo, where the United Nations says at least 250,000 civilians are trapped with no access to the outside world, point to a dire humanitarian situation. People have been forced to scavenge in the garbage for food as aid supplies have run out, and all the hospitals in eastern Aleppo have been repeatedly bombed.

The civil defense rescue service that operates in eastern Aleppo said on Monday it had nearly run out fuel to power the equipment it has been using to pull people from the rubble of bombed-out buildings.

Pummeled by air strikes, artillery and ground attacks, the rebels were forced on Monday to withdraw to more defensible lines along a highway that runs through Aleppo, hoping that it would be harder for the government side to make further gains.

The rebel official with one of the main Aleppo rebel groups said the opposition fighters had managed to stabilize new frontlines, but were fighting to stop pro-government militias that sought to advance from the south.

"There is no progress but the bombardment and battles remain fierce, particularly in Aziza" in southeastern Aleppo, said the official with the Jabha Shamiya rebel group, which fights under the Free Syrian Army banner. "Yesterday evening there was a big mobilization by Iranian militias in Aziza," the official added.

The government and its allies gradually besieged the rebel-held sector of Aleppo this year before abandoning a ceasefire to launch a fierce assault in September.

The latest fighting has forced thousands to flee. Some have crossed the frontline to government-held areas, others have sought refuge in a Kurdish-controlled part of the city, and many more have fled deeper into the remaining rebel-held area.

Air strikes on Bab al-Nairab, a district in the rebel-held area, killed at least 10 people and left dozens more wounded or missing, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and the civil defense rescue service said. The Syrian military could not be reached for comment.

The civil defense said government planes struck as people were trying to flee the neighborhood on foot, killing 25.

The United Nations humanitarian chief and relief coordinator said up to 16,000 people had been displaced from eastern Aleppo.

A U.N. spokesman said that according to the Syrian Arab Red Crescent 10,000 people had moved into government-held western Aleppo, and 4,000-6,000 had moved into the Kurdish-held Sheikh Maqsoud district. Rebels say thousands more have moved deeper into the areas still held by the opposition.

The U.N. envoy for Syria, Staffan de Mistura, said he could not say how long eastern Aleppo would hold out.

"Clearly, I cannot deny - this is a military acceleration and I can't tell you how long eastern Aleppo will last," he told the European Parliament.

Russia said that the army's breakthrough in Aleppo had dramatically altered the situation on the ground, allowing more than 80,000 civilians to access humanitarian aid after years of what it described as being used by militants as human shields.

"During the last 24 hours, thanks to very well-prepared and careful actions, Syrian soldiers were able to radically change the situation," Major-General Igor Konashenkov, a defense ministry spokesman, said in a statement.

"Practically half of the territory occupied by rebels in recent years in the eastern part of Aleppo has been completely liberated."

A medic in eastern Aleppo who gave his name as Abu al-Abbas said however there was "intense fear of collective annihilation".

"This week I've changed locations three times," he added, speaking on Monday using a social networking site. "In the shelter, we had dead people who we couldn't take out because the bombardment was so intense," he said.</s>Syrian families, fleeing from various eastern districts of Aleppo, carry their belongings on Tuesday in the government-held eastern neighbourhood of Jabal Badro, as they walk towards government-controlled western Aleppo, as the Syrian government offensive to recapture rebel-held Aleppo has prompted an exodus of civilians (AFP photo)

BEIRUT — Syria and its allies aim to drive rebels from Aleppo before Donald Trump takes office as US president, a senior official in the pro-Damascus military alliance said, as pro-government forces surged to their biggest victories in the city for years.

Rebels face one of their gravest moments of the war after pro-government forces routed fighters over the past few days from more than a third of the territory they controlled in the city. Thousands of civilians have fled for safety.

The pro-government official, who declined to be identified in order to speak freely, nevertheless indicated that the next phase of the campaign could be more difficult as the army and its allies seek to capture more densely populated areas.

Rebel fighters fought fiercely to stop government forces advancing deeper into the opposition-held enclave on Tuesday, confronting pro-Assad militias who sought to move into the area from the southeast, a rebel official said.

The attack on eastern Aleppo threatens to snuff out the most important urban centre of the revolt against President Bashar Assad, who has been firmly on the offensive for more than a year thanks to Russian and Iranian military support.

Capturing rebel-held eastern Aleppo would be the biggest victory to date for Assad in the conflict that has killed hundreds of thousands of people since it arose out of protests against his rule nearly six years ago.

As Russia and Iran have stuck steadfastly by Assad, the rebels say their foreign backers including the United States have left them to their fate in their besieged enclave of eastern Aleppo, Syria’s biggest city before the civil war.

Government forces backed by Shiite militias from Iran, Lebanon and Iraq punched into the rebel-held area from the northeast last week. The senior, pro-Assad official said the rebel lines had collapsed more quickly than expected.

“The Russians want to complete the operation before Trump takes power,” said the official, repeating a previous timetable which pro-Damascus sources had said was drawn up to mitigate the risks of any shift in US policy towards the war in Syria.

The Russian defence ministry did not immediately respond when asked whether it had drawn up such a timeline.

Trump, who takes office on January 20, has indicated that he may abandon support for Syrian rebels who have received military aid from states including the United States, Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Qatar and could even cooperate with Russia against Daesh in Syria.

The United States has offered aid including military support to some rebel groups under President Barack Obama, though the rebels have always said this backing has fallen well short of what they need against better armed government forces.

The rebel official said the outgoing US administration was paying little attention to Syria. Assad and his allies were “trying to exploit the current circumstances, unfortunately, and the Western states can’t do anything”, he said.

France, another backer of the opposition, called for an immediate UN Security Council meeting to discuss Aleppo.

“More than ever before, we need to urgently put in place means to end the hostilities and to allow humanitarian aid to get through unhindered,” French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault said in a statement.

Russia has consistently blocked attempts by Western states to take action in the Security Council against Damascus.

Accounts from eastern Aleppo, where the United Nations says at least 250,000 civilians are trapped with no access to the outside world, point to a dire humanitarian situation. People have been forced to scavenge in the garbage for food as aid supplies have run out, and all the hospitals in eastern Aleppo have been repeatedly bombed.

The civil defence rescue service that operates in eastern Aleppo said on Monday it had nearly run out fuel to power the equipment it has been using to pull people from the rubble of bombed-out buildings.

Pummelled by air strikes, artillery and ground attacks, the rebels were forced on Monday to withdraw to more defensible lines along a highway that runs through Aleppo, hoping that it would be harder for the government side to make further gains.

The rebel official with one of the main Aleppo rebel groups said the opposition fighters had managed to stabilise new frontlines, but were fighting to stop pro-government militias that sought to advance from the south.

“There is no progress but the bombardment and battles remain fierce, particularly in Aziza” in southeastern Aleppo, said the official with the Jabha Shamiya rebel group, which fights under the Free Syrian Army banner. “Yesterday evening there was a big mobilisation by Iranian militias in Aziza,” the official added.

The government and its allies gradually besieged the rebel-held sector of Aleppo this year before abandoning a ceasefire to launch a fierce assault in September.

The latest fighting has forced thousands to flee. Some have crossed the frontline to government-held areas, others have sought refuge in a Kurdish-controlled part of the city, and many more have fled deeper into the remaining rebel-held area.

Air strikes on Bab Al Nairab, a district in the rebel-held area, killed at least 10 people and left dozens more wounded or missing, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and the civil defence rescue service said. The Syrian military could not be reached for comment.

The civil defence said government planes struck as people were trying to flee the neighbourhood on foot, killing 25.

The United Nations humanitarian chief and relief coordinator said up to 16,000 people had been displaced from eastern Aleppo.

A UN spokesman said that according to the Syrian Arab Red Crescent 10,000 people had moved into government-held western Aleppo, and 4,000-6,000 had moved into the Kurdish-held Sheikh Maqsoud district. Rebels say thousands more have moved deeper into the areas still held by the opposition.

The UN envoy for Syria, Staffan de Mistura, said he could not say how long eastern Aleppo would hold out.

“Clearly, I cannot deny — this is a military acceleration and I can’t tell you how long eastern Aleppo will last,” he told the European parliament.

Russia said that the army’s breakthrough in Aleppo had dramatically altered the situation on the ground, allowing more than 80,000 civilians to access humanitarian aid after years of what it described as being used by militants as human shields.

“During the last 24 hours, thanks to very well-prepared and careful actions, Syrian soldiers were able to radically change the situation,” Major General Igor Konashenkov, a defence ministry spokesman, said in a statement.

“Practically half of the territory occupied by rebels in recent years in the eastern part of Aleppo has been completely liberated.

A medic in eastern Aleppo who gave his name as Abu Al Abbas said however there was “intense fear of collective annihilation”.

“This week I’ve changed locations three times,” he added, speaking on Monday using a social networking site. “In the shelter, we had dead people who we couldn’t take out because the bombardment was so intense,” he said.</s>(CNN) Winning the presidency didn't change Donald Trump -- and it's increasingly clear that actually being president won't change him either.

Dramas roiling the president-elect's transition process in recent days show him to be the same, mercurial, sometimes thin-skinned, gregarious, truth-challenged, media taunting and unpredictable figure who won a stunning election upset.

From the outside, the intrigue and internal feuding between competing power factions in the Trump orbit, his explosive tweeting and wrenching changes of political positions suggest a chaotic approach to forming a government. But there's a simple truth that links all the controversies that have gathered around the President-elect in the three weeks since he won the election: Trump is determined to be Trump.

The clearest sign that Trump has no intention of changing, despite his new responsibilities, has emerged in a volley of controversial tweets in the last two days.

"In addition to winning the Electoral College in a landslide, I won the popular vote if you deduct the millions of people who voted illegally," the President-elect fumed in a tweet -- based on a falsehood -- that underscored his enduring addiction to conspiracy theories.

Trump turned to social media again late Monday when he retweeted supporters who blasted CNN's Jeff Zeleny for reporting that debunked the President-elect's claims of voter fraud as baseless.

On Tuesday, he unleashed a new controversy on Twitter, saying that those who burn the American flag should perhaps be jailed or lose their citizenship. The Supreme Court has twice ruled that flag burning is an expression of free speech, so Trump's tweet raised new fears about his attitude towards the Constitution that he will swear to defend January 20.

Washington establishment types, analysts and reporters long waited in vain for Trump's pivot to a more conventional style, looking for change when he became the GOP's frontrunner, its nominee and president-elect. But apart from a few periods of restraint, he has appeared most comfortable sticking to the bulldozing style that has been his trademark as a real estate mogul, a reality star and a political candidate.

Trump supporters are happy with the President-elect as he is. After all, his attacks on political correctness and vows to blow the Washington system to smithereens are the reason many people voted for him. But the presidency is not a campaign. Trump may at some point need the weight of public opinion to mobilize lawmakers to pass an agenda that differs significantly with conservative Republican orthodoxy. Antics that hurt his image may make that more difficult.

And Trump's behavior during his transition is also beginning to raise broader questions about how he will adapt to the constraints of the office he is about to inherit.

They include unknowns about how his impulsive, gut-driven style of leadership and considerable ego will fit in a job dripping with centuries of custom and history. Americans will have to judge whether outbursts on Twitter or false claims, such as Sunday's on the popular vote, are appropriate for someone who will soon be a democratic head of state and the commander-in-chief.

Then there is the question of whether Trump's tongue will get him into trouble in a job in which an intemperate word by a president can cause an immediate foreign policy crisis. In short, will Trump change the presidency, or will the presidency change him?

"While I think that the President shapes the office to some extent, I also think the office shapes the President," said John Burke, a University of Vermont professor who has written several books on presidential transitions. "He is going to be more constrained than he has been as a candidate. The big question is how constrained is he going to be? That we don't know."

Those hoping Trump will become a more responsible, conventional figure when he is actually in the Oval Office include President Barack Obama himself, whose most recent encounter with his successor came over the phone Saturday.

"Campaigning is different from governing. I think he recognizes that," Obama said in a pre-Thanksgiving press conference. "I think what will happen with the President-elect is there are going to be certain elements of his temperament that will not serve him well unless he recognizes them and corrects them."

Trump says he is ready to face the awesome responsibilities of the presidency, but has given few signs he will moderate his firebrand persona when he reaches the White House.

"I feel comfortable. I feel comfortable. I am awed by the job, as anybody would be," Trump told The New York Times editorial board last week.

Still, no one can be fully prepared for the sudden shock of responsibility that will hit them when they became president — and Trump, as a political neophyte, faces a steeper learning curve than most.

So it's possible that Trump's attitudes and demeanor in the transition period may not be a foolproof guide to his conduct while president — however much he is determined not to change.

"He will be shaped by the duties, he will be shaped by the speed and unpredictability by the speed at which everything happens," said Professor Karen Hult, a presidential scholar and transition expert at Virginia Tech University. "At least since Richard Nixon, presidents have found that there is nothing that prepares you to be president until you get there."

Sunday's outburst was not the only sign that the unorthodox approach that Trump brought to the campaign is not being tempered as his presidency nears.

He went on a tirade against the cast of "Hamilton" for, in his eyes, insulting his vice presidential nominee Mike Pence. He's tolerated leaks and public sparring among aides on cable television about his possible choice of Mitt Romney, an ultimate establishment figure, as secretary of state. His choice of Stephen Bannon for a top White House post stirred disbelief among critics worried about links to the white nationalist movement.

In a stunning move on Sunday, Trump's campaign manager, Kellyanne Conway, speaking on CNN's "State of the Union" slammed her boss's flirtation with Romney for the State Department as an insult to his political base.

Trump has seemingly changed policy on a dime, apparently rowing back from support for waterboarding and watering down his plan for a wall all the way across the Mexican border, leading to confusion as to exactly what he plans to do as President.

Trump's own carefully restricted media appearances have also contained jaw droppers.

For instance, he brazenly suggested that even though he is willing to set up a firewall between his vast business empire and his White House to ward off possible conflict of interest concerns, he may be under no obligation to do so.

"The law is totally on my side, meaning, the President can't have a conflict of interest," Trump told the Times, alarming critics who fear he has authoritarian tendencies and will breach ethical norms.

In another unprecedented move, Trump invited his daughter Ivanka — who he has tapped to run his businesses when President — into a meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

The President-elect is also running his search for top talent like a reality show.

He relishes being the center of attention as he herds potential cabinet picks past a gallery of cameras at Trump Tower or his New Jersey golf resort. Some potential appointees, like Romney, former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani and others are left hanging in a media frenzy with no clear word on their fate.

Far from quieting the storm, Trump is whipping it up.

"Just met with General Petraeus -- was very impressed!" Trump tweeted on Monday, thickening the intrigue over the jockeying for position over the post of secretary of state and other cabinet positions.

Soon after he met Petraeus, Trump sources said that the President-elect would sit down with Romney for dinner on Tuesday night — stirring the pot of speculation a little more.

The period between now and the Christmas holiday will be crucial to Trump's hopes of quickly assembling a government ready to spring into action on day one of his presidency. With that in mind, there are some concerns that the drama and discord surrounding the transition might be undermining Trump's task in uniting nation after a campaign in which he tore at racial and societal divides.

"Transitions are important for a number of reasons," said Burke. "One of the reasons is to reintroduce the person not as a political candidate but as a president-elect — a recasting of how both the public and Congress perceive this president."

"And," Burke said, "I don't think we are seeing a lot of change."</s>(CNN) Winning the presidency didn't change Donald Trump -- and it's increasingly clear that actually being president won't change him either.

Dramas roiling the president-elect's transition process in recent days show him to be the same, mercurial, sometimes thin-skinned, gregarious, truth-challenged, media taunting and unpredictable figure who won a stunning election upset.

From the outside, the intrigue and internal feuding between competing power factions in the Trump orbit, his explosive tweeting and wrenching changes of political positions suggest a chaotic approach to forming a government. But there's a simple truth that links all the controversies that have gathered around the President-elect in the three weeks since he won the election: Trump is determined to be Trump.

The latest sign that Trump has no intention of changing, despite his new responsibilities, emerged on Sunday, when he fired off a tweet alleging electoral fraud and ignited a media storm.

"In addition to winning the Electoral College in a landslide, I won the popular vote if you deduct the millions of people who voted illegally," the President-elect fumed in a tweet -- based on a falsehood -- that underscored his enduring addiction to conspiracy theories.

Trump turned to social media again late Monday when he retweeted supporters who blasted CNN's Jeff Zeleny for reporting that debunked the President-elect's claims of voter fraud as baseless.

Washington establishment types, analysts and reporters long waited in vain for Trump's pivot to a more conventional style, looking for change when he became the GOP's frontrunner, its nominee and president-elect. But apart from a few periods of restraint, he has appeared most comfortable sticking to the bulldozing style that has been his trademark as a real estate mogul, a reality star and a political candidate.

But the presidency is not a campaign. So Trump's behavior during his transition so far is beginning to raise questions about how he will adapt to the constraints of the office he is about to inherit.

They include unknowns about how his impulsive, gut-driven style of leadership and considerable ego will fit in a job dripping with centuries of custom and history. Americans will have to judge whether outbursts on Twitter or false claims, such as Sunday's on the popular vote, are appropriate for someone who will soon be a democratic head of state and the commander-in-chief.

Then there is the question of whether Trump's tongue will get him into trouble in a job in which an intemperate word by a president can cause an immediate foreign policy crisis. In short, will Trump change the presidency, or will the presidency change him?

"While I think that the President shapes the office to some extent, I also think the office shapes the President," said John Burke, a University of Vermont professor who has written several books on presidential transitions. "He is going to be more constrained than he has been as a candidate. The big question is how constrained is he going to be? That we don't know."

Those hoping Trump will become a more responsible, conventional figure when he is actually in the Oval Office include President Barack Obama himself, whose most recent encounter with his successor came over the phone Saturday.

"Campaigning is different from governing. I think he recognizes that," Obama said in a pre-Thanksgiving press conference. "I think what will happen with the President-elect is there are going to be certain elements of his temperament that will not serve him well unless he recognizes them and corrects them."

Trump says he is ready to face the awesome responsibilities of the presidency, but has given few signs he will moderate his firebrand persona when he reaches the White House.

"I feel comfortable. I feel comfortable. I am awed by the job, as anybody would be," Trump told The New York Times editorial board last week.

Still, no one can be fully prepared for the sudden shock of responsibility that will hit them when they became president — and Trump, as a political neophyte, faces a steeper learning curve than most.

So it's possible that Trump's attitudes and demeanor in the transition period may not be a foolproof guide to his conduct while president — however much he is determined not to change.

"He will be shaped by the duties, he will be shaped by the speed and unpredictability by the speed at which everything happens," said Professor Karen Hult, a presidential scholar and transition expert at Virginia Tech University. "At least since Richard Nixon, presidents have found that there is nothing that prepares you to be president until you get there."

Sunday's outburst was not the only sign that the unorthodox approach that Trump brought to the campaign is not being tempered as his presidency nears.

He went on a tirade against the cast of "Hamilton" for, in his eyes, insulting his vice presidential nominee Mike Pence. He's tolerated leaks and public sparring among aides on cable television about his possible choice of Mitt Romney, an ultimate establishment figure, as secretary of state. His choice of Stephen Bannon for a top White House post stirred disbelief among critics worried about links to the white nationalist movement.

In a stunning move on Sunday, Trump's campaign manager, Kellyanne Conway, speaking on CNN's "State of the Union" slammed her boss's flirtation with Romney for the State Department as an insult to his political base.

Trump has seemingly changed policy on a dime, apparently rowing back from support for waterboarding and watering down his plan for a wall all the way across the Mexican border, leading to confusion as to exactly what he plans to do as President.

Trump's own carefully restricted media appearances have also contained jaw droppers.

For instance, he brazenly suggested that even though he is willing to set up a firewall between his vast business empire and his White House to ward off possible conflict of interest concerns, he may be under no obligation to do so.

"The law is totally on my side, meaning, the President can't have a conflict of interest," Trump told the Times, alarming critics who fear he has authoritarian tendencies and will breach ethical norms.

In another unprecedented move, Trump invited his daughter Ivanka — who he has tapped to run his businesses when President — into a meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

The President-elect is also running his search for top talent like a reality show.

He relishes being the center of attention as he herds potential cabinet picks past a gallery of cameras at Trump Tower or his New Jersey golf resort. Some potential appointees, like Romney, former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani and others are left hanging in a media frenzy with no clear word on their fate.

Far from quieting the storm, Trump is whipping it up.

"Just met with General Petraeus -- was very impressed!" Trump tweeted on Monday, thickening the intrigue over the jockeying for position over the post of secretary of state and other cabinet positions.

Soon after he met Petraeus, Trump sources said that the President-elect would sit down with Romney for dinner on Tuesday night — stirring the pot of speculation a little more.

The period between now and the Christmas holiday will be crucial to Trump's hopes of quickly assembling a government ready to spring into action on day one of his presidency. With that in mind, there are some concerns that the drama and discord surrounding the transition might be undermining Trump's task in uniting nation after a campaign in which he tore at racial and societal divides.

"Transitions are important for a number of reasons," said Burke. "One of the reasons is to reintroduce the person not as a political candidate but as a president-elect — a recasting of how both the public and Congress perceive this president."

"And," Burke said, "I don't think we are seeing a lot of change."</s>President-elect Donald Trump continued to meet with advisers and possible cabinet appointees at Trump Tower in New York City on Tuesday. And he also met with a Republican supporter who entered the building virtually unrecognized, according to a pool report: former Vice President Dan Quayle.

Quayle strolled through the lobby accompanied by Kellyanne Conway, a top adviser to Trump who stopped to pose for a photo with a fan who apparently didn’t want the former vice president in the frame.

Members of Trump’s transition team did not respond to questions as to why the president-elect was meeting with Quayle, though a source said that Trump, Vice President-elect Mike Pence and Quayle had breakfast together around 8 a.m. (Quayle, who was born in Indianapolis, has served as a member of both the House and Senate representing Indiana — Pence’s home state.)

Quayle told reporters upon leaving Trump Tower that he was “in the area” and stopped by to “offer personal congratulations” to the president-elect.

“Things are in good hands,” Quayle said. “He’s moving forward, and he’s going to make America great again.”

Quayle reiterated that he supported Trump during the presidential campaign.

“As did Vice President Cheney, the two Bush vice presidents,” Conway added.

Trump is scheduled to have dinner with Mitt Romney, a possible choice for secretary of state, on Tuesday evening.
Government forces and their allies announce plans to capture the remainder of Aleppo before American President-elect Donald Trump takes office in January.