Britain has found itself at odds with the US over Syria after Donald Trump’s administration announced that American policy would no longer focus on getting Bashar al-Assad to relinquish power.

The UK and the Obama administration both spent years saying that Mr Assad’s brutal tactics during the Syrian war meant that he had lost legitimacy and must step down to allow for a political transition in Syria.

But the Trump administration appears to have backed away from that position, saying the question of whether or not Mr Assad stayed in power was no longer a priority for the US.

"You pick and choose your battles and when we're looking at this, it's about changing up priorities and our priority is no longer to sit there and focus on getting Assad out,” said Nikki Haley, the US ambassador to the UN.