President Trump: military strike underway in Syria
(WOLO, ABC NEWS) – President Donald Trump announced that he ordered a strike on Syria in response to last weekend’s alleged chemical weapons attack.
Addressing the nation Friday evening, Trump said the strike is currently underway.
The strike came as Trump has alluded to military action in Syria all week, even tweeting on Wednesday that Russia should be “ready” because “nice and new and ‘smart'” missiles “will be coming.” But Thursday, he seemed to walk back that statement, tweeting military action “could be very soon or not so soon at all.”
Defense Secretary James Mattis and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Joseph Dunford met with the president at the White House on Wednesday to discuss the situation in Syria. There were additional National Security Council meetings on Thursday and Friday.
Trump also spoke to French President Emmanuel Macron and U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May several times by phone this week. The administration said previously any response to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s alleged chemical weapons use would be done in consultation with allies.
Perhaps in preparation for a strike, Syria repositioned some of its aircraft from bases earlier in the week, a U.S. official told ABC News. A second official said the Syrian military had gone into an increased defensive posture.
