Trump says apparent gas attack in Syria will be ‘met forcefully’
DONALD TRUMP has said an apparent poison gas attack in Syria will be “met forcefully” hours after Russia warned US military action could cause “grave repercussions”.
The US president met with his military leaders in Washington to discuss the response to the “horrible attack” on Douma, saying a decision would be made “tonight or very shortly thereafter”.
Mr Trump did not give a time frame for any retaliatory action, but said the US could not stand by as such atrocities take place because “we are able to stop it”.
“We are the greatest fighting force anywhere in the world,” Mr Trump told reporters at the White House.
“We are making a decision as to what we do with respect to the horrible attack that was made near Damascus, and it will be met forcefully, and when I’m not saying because I don’t like to talk about timing.”
The president’s comments came after Moscow’s ambassador to the UN warned of the potential consequences to Western intervention in Syria.
Vassily Nebenzia said US attacks on Syria “could lead to grave repercussions” during heated exchanges at the UN Security Council. Mr Trump said the US is still investigating the possible involvement of the Iranian and Russian governments in the apparent strike on Douma. “If it’s Russia, if it’s Syria, if it’s Iran, if it’s all of them together, we’ll figure it out,” he said. He added of Russian president Vladimir Putin, “everybody’s going to pay a price - he will, everybody will”.
Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson said in February that Britain should consider joining military action against Assad’s regime if there is fresh “incontrovertible” evidence he has used chemical weapons against his own people.
Mr Johnson discussed the situation with acting US secretary of state John Sullivan twice on Monday.
The US State Department said Mr Johnson and his Washington counterpart had discussed “potential further steps the US and UK governments might take in coordination with other partners”.
The attack in Douma occurred late on Saturday amid a resumed offensive by Syrian government forces after the collapse of a truce with the Army of Islam rebel group.