MACRON: FRANCE PERSUADED TRUMP TO STRIKE IN SYRIA

Paris — France persuaded President Donald Trump to stay in Syria and launch airstrikes as punishment for an alleged chemical-weapons attack, French President Emmanuel Macron said Sunday.

Appearing live on French television BFM and online investigative site Mediapart nearly a year into his term, the 40-year-old leader said the U.S., Britain and France had "full international legitimacy to intervene" with the strikes, to enforce international humanitarian law.

"Ten days ago President Trump wanted the United States of America to withdraw from Syria. We convinced him to remain," he said, speaking in the majestic room of Chaillot National Theater, with the Eiffel Tower shining in the background.

President Donald Trump’s re-election campaign spent more than $1 out of every $5 on attorney fees this year as the president contended with the ongoing special counsel investigation and a new legal challenge from an adult-film star. Of the $3.9 million Trump’s committee spent in the first quarter of 2018, more than $834,000 went to eight law firms and the Trump Corp. for legal fees, according to new Federal Election Commission records filed Sunday. The latest figures bring the Trump campaign’s total spending on legal fees to nearly $4 million since the president took office, records show. In the last quarter of 2017, Trump’s campaign committee spent $1.1 million in legal fees.