President Trump on Thursday suggested he could consider taking steps against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad for his chemical attack against civilians, telling reporters aboard Air Force One that “something should happen” to Assad as a result.
“I think what happened in Syria is a disgrace to humanity, and he’s there, and I guess he’s running things, so I guess something should happen,” Trump said of Assad.
“What Assad did is terrible. What happened in Syria is truly one of the egregious crimes and it shouldn’t have happened. And it shouldn’t be allowed to happen,” he added.
The Trump administration is weighing possible military options in response Assad’s use of chemical weapons. However, the White House has suggested previously that it no longer views regime change in Syria as a realistic option for the U.S. to pursue.
“I don’t want to say what I’m going to be doing with respect to Syria,” Trump said when pressed for details of his planned response to Assad.
Trump was en route to Mar-a-Lago, where he will confer with Chinese President XI Jinping at a highly-anticipated bilateral summit.
