President Donald Trump sought to explain his Wednesday tweet threatening to strike Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad in a follow on tweet Thursday.
Never said when an attack on Syria would take place. Could be very soon or not so soon at all! In any event, the United States, under my Administration, has done a great job of ridding the region of ISIS. Where is our “Thank you America?”
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 12, 2018
The tweet followed his Tuesday threat to Russia and the Syrian regime that:
Russia vows to shoot down any and all missiles fired at Syria. Get ready Russia, because they will be coming, nice and new and “smart!” You shouldn’t be partners with a Gas Killing Animal who kills his people and enjoys it!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 11, 2018
Trump’s Wednesday tweet came in reaction to a declaration from Russia’s envoy to Beirut, saying, “If there is an American strike, then we … will shoot down the missiles and target the positions from where they were launched,” who added “In the past few days, we have seen an escalation towards a significant crisis.”
The President has been mulling strikes against the Assad regime for suspected use of chlorine-based chemical weapons against civilians Saturday. The attack killed dozens of women and children. The president previously struck Assad for using Sarin gas against civilians in April 2017 and is publicly incensed at the regime’s repeated action.
White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders and Defense Secretary James Mattis stressed Wednesday after Trump’s tweet that no decision to strike Syria had yet been made.