Trump Exclusive: We're Not Going Into Syria
President Donald Trump on the message he wants Secretary of State Rex Tillerson to give to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
President Trump said he has no plans to enter Syria, despite ordering airstrikes on a Syrian military base last week.
“We’re not going into Syria,” Trump told Maria Bartiromo during an exclusive interview on FOX Business. “But when I see people using horrible, horrible chemical weapons… and see these beautiful kids that are dead in their father's arms, or you see kids gasping for life … when you see that, I immediately called General Mattis.”
Trump ordered the airstrikes in Syria after a deadly chemical attack on the country’s civilians.
Images broadcast globally showed many heartbreaking pictures of children caught in the attack. Trump said former President Obama should have taken action during his tenure in the White House.
“What I did should have been done by the Obama administration a long time before I did it,” said Trump. “I think Syria would be a lot better off right now than it has been.”
U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson arrived in Russia on Tuesday to meet with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in Moscow.
While the conflict in Syria is expected to be discussed, President Trump blamed Russia—whose government backs Syrian President Bashar al-Assad—for issues in the Middle Eastern country.
“If Russia didn’t go in and back this animal [Assad], you wouldn’t have a problem right now,” Trump said.