White House press secretary Sarah Sanders attempted Monday to explain the “separation” between President Trump’s calls to remove U.S. troops from Syria while vowing to respond to the Syrian government’s alleged use of chemical weapons on civilians over the weekend.
“The president has made clear that with the defeat of ISIS, he wanted to be able to bring our troops home,” Sanders told reporters at the White House. “But at the same time, he wants to make sure [Syrian President Bashar] Assad is deterred from chemical weapons attacks on innocent civilians.”
Sanders called questions about Trump’s responsibility for the attack “ridiculous” amid critics’ suggestions that Trump’s recent push to withdraw militarily from Syria contributed to the Assad regime’s alleged decision to use chemical weapons against his people.
Trump said earlier Monday that Russian President Vladimir Putin, Assad, and Iranian leaders would “pay a price” if they were found to have played a role in the attack that left dozens of Syrians dead or injured.
But Sanders declined to preview what steps the president would take to punish those involved in the use of chemical weapons.
“Currently, at this time the United States is not conducting air strikes in Syria,” Sanders said.
In April 2017, Trump authorized a missile strike on a Syrian air base after the Assad regime launched a previous chemical weapons attack on civilians.
