Sen. Rand Paul issued subtle advice to President Trump on Wednesday that he shouldn’t stray from the position he took back in 2013 questioning U.S. involvement in the ongoing Syrian conflict.
The lawmaker retweeted a tweet from Trump in August of 2013, at a time when the international community had determined that Syrian President Bashar Assad was behind a chemical weapon attack that left hundreds dead. The Obama administration reportedly was considering a military strike in response.
“What will we get for bombing Syria besides more debt and a possible long term conflict? Obama needs Congressional approval,” Trump remarked at the time.
The dovish Paul said that the message of the tweet “remains true today as it was in 2013. Both parts.”
This remains true today as it was in 2013. Both parts. https://t.co/sRQkcZ0oDI
— Senator Rand Paul (@RandPaul) April 6, 2017
It’s clear back in 2013 that Trump opposed any sort of U.S. intervention in Syria. He said in a follow-up tweet the next month in a more blunt fashion: “Barack Obama, do not attack Syria.”
As recently as last week the Trump administration displayed an apparent willingness on the part of the U.S. government to wash its hands of the Syrian conflict. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said it was up to the Syrian people, not outside interveners, to decide what to do about Assad.
Yet with a new chemical attack this week, which has been tied to the Assad regime, Trump may be changing his tone. The president said on Wednesday that the attack “crossed a lot of lines for me” and his “attitude toward Syria and Assad has changed very much.”
Likewise, Tillerson said that Russia should reconsider its support of the Assad regime.
