The White House on Friday declined to say whether it would take further military action against Syrian President Bashar Assad following the U.S. bombing of a Syrian airfield.
White House press secretary Sean Spicer said Thursday night’s missile strike was “very decisive, justified and proportional.”
ADVERTISEMENT
“First and foremost, the president believes the Syrian government — the Assad regime — should at the minimum agree to abide by the agreements they’ve made not to use chemical weapons,” Spicer said when asked whether the Trump administration believes Assad should leave power.
Spicer spoke to reporters one day after U.S. warships launched 59 cruise missiles at a Syrian air base where officials say Assad’s forces initiated a chemical attack in a rebel-held area of the country.
The strike was the first direct U.S. military attack on Assad’s government and raised questions about whether President Trump would escalate the conflict in an attempt to force Assad from power.
Secretary of State Rex Tillerson downplayed that possibility Thursday night, saying the overall U.S. policy in Syria has not changed.
The White House is demanding that Syria abide by a 2013 agreement that required the country to turn over its chemical weapon stockpile to Russia to be destroyed.
