President Donald Trump says the United States has “launched precision strikes” on targets associated with Syrian chemical weapons program.
Trump spoke from the White House Friday night. He says a “combined operation” with France and the United Kingdom is underway.
Trump says that last Saturday, Syrian President Bashar Assad deployed chemical weapons in what was a “significant escalation in a pattern of chemical weapons use by that very terrible regime.”
Trump says he is “prepared to sustain” strikes against Syria until the use of chemical agents stops.
But Trump says America does not seek “an indefinite presence” in Syria and will look to pull out its troops once the Islamic State is totally defeated.
Trump has signaled in recent weeks that, despite advice from his national security team, he wanted to accelerate the timetable of the withdrawal of American forces.
