Trump reportedly felt 'compelled to act' on Syria after seeing images of dead children

Donald Trump.
(Image credit: Getty Images)

President Trump's position on Syria dramatically shifted after he saw the images of children killed in a chemical weapons attack against the residents of Idlib, Syria, CNN's Jim Acosta reports.

People close to Trump told Acosta he was "affected" by the photographs he saw of young victims and "felt compelled to act." The U.S. has pinned the attack, which left at least 70 people dead and hundreds injured, on the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad; the government has denied all responsibility. Early Friday, the U.S. launched nearly 60 Tomahawk missiles on the al-Shayrat military airfield near Homs, hitting a runway, aircraft, and gas fuel pumps. It is believed the planes that dropped the chemicals on Tuesday took off from the al-Shayrat airfield.

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Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia is night editor for TheWeek.com. Her writing and reporting has appeared in Entertainment Weekly and EW.com, The New York Times, The Book of Jezebel, and other publications. A Southern California native, Catherine is a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.