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 has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.