But the assault still risks plunging America into the middle of Syria's conflict, complicating the safety of the hundreds of U.S. forces fighting a separate campaign against the Islamic State group in the north of the country. April 4, 2017: President Donald Trump issues a statement saying that the “heinous” actions of Assad’s government are the direct result of Obama administration’s “weakness and irresolution.”

April 5, 2017: Trump says Assad’s government has “crossed a lot of lines” with the suspected chemical attack in Syria. Washington said it fired a barrage of 59 cruise missiles at the Shayrat base in response to what President Donald Trump called a "barbaric" chemical attack on a rebel-held town on Tuesday that he blamed on the Damascus regime. About 60 U.S. Tomahawk missiles, fired from warships in the Mediterranean Sea, targeted an air base in retaliation for a chemical-weapons attack that American officials believe Syrian government aircraft launched with a nerve agent, possibly sarin.
The United States launches 60 Tomahawk cruise missiles aimed at the Ash Sha'irat air base in Homs Governorate in response to the Syrian government's alleged use of chemical weapons in its attack on the town of Khan Shaykhun. The Government of Syria claims the attack killed six soldiers and nine civilians, including four children.