Trump Prepared to Strike Assad Again, Official Says

President Donald Trump is prepared to again strike Syria if its president, Bashar Assad, launches another chemical weapons attack, a senior administration official said Saturday. “If this act does not succeed, we will act again,” the senior official said, referring to Friday night’s cruise missile strikes on Syrian government targets. Despite Trump declaring “Mission accomplished!” earlier in the day in a tweet, the official told reporters success would be defined by Assad not using chemical weapons again. A perfectly executed strike last night. Thank you to France and the United Kingdom for their wisdom and the power of their fine Military. Could not have had a better result. Mission Accomplished! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 14, 2018 var rcrdTwitter = 1; Senior administration officials said Saturday they believe the U.S.-French-British strikes, which were aimed at Assad’s chemical weapons infrastructure, hit their intended targets. But an opposition group on the ground there raised doubts as the sun rose in Syria. French and British leaders, who also ordered Syria strikes Friday night, have assured Trump they, too, are “willing to do more militarily,” the senior official said. What’s more, the United States and its allies have “evidence” that Assad’s forces used both chlorine and sarin gas in last weekend’s chemical attack on a rebel-held Damascus suburb, the senior administration official said. Watch: What’s the Status of the Bill to Protect Mueller? Get breaking news alerts and more from Roll Call on your iPhone or your Android.