Trump tweets missiles ‘will be coming’ to Syria after attack

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump warned Russia via tweet on Wednesday to “Get ready,” because the United States is prepared to fire “nice and new and ‘smart’!” missiles at Syria in response to a deadly chemical weapons attack Saturday.

“Russia vows to shoot down any and all missiles fired at Syria,” Trump tweeted. “Get ready Russia, because they will be coming, nice and new and ‘smart’! You shouldn’t be partners with a Gas Killing Animal who kills his people and enjoys it!”

Trump’s tweets came on the heels of remarks by Russia’s ambassador to Lebanon, Alexander Zasypkin, who warned the United States and its allies that any missiles fired at Syria would be shot down, according to Reuters.

“If there is a strike by the Americans, then . . . the missiles will be downed and even the sources from which the missiles were fired,” Zasypkin told Hezbollah’s Al-Manar TV on Tuesday night. He added that a military response “should be ruled out and therefore we are ready to hold negotiations.”

Even as Trump signaled a missile-led response, White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders, speaking at Wednesday’s daily news briefing, said no “final decisions” had been made, and a “ number of options . . . are still on the table.”

More than 40 people, including children, are reported to have died in the attack on the rebel-held Damascus suburb of Douma, while more than 500 other civilians sought treatment in makeshift medical facilities.

Syrian leader Bashar Assad has denied any role in the attack. Russia’s foreign ministry has also questioned the legitimacy of reports on the attack, saying it has toured the site of the attack, which so far has been closed off to international observers, and found no evidence of chemical weapons use.

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Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, in brief remarks to reporters Wednesday at the Pentagon, said the administration was “still assessing the intelligence,” to determine if evidence pointed to the use of chemical weapons.

Trump, on Twitter, assailed Russia for standing by Assad, a leader the president has labeled in past tweets as an “animal.” On Tuesday, Russia vetoed a UN Security Council resolution, backed by the United States, that would have established an independent investigation into the attack.

“Our relationship with Russia is worse now than it has ever been, and that includes the Cold War,” Trump tweeted Wednesday. “There is no reason for this. Russia needs us to help with their economy, something that would be very easy to do, and we need all nations to work together. Stop the arms race?”

In a follow-up tweet, the president blamed “much of the bad blood with Russia” on the “Fake & Corrupt Russia Investigation, headed up by the all Democrat loyalists, or people that worked for Obama,” referring to the Department of Justice’s probe into Russian meddling in the 2016 election and possible ties to the Trump campaign.

Special counsel Robert Mueller, a Republican, leading the probe, was appointed to the role by Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, another Trump appointee.

Russian President Vladmir Putin, in an appearance at the Kremlin, did not directly address Trump’s tweets, but said “the state of things in the world cannot but provoke concern.”

“The situation in the world is increasingly chaotic,” Putin said, according to media reports. “Nevertheless, we hope that common sense will prevail in the end and that international relations will become more constructive — that the whole global system will become more stable and predictable.”