Trump Calls Out ‘Animal Assad’ For Suspected Chemical Attack

Says Putin, Iran are responsible for backing Assad

This image released Saturday, April 7, 2018 by the Syrian Civil Defense White Helmets, which has been authenticated based on its contents and other AP reporting, shows a toddler given oxygen through respirators following an alleged poison gas attack in the opposition-held town of Douma, in eastern Ghouta, near Damascus, Syria, Sunday, April. 8, 2018. The Civil Defense said patients were having difficulty breathing and burning in their eyes. Syrian opposition activists and rescuers said Sunday that a poison gas attack on a rebel-held town near the capital. The Syrian government denied the allegations, which could not be independently verified. (Syrian Civil Defense White Helmets via AP)

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump is condemning what he calls a “mindless CHEMICAL attack” in Syria that has killed women and children, though he’s offering no evidence to support the claim by Syrian opposition activists and rescuers that poison gas was used.

Syrian President Bashar Assad’s government is denying the allegations of such an attack on a rebel-held town near Damascus, the capital.

Trump says in a tweet Sunday that the “area of atrocity is in lockdown and encircled by Syrian Army, making it completely inaccessible to outside world.” He says Russian President Vladimir Putin and Iran — influential Syrian backers — “are responsible for backing Animal Assad.”

Trump is calling for the area to be opened “immediately for medical help and verification. Another humanitarian disaster for no reason whatsoever. SICK!”