Trump blames chemical attack in Syria on the Obama administration’s ‘weakness and irresolution’

President Donald Trump released a statement Tuesday blaming a chemical attack in Syria on the Obama administration’s policies.

Dozens of people were reportedly killed on Tuesday when a hospital treating civilians injured in chemical attacks was bombed. Activists described the attack as among the worst in the country’s six-year war.

“Today’s chemical attack in Syria against innocent people, including women and children, is reprehensible and cannot be ignored by the civilized world,” Trump said in a statement. “These heinous actions by the Bashar al-Assad regime are a consequence of the past administration’s weakness and irresolution.”

Trump cited President Barack Obama’s inaction after issuing a “red line” in 2012 that suggested that the US would intervene militarily if the Assad regime used chemical weapons.

When evidence that Syrian forces had used chemical weapons to attack civilians emerged, the US declined to retaliate with military action, opting instead to broker a deal in which the Assad regime agreed to remove chemical weapons from Syria.