Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., criticized President Donald Trump for deciding not to impose sanctions against Russia over the Syrian use of chemical weapons after U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley announced the administration would implement them.
When asked on CNN's "New Day" on Tuesday why he thought Trump decided to go in a different direction, the Democratic senator from Delaware said "that's the million-dollar question."
"Since he was a candidate, as long as he's been president, President Trump has had a truly puzzling, even mystifying hesitation to take appropriate action against Russia," Coons continued. "He ordered a military strike on Syrian chemical weapons facilities, but then hesitated and then reversed direction on advice from his most senior advisers on taking sanctions against companies that helped facilitate that deadly chemical weapons infrastructure by Syria."
The very fact Haley is on such a different page than the president is "another example of the disconcerting disconnect between some of the president's most senior advisers and what the president himself chooses to do with regards to Russia," Coons said.
The senator also emphasized it was "just three weeks ago that the president was publicly saying we should pull out of Syria, the change in direction, that's a whipsaw from we're about to withdraw from this country to we are launching military attacks on it."
Coons stressed "It is concerning that we don't have a clear strategy in Syria, that we don't have a clear strategy with regards to Russia, and, while I respect that the president thinks it would be better for us to have a good relationship with Russia, I think president's both Republican and Democrats for decades have recognized that in confronting Russia and their aggression, we need to be strong first and pursue diplomacy second."
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