It might be better for President Donald Trump to hold off on military strikes following a suspected chemical attack in Syria last weekend and instead to really find out what happened, Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., said Wednesday, responding to a president's tweet about firing "nice and new and smart" missiles.
"We need to verify exactly what happened here," Johnson told CNN's "New Day." "Who, as best as we can determine, caused this? [There are] reports that the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons are talking about letting them in."
Johnson said he doubts the Syrian government and President Bashar Assad will allow inspectors to have full access, but still, "rather than a military strike, let's find out what happened."
"Let's really expose for the public the multiple chemical attacks," he added "and really start fingering Assad and putting pressure on Russia with their complicity at propping up this heinous regime."
Johnson said it is good news Trump is talking to the United States' NATO allies, and United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley is working on a resolution, even though Russia "is always going to block those.'
The senator added he is "not a real fan" of Trump's morning tweet, and he thinks there is a better way of dealing with Syria.
"Again, I'm trying to, you know, accentuate the positive, that they are trying to work through the U.N., the Organization for Prohibition of Chemical Weapons hopefully will be on the ground and try to verify exactly what happened," Johnson said.
The senator also said he does not agree Trump should signal, through a tweet, what action he could be planning to take.
"I think if we're going to strike, we first need to verify what happened so we're almost certain we know who is responsible, and we strike without warning," Johnson said.
Johnson on Wednesday also praised Mike Pompeo, Trump's nominee for secretary of state, ahead of his confirmation hearings.
"Mike Pompeo is a person of real integrity," Johnson said. "He has the experience not only in Congress but in the military, now CIA director. He knows his stuff. I think he will make an excellent secretary of state. I hate to see Rex Tillerson go. I thought his redesign of the state department was appropriate."
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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