As Trump garners a mixed response at home for his missile strike on Syria Thursday night, the president is receiving a lot of praise from the Syrian people. Everything from referring to Trump as Abu Ivanka (Father of Ivanka) as a sign of respect to naming their future children Donald, the president is getting a big thank you from Syrians.
According to The Daily Wire, Michael Weiss of The Daily Beast, author of “ISIS: Inside the Army of Terror,” stated that Syrians are grateful for Trump’s missile assault. He began to share on Twitter responses from Syrians, many of whom he has used as sources in the past for his reports.
Kassem Eid, who was gassed with sarin in 2013, tweeted:
As a Syrian and Assad chemical weapons massacre survivor I want to thank @POTUS for striking the dictator, you gave us hope god bless u Sir!
Mr @POTUS thank you so much for Striking the murderer #Assad I survived the 2013 #CW massacre, please hit him again and harder, God bless u.
Jake Tapper, Chief Washington Correspondent for CNN and host of “The Lead with Jake Tapper,” tweeted that Syrians have texted him with positive messages:
Syrian activist texts me: “Finally thank God!!!!”
All over social media, Trump is being described as a “man of his words.” One user tweeted:
You did in a few months what Obama couldn’t do in 8 years.
Even Arabic memes celebrating Trump are beginning to circulate across Facebook and Twitter.
The Syrian armed rebels are also pleased that the U.S. carried out the strike. Ahrar al-Sham, an opposition group and a coalition of several Islamist and Salafist units, issued a statement following the military action, according to NBC News:
The armed opposition welcomes any U.S. intervention through surgical strikes that would deter the Assad regime capabilities to kill civilians and shorten the suffering of our people.
Not everyone in Syria is cheering on Trump, but rather the actions he took to help innocent civilians. Syrian journalist Rami Jarrah wrote on Facebook:
Syrians are not cheering a pathetic human being like Trump, they’re just happy Assad has less means to kill them with.
BBC News reports that some Syrians are now urging the president to continue the assault and “hit Assad down.”
It remains unclear if the U.S. military will maintain pressure on the Syrian government. Reuters is reporting that a U.S. defense official said the missile strike was a “one-off.” The official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, noted that there are no additional plans for escalation and this will not stop Trump from focusing on domestic affairs.
Days before the attack, administration officials confirmed that the U.S. did not have an interest in toppling Assad. The missile strikes signal a considerable shift in the president’s policy position on Syria. It also marks a stark difference between the Trump administration and the former President Barack Obama administration.
Trump urged other nations on Thursday to oppose President Bashar al-Assad and his regime. The United States, Great Britain and France proposed a draft United Nations resolution on Tuesday to condemn the chemical gas attack and to urge Syria to work with international probes. The UN Security Council did not vote on a draft resolution on Thursday to rebuke the chemical gas attack, but negotiations will be continued. The resolution needs nine votes in favor and zero vetoes by the U.S., Britain, France, Russia or China to be approved.
The president has received mixed a response from both Republicans and Democrats.
Speaker of the House Paul Ryan (R-WI) called the action “appropriate and just.” Senator Chuck Schumer (D-NY) said the strike was “a proportional response,” the Washington Examiner reports.
Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) slammed Trump for the missile strikes in a Fox News op-ed entitled “Syria, Trump and another unconstitutional rush to war.” Sen. Paul argued that the U.S. was not attacked and that the president did not seek congressional authority. Representative Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI) referred to the attack as “reckless and short-sighted.”
