Comedian Bill Maher ripped into U.S President Donald Trump after he announced Friday night airstrikes on Syria’s Assad regime in retaliation for a deadly chemical attack on civilians.

“It looked like Trump was backing off his threat to attack Syria, but apparently he got the go-ahead from Fox & Friends today. I don’t want to say this raid is meant to distract from his other problems, but it’s called Operation Desert Stormy.”

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Maher went on the joke about Trump’s many, mounting domestic scandals, “Well look, I hate to disappoint you, but not much happened this week,” joked Maher at the top of his opening monologue. “The offices of Trump’s personal lawyer were raided; he had a meltdown over Jim Comey’s book; the Homeland Security adviser quit; the speaker of the House, Paul Ryan, out; and we’re attacking Russia in Syria as we speak right now, so things are really quieting down.”

Monologue: Operation Desert Stormy | Real Time with Bill Maher Credit: HBO

Maher echoed MSNBC host Rachel Maddow who on Friday night raised the idea that Trump was launching an overseas military action to distract from his political trouble at home. “I don’t put past him to start a war and mix it up with Russia just to make people think, ‘Oh, I guess there is no collusion.’ I don’t put anything past this guy.”

The HBO comic joked that Trump was likely to strike Syria all along though because “we knew [Trump] was getting serious about Syria because he gave Assad a nickname this week”—the nickname being “Gas Killing Animal”—before concluding that “This is The Art of War by Captain Underpants.”