Story highlights Trump previously criticized Obama for discussing a "red line" on Syrian President Bashar al-Assad

The decision to use military force against Syria marks a remarkable reversal for Trump

(CNN) President Donald Trump's decision to authorize a missile strike against a Syrian air base Thursday night signals a major break not only with the Obama administration but also with past statements made by the President himself.

Fifty Tomahawk missiles were fired at the air base from which the chemical attacks against Syrian civilians were launched earlier this week and left more than 70 people dead.

"It is in the vital national security interests of America to prevent and deter the the spread and use of deadly chemical weapons," Trump said in a statement from his Mar-a-Lago estate.

The decision to use military force against Syria marks a remarkable reversal for Trump. In 2013, he was a vocal critic of President Barack Obama's contemplation of strikes in Syria following President Bashar al-Assad's initial use of chemical weapons against his own people. (Obama had previously said that the use of chemical weapons against the Syrian citizenry would be crossing a "red line" for him).

"What will we get for bombing Syria besides more debt and a possible long term conflict?" Trump asked in one tweet . "Obama needs Congressional approval."

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