In an interview granted on 12 June in Singapore to the US presenter Sean Hannity, President Donald Trump talked about the first bombing that he ordered against Syria way back in April 2017.

Trump recalled that when the Chinese President Xi Jinping was on a state visit to the US, he entertained him at Mar-a-Lago (Florida), Trump’s well known private residence. Trump specified that at the end of the dinner, while pudding was being served, he announced to the Chinese leader that he planned to bomb a Syrian air base. Startled, President Xi asked him to repeat what he had just said.

According to Trump, his aim was to show his Chinese counterpart that he would not hesitate to use force if he deemed it necessary. Again according to Trump, the Chinese President got the message loud and clear and switched to becoming an ally on the issue of North Korea.

In the early morning of 6 and 7 April 2017, the United States bombed the Syrian air base of Sheyrat. Although the United States used as many as 59 Tomohawk missiles, the attack left only 6 dead and 7 injured and only destroyed several planes which had already been withdrawn from service. In actual fact, the personnel and the planes in service had already been evacuated from the Syrian base, hours before the attack.

(Watch from the 12th minute.)