The UK government has been ‘reassured’ by how Donald Trump has handled Assad’s use of chemical weapons, I write in The Sun this morning.
The government is right to be reassured. Trump does appear to have done what he said he would do, and listened to his generals.
Given that his National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster and his Defence Secretary Jim Mattis are two of the finest military men that the US has produced post-World War Two, Trump is–in this case–listening to the right people. Whether their qualities can make up for Trump’s deficiencies in the long-run is very much open to question, but their growing influence is encouraging.
I understand that what persuaded Trump to strike was that there had to be consequences for Assad in using chemical weapons as their deployment was ‘becoming a pattern of behaviour’.
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