--- title: Donald Trump on Syria: 'I Guess Something Should Happen' description: President Trump provided a hint into his plans regarding Syria and President Bashar al-Assad after a chemical attack killed dozens canonical: https://time.com/4729704/donald-trump-syria-bashar-al-assad-chemical-attack/ author: Alana Abramson article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-04-06T19:40:51.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T04:16:33.096Z article:section: Politics og:title: President Trump on Syria: 'I Guess Something Should Happen' og:description: A chemical attack in Syria killed dozens og:url: https://time.com/4729704/donald-trump-syria-bashar-al-assad-chemical-attack/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7975b58298b63d94/6988c1c57cdbac3849d57c47/donald-trump-syria-attack.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Trump Holds Joint Press Conf. With King Abdullah II Of Jordan At White House og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: President Trump on Syria: 'I Guess Something Should Happen' twitter:description: A chemical attack in Syria killed dozens twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7975b58298b63d94/6988c1c57cdbac3849d57c47/donald-trump-syria-attack.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # President Trump on Syria: 'I Guess Something Should Happen'  by [Alana Abramson](https://time.com/author/alana-abramson/)  ## Alana Abramson Apr 6, 2017 7:40 PM UTC  U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a joint news conference with King Abdullah II of Jordan at the Rose Garden of the White House April 5, 2017 in Washington, DC. President Trump held talks on Middle East peace process and other bilateral issues with King Abdullah II. U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a joint news conference with King Abdullah II of Jordan at the Rose Garden of the White House April 5, 2017 in Washington, DC. President Trump held talks on Middle East peace process and other bilateral issues with King Abdullah II.Mark Wilson—Getty Images  by [Alana Abramson](https://time.com/author/alana-abramson/)  ## Alana Abramson Apr 6, 2017 7:40 PM UTC [President Trump](http://time.com/4724135/donald-trump-tweets-retweets-didnt-age-well/) provided a slight hint into his plans regarding Syria and the country’s President Bashar al-Assad Thursday after a chemical attack left dozens dead, indicating that “something” should happen, although he declined to provide any specifics. “I think what happened in [Syria](http://time.com/4729664/syria-chemical-attack-bashar-assad/) is a disgrace to humanity, and he \[Assad’s\] there, and I guess he’s running things, so I guess something should happen,” Trump told reporters on the flight to Mar-A-Lago, where he will meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping. However, Trump cautioned reporters, as he did in a press conference with [Jordan’s President King Abdullah](http://time.com/3727926/isis-jordan-king-abdullah/) Wednesday, that he won’t necessarily publicize actions against Syria if he decides to take any. “I don’t want to say what I’m going to be doing with respect to Syria,” he told reporters. The [chemical attack](http://time.com/4726995/syria-chemical-attack-death-toll/) that took place Tuesday in Syria has killed [over 70 people](http://time.com/4725141/syria-chemical-attack-idlib-deadly/?iid=sr-link1). Although Bashar Assad’s Syrian government has denied any responsibility, the Trump Administration said it was holding them accountable. Trump also did not respond to questions about whether Assad should step down, only noting that what he did was “terrible.” “What happened in Syria is truly one of the egregious crimes and it shouldn’t have happened. And it shouldn’t be allowed to happen,” he said. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4729704/donald-trump-syria-bashar-al-assad-chemical-attack/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4729704/donald-trump-syria-bashar-al-assad-chemical-attack/"},"headline":"President Trump on Syria: 'I Guess Something Should Happen'","datePublished":"2017-04-06T19:40:51.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T04:16:33.096Z","description":"A chemical attack in Syria killed dozens","url":"https://time.com/4729704/donald-trump-syria-bashar-al-assad-chemical-attack/","keywords":["White House","Syria","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7975b58298b63d94/6988c1c57cdbac3849d57c47/donald-trump-syria-attack.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Alana Abramson","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/alana-abramson/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7975b58298b63d94/6988c1c57cdbac3849d57c47/donald-trump-syria-attack.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Trump Holds Joint Press Conf. With King Abdullah II Of Jordan At White House","caption":"Trump Holds Joint Press Conf. With King Abdullah II Of Jordan At White House","creditText":"Mark Wilson—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/white-house/","name":"White House"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4729704/donald-trump-syria-bashar-al-assad-chemical-attack/","name":"President Trump on Syria: 'I Guess Something Should Happen'"}}]}] ```