--- title: John McCain Faults Donald Trump on Syria Rhetoric description: Arizona Sen. John McCain said the Trump Administration's words were "partly to blame" for the chemical weapons attack. canonical: https://time.com/4732660/john-mccain-donald-trump-syria/ author: Maya Rhodan article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-04-10T11:56:53.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T08:04:16.243Z article:section: Politics og:title: McCain Says the Syria Chemical Weapons Attack Was Partly Trump’s Fault og:description: A focus on the Administration's rhetoric og:url: https://time.com/4732660/john-mccain-donald-trump-syria/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt47714e28ef99a7cd/6988c213a988cae6166bba7b/gettyimages-665742968.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Lawmakers On Capitol Hill React To President Trump's Airstrikes In Syria og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: McCain Says the Syria Chemical Weapons Attack Was Partly Trump’s Fault twitter:description: A focus on the Administration's rhetoric twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt47714e28ef99a7cd/6988c213a988cae6166bba7b/gettyimages-665742968.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # John McCain Says the Syria Chemical Weapons Attack Was Partly Trump’s Fault ## Video: What to Know About the U.S. Missile Attack on Syria [Watch (HLS stream): What to Know About the U.S. Missile Attack on Syria](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/Ag8KRTse.m3u8) (1:18)  _Published 2017-04-07. The U.S. fired dozens of cruise missiles at a Syrian airbase Thursday, the first direct assault by American forces against the government of Syrian President Bashar Assad._ by [Maya Rhodan](https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Apr 10, 2017 11:56 AM UTC  Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) answers questions at the U.S. Capitol about the recent U.S. attack in Syria April 7, 2017 in Washington, DC. U.S. President Donald Trump ordered a retaliatory strike yesterday in response to the use of chemical weapons by the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Win McNamee—Getty Images Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) answers questions at the U.S. Capitol about the recent U.S. attack in Syria April 7, 2017 in Washington, DC. U.S. President Donald Trump ordered a retaliatory strike yesterday in response to the use of chemical weapons by the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Win McNamee—Getty ImagesWin McNamee—Getty Images by [Maya Rhodan](https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Apr 10, 2017 11:56 AM UTC Arizona Republican Sen. [John McCain](http://time.com/4732287/john-mccain-syria-airstrikes/) said rhetoric used by [the Trump Administration](http://time.com/4710614/donald-trump-fbi-surveillance-house-intelligence-committee/) influenced the Syrian government’s recent [chemical weapons attack](http://time.com/4728846/sarin-nerve-gas-syria/) that killed about 80 civilians — and prompted President Donald Trump to order [a retaliatory strike](http://time.com/4730231/us-missile-airstrike-attack-syria-donald-trump-bashar-assad/). “I think it probably was partially to blame,” McCain said on [CBS’s _Face the Nation_](http://www.cbsnews.com/news/mccain-says-administration-partially-to-blame-for-chemical-attack-in-syria/) on Sunday. “And Secretary \[of State Rex\] Tillerson basically saying the same thing after kind of contradicting himself and then saying the same thing argues vigorously for a plan and a strategy. As I said again, taking this action I support and was important.” McCain was alluding to recent statements made by Tillerson, who said the “longer term status of President \[Bashar\] Assad would be decided by the Syrian people,” [during a press conference in Turkey in late March](http://www.dailymail.co.uk/wires/afp/article-4364592/Tillerson-says-Assads-long-term-status-Syrian-people.html). McCain said the strikes were an “excellent first step” and a “reversal of the last eight years,” but called on the President and his administration officials to develop a full strategy on Syria going forward, which has not been made clear in the wake of last week’s strikes against a Syrian airbase. While United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley has said [Assad’s removal is imperative](http://www.latimes.com/politics/washington/la-na-essential-washington-updates-1491533682-htmlstory.html) to any peace process, Tillerson has said the Administration’s [priority is defeating ISIS terrorists](http://www.cbsnews.com/news/tillerson-on-syria-the-first-priority-is-the-defeat-of-isis/). McCain rejected Tillerson’s argument, saying the Administration should be able to handle both issues and that they’re “totally connected.” “You can’t—to a large degree, Bashar Assad, by polarizing the Syrian people have also given rise to ISIS and Al Qaeda,” McCain said. “So they are both connected. And I believe that the United States of America can address both at the same time. We can walk and chew gum. We have the capability to do both.” John McCain Faults Donald Trump on Syria Rhetoric ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4732660/john-mccain-donald-trump-syria/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4732660/john-mccain-donald-trump-syria/"},"headline":"John McCain Says the Syria Chemical Weapons Attack Was Partly Trump’s Fault","datePublished":"2017-04-10T11:56:53.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-04T08:04:16.243Z","description":"A focus on the Administration's rhetoric","url":"https://time.com/4732660/john-mccain-donald-trump-syria/","keywords":["Foreign Policy","politics","White House","Syria","Donald Trump","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt47714e28ef99a7cd/6988c213a988cae6166bba7b/gettyimages-665742968.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Maya Rhodan","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt47714e28ef99a7cd/6988c213a988cae6166bba7b/gettyimages-665742968.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Lawmakers On Capitol Hill React To President Trump's Airstrikes In Syria","caption":"Lawmakers On Capitol Hill React To President Trump's Airstrikes In Syria","creditText":"Win McNamee—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/foreign-policy/","name":"Foreign Policy"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4732660/john-mccain-donald-trump-syria/","name":"John McCain Says the Syria Chemical Weapons Attack Was Partly Trump’s Fault"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"What to Know About the U.S. Missile Attack on Syria","description":"The U.S. fired dozens of cruise missiles at a Syrian airbase Thursday, the first direct assault by American forces against the government of Syrian President Bashar Assad.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/Ag8KRTse/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2017-04-07T13:56:29.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/Ag8KRTse.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4732660/john-mccain-donald-trump-syria/","duration":"PT1M18S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4732660/john-mccain-donald-trump-syria/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```