--- 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: 3000 og:image:height: 1688 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 > Sponsored content. 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Brief is TIME's Washington newsletter, written by senior correspondent Philip Elliott. It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. It reaches 85,000 subscribers with a 37.0% open rate as of August 2026. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ## 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 Images Win 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.” ```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"}}] ```