--- ---  # A 'Heartbroken' Ivanka Trump Influenced President Trump's Syria Strike, Eric Trump Says by [Mahita Gajanan](https://time.com/author/mahita-gajanan/) ## Mahita Gajanan Gajanan is an editor at TIME. Apr 11, 2017 2:10 PM UTC  During the third U.S. presidential debate at the Thomas & Mack Center on October 19, 2016 in Las Vegas, Nevada. During the third U.S. presidential debate at the Thomas & Mack Center on October 19, 2016 in Las Vegas, Nevada.Joe Raedle—2016 Getty Images by [Mahita Gajanan](https://time.com/author/mahita-gajanan/) ## Mahita Gajanan Gajanan is an editor at TIME. Apr 11, 2017 2:10 PM UTC President [Donald Trump](http://time.com/4710614/donald-trump-fbi-surveillance-house-intelligence-committee/)‘s decision to launch a [missile strike against Syria](http://time.com/4730231/us-missile-airstrike-attack-syria-donald-trump-bashar-assad/) following a deadly chemical attack in the northwestern part of the country was influenced by his “heartbroken and outraged” daughter Ivanka, according to one of her brothers. In an interview with [_The Daily Telegraph_](http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/04/10/donald-trumps-action-syria-proves-not-league-putin-says-son/), Eric Trump said Ivanka likely swayed their father. “Ivanka is the mother of three kids and she has influence,” he said. “I’m sure she said, ‘Listen, this is horrible stuff.’ My father will act in times like that.” Trump said his father would not be intimidated by Russia [threatening military escalation](http://time.com/4732046/us-syria-strikes-pressure/) in Syria after the strike. “There will be no one harder — he has more backbone than anybody,” Eric Trump said. “He is not a guy who gets intimidated. I can tell you he is tough and won’t be pushed around. The cards will shake out the way they do but he’s tough.” Ivanka Trump Influenced Donald Trump Syria Strike ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4734340/donald-trump-ivanka-syria-strike/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4734340/donald-trump-ivanka-syria-strike/"},"headline":"A 'Heartbroken' Ivanka Trump Influenced President Trump's Syria Strike, Eric Trump Says","datePublished":"2017-04-11T14:10:09.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T04:20:05.502Z","description":"\"Ivanka is the mother of three kids and she has influence\"","url":"https://time.com/4734340/donald-trump-ivanka-syria-strike/","keywords":["Donald Trump","White House","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1c014894c4a97eb4/6988c2410a4a22f0eb9cda32/eric-trump-syria-strike.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Mahita Gajanan","jobTitle":"Gajanan is an editor at TIME.","url":"https://time.com/author/mahita-gajanan/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1c014894c4a97eb4/6988c2410a4a22f0eb9cda32/eric-trump-syria-strike.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"eric-trump-syria-strike","caption":"During the third U.S. presidential debate","creditText":"Joe Raedle—2016 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/donald-trump/","name":"Donald Trump"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4734340/donald-trump-ivanka-syria-strike/","name":"A 'Heartbroken' Ivanka Trump Influenced President Trump's Syria Strike, Eric Trump Says"}}]}] ```