The United States attacked a Syrian air base with roughly 60 cruise missiles in response to a chemical weapons attack it blames on President Bashar Assad Thursday evening.
A Syrian opposition monitor said the attack killed four soldiers, including a general. The head of the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said more than a dozen hangars, a fuel depot and an air defense base were damaged.
"Assad choked out the lives of helpless men, women and children," Trump said.
President Donald Trump said the attack on a Syrian air base was in the nation's "vital national security interest."
Tomahawk missiles were fired from two warships in the Mediterranean Sea, targeting a government-controlled air base in Syria, officials say.
U.S. officials said Syrian government aircraft killed dozens of civilians by using chlorine mixed with a nerve agent, possibly sarin, earlier this week.
Syrian state TV reported a U.S. missile attack on a number of military targets and called the attack an "aggression."
The Associated Press contributed to this report