U.S. President Donald Trump must follow through on his threat of a "big price to pay" after a suspected chemical attack in Syria, or risk losing credibility in dealings with North Korea and other U.S. adversaries, Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham said.
Trump responded on Twitter Sunday after rescue workers and activists said more than 40 people died in a chemical assault, amid renewed fire by Bashar Assad's government on a rebel stronghold near Damascus. The president suggested the U.S. wouldn't sit idly by, tweeting that Russian President Vladimir Putin and Iran "are responsible for backing Animal Assad. Big price to pay."
"If it becomes a tweet without meaning, then he has hurt himself in North Korea," Graham, a member of the Armed Services Committee who has often criticized the president, said on ABC News's "This Week" on Sunday. "If he doesn't follow through and live up to that tweet, he's going to look weak in the eyes of Russia and Iran. So this is a defining moment, Mr. President."