Donald Trump- Xi Jinping summit's top achievement: Getting to know each other

Palm Beach Florida: US officials said President Donald Trump s first meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping this week was an opportunity for the leaders of the world s two largest economies to get to know each other. That s about all they appear to have accomplished after about 18 hours together at Trump s Mar-a-Lago resort a visit interrupted by a US cruise-missile strike on Syria during dinner. There were no trade or investment deals announced no agreement to contain North Korea s nuclear ambitions no plan to reduce tensions in the South China Sea. We have very similar economic interests and there are areas where they clearly want to work with us Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin told reporters. The objective is for us to increase our exports to them. Commerce secretary Wilbur Ross said that the most interesting thing to me was they expressed an interest in reducing their net trade balance because of the impact it s having on money supply and inflation. That s the first time I d heard them say that. China s leaders in fact have long been concerned about the yawning US trade deficit with their country 347 billion in 2016. Ross said the two countries agreed to a 100-day plan to discuss trade; there were few details.In tone and results the summit was similar to a June 2013 meeting between Xi and President Barack Obama at Sunnylands in Rancho Mirage California that also produced little in the way of tangible announcements. But Trump s inaugural visit with Xi had a little more drama.Syria strikeTrump upended the meeting by http://buybacklinksz.blogocial.com/Forum-Profile-Backlinks-The-Pro-s-And-Con-s-5586970 ordering the launch of dozens of cruise missiles http://ourstage.com/backlinkszzd at Syrian targets Thursday just before Xi s arrival in Florida. The missile strike overshadowed the summit and also increased tension between the two countries over North Korea as Trump signaled that he s willing to take unilateral action against a regime flouting international norms.Also Read: Donald Trump accepts Xi Jinping s invitation to visit China: reportSecretary of state Rex Tillerson said there was no kind of package arrangement discussed to resolve tensions with North Korea adding that Xi agreed the situation has reached a very serious stage in terms of the advancement. Trump told Xi the US would chart our own course if this is something China is just unable to coordinate with us Tillerson said.For China the meeting was probably a success. Much of the Communist Party s top leadership will change during a congress later this year and in the run-up to that event Xi Jinping just wants the United States off his back said Bonnie Glaser senior adviser for Asia and the director of the China Power Project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington. The two leaders appeared to develop a rapport she said.Topics avoidedThe presidents didn t mention the Syria attack or North Korea during their public remarks Thursday and Friday and even steered clear of issues like trade that were supposed to dominate the summit. They remarked generally about progress in their relationship and optimism about the future. That could indicate that the relationship between the two countries remains stable despite Trump s fiery accusations during his campaign and afterward that China has stolen US manufacturing jobs. The relationship developed by President Xi and myself I think is outstanding Trump said Friday during a meeting between the two countries delegations. I believe lots of very potentially bad problems will be going away. Xi thanked Trump for his hospitality and said the meeting had served the purpose of advancing the US-China relationship.Initial trust We had long and in-depth communication Xi said through a translator. And more importantly we have further built up understanding and establish a kind of trust and we have initially built up a working relationship and friendship. The two leaders were later photographed strolling the grounds of Trump s waterfront resort. Trump accepted Xi s invitation to visit China later this year Tillerson said.Another matter that didn t come up was the bankruptcy of Westinghouse Electric Co. s nuclear reactor business. Toshiba Corp. Westinghouse s parent company has sought a buyer for the unit and Trump administration officials are so concerned about Chinese investors obtaining control of it that they have sought an American or allied purchaser. We have been looking very carefully at that Ross said. Mnuchin added that any such transaction would have to be reviewed by the Committee on Financial Investment in the US which can block sales of US companies to foreign investors.Surface charmThe friendly banter between the leaders belied growing tension in the relationship after Trump s public criticisms of China and his promises to extract concessions from the country on trade and North Korea. We have been treated unfairly and have made terrible trade deals with China for many many years Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One on Thursday as he flew to Palm Beach. That s one of the things we are going to be talking about. His Cabinet secretaries said that Trump indeed confronted Xi. President Trump noted the challenges caused by Chinese government intervention into its economy Tillerson said on Friday. The president underscored the need for China to take concrete steps to level the playing field for American workers stressing repeatedly the need for reciprocal market access. The Syria strike served as a backdrop for their talks intentional or not. White House officials didn t make a direct connection between the action in Syria and any potential strike on North Korea s nuclear program. I don t believe there was any immediate nexus White House press secretary Sean Spicer told reporters on Friday.By the wayTrump informed Xi of the strike as they were dining roughly when 59 Tomahawk missiles were hitting a Syrian airfield. Trump told reporters the strike was in response to a nerve gas attack by the Syrian regime against civilians Tuesday.The Chinese have opposed efforts to remove Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad from power and probably took offense at the attack said Dennis Wilder former senior director for Asia during the George W. Bush administration. For President Xi this will be embarrassing internationally because in so many settings and so many venues China has condemned the United States for unilateral military action in the past and this is certainly a unilateral action he said. I think that the Chinese will be expressing some anger privately to the United States. China s public probably won t regard the strike as a message to their leaders unless the Trump administration makes the case explicitly said Doug Paal vice president for studies at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in Washington. I doubt the Chinese in the end think this was really done as a message to Beijing said Paal who who served as Asian affairs director in the administrations of Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush. BloombergToluse OlorunnipaJennifer JacobsTopics: Donald Trump Xi Jinping Trump- Xi Jinping Summit US China Get politics updates directly to your inbox SubscribeThank you for subscribing!Could not subscribe try again laterInvalid EmailVladimir Putin and Donald Trump were last night urged to hold emergency talks as growing tensions in the Middle East threatened to explode into war. The Russian president sent the missile warship Admiral Grigorovich to Syria after the US leader yesterday unleashed 59 Tomahawk cruise missiles on the airfield from where Bashar al-Assad launched a sarin gas attack on his own people. A British nuclear submarine is patrolling the Mediterranean and Nato forces were on high alert throughout the region. As the region teetered on the brink world leaders including Theresa May backed the American strikes at al-Shayrat base but there were calls for talks in a bid to prevent the crisis turning into a wider conflict. USS Porter fires Tomahawk land attack missile (Photo: PA) Russia s Prime Minister Dimitry Medvedev claimed the US missile strike was illegal and warned Mr Trump had been one step away from military clashes with Russia . But the US president insisted it was time the Assad regime was reined in from its barbarous attacks on innocent Syrians. Tuesday s gas strike at the city of Khan Sheikhoun killed 86 civilians including 30 children and 20 women. Video Loading Video Unavailable Click to play Tap to play The video will start in 8Cancel Play now Watch NextHillary Clinton calls for airstrikes on Syria hou Watch this video again Watch Next Russia responds to US airstrikes against the Syri0:46 Watch moment US launches tomahawk missiles at Syr0:33 Donald Trump leaves the Oval Office WITHOUT signi0:37 Ivanka is now a government employee with no pay0:52 Trump says he can t make a mistake...before IMMED0:23 Video will play in Donald Trump addresses the nation after missile attack on Syrian regime Share this video Watch Next Donald Trump delivers a statement on Syria (Photo: Getty) U.S. Navy missile destroyer USS Ross (Photo: REUTERS) Read More Donald Trump s dramatic U-turn on air strikes in Syria was sparked by daughter s heartbroken response to gas attack Mr Trump said: Using a deadly nerve agent Assad choked out the life of innocent men women and children. It was a slow and brutal death for so many even beautiful babies were cruelly murdered in this very barbaric attack. No child of God should ever suffer such horror. I ordered a targeted military strike on the airbase in Syria from where the chemical attack was launched. There can be no dispute that Syria used banned chemical weapons and ignored the urging of the UN Security Council. Russian Navy frigate Admiral Grigorovich (Photo: REUTERS) Video Loading Video Unavailable Click to play Tap to play The video will start in 8Cancel Play now Watch NextDonald Trump addresses the nation after missile a Watch this video again Watch Next Hillary Clinton calls for airstrikes on Syria hou0:37 Russia responds to US airstrikes against the Syri0:46 Donald Trump leaves the Oval Office WITHOUT signi0:37 Ivanka is now a government employee with no pay0:52 Trump says he can t make a mistake...before IMMED0:23 CCTV captures horror moment lorry charges down St0:39 CCTV catches arsonist set fire to himself after s1:05 Fisherman HALTS man-eating shark attack with just1:10 Rude female backpacker sparks fury after putting 1:14 Alleged mistress attacks married woman after bein0:44 Unbelievable moment distracted woman is almost hi1:06 Parents arrested after toddler found overdosing o0:35 Video will play in Watch moment US launches tomahawk missiles at Syria from Mediterranean Sea Share this video Watch Next Years of previous attempts at changing Assad s behaviour have all failed dramatically.As a result the refugee crisis deepens and the region continues to destabilise threatening the United States and its allies. Tell us what you thinkComment Below I call on all civilised nations to join us in seeking to end the slaughter and bloodshed in Syria. Downing Street said Mrs May was kept fully informed of the US airstrike which killed nine people and destroyed nine fighter jets as well as several buildings. A spokesman added: The Government fully supports the action which we believe was an appropriate response to the barbaric chemical weapons attack launched by the Syrian regime and is intended to deter further attacks. Aftermath of the US missile attack on the al-Shayrat airbase Vladimir Putin (Photo: Getty) Read More Vladimir Putin sends Russian frigate to Mediterranean to confront US ships which rained bombs on Syrian runway It first appeared No 10 had no idea the raid was about to happen when officials insisted on Wednesday nobody is talking about that . But Defence Secretary Sir Michael Fallon yesterday insisted his US counterpart James Mad Dog Mattis told him about it on Thursday night. He added: He called to advise us of the president s decision and to give us notice of the attack. Mr Fallon revealed Britain took no part in the raid but refused to confirm it would have joined in if asked. He added: The United States made it clear that this was to be a United States operation. Video Loading Video Unavailable Click to play Tap to play The video will start in 8Cancel Play now Watch NextFisherman HALTS man-eating shark attack with just Watch this video again Watch Next Rude female backpacker sparks fury after putting 1:14 Dramatic footage shows US airstrikes against Assa1:24 Watch moment US launches tomahawk missiles at Syr0:33 Donald Trump addresses the nation after missile a2:20 Hillary Clinton calls for airstrikes on Syria hou0:37 Inside ISIS civilian torture prison0:52 Shocking moment buried child is rescued from rubb1:06 Russia tells America to think carefully before 0:32 Syrian hospital destroyed by bunker buster miss1:04 Syrian rebel accidentally blows himself up by ta0:29 Huge explosion caught on camera as ISIS suicide b0:50 Video will play in Russia responds to US airstrikes against the Syrian government Share this video Watch Next One of the base s hangars was reduced to rubble Prime Minister Theresa May (Photo: PA) Lib Dem leader Tim Farron also supported the US attack. But Labour chief Jeremy Corbyn warned the action risks escalating the war in Syria still further . Britain s Nato allies including Germany France and Canada backed Mr Trump s raid. In a joint statement Angela Merkel and Francois Hollande said Assad bears full responsibility for the attack following his use of nerve gas against his own people. French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault added: Here we have an action that is a condemnation of what this criminal regime is doing. The EU also supported the raid. President Donald Tusk tweeted: US strikes show needed resolve against barbaric chemical attacks. EU will work with the US to end brutality in Syria. Satellite image of the base Read More Donald Trump bombed Syria and his biggest fans are distinctly unimpressed Western allies in the http://buybacklinksz.blogocial.com/Working-With-Backlinks-As-a-Web-Marketing-Solution-5589040 Middle East including Saudi Arabia and the UAE hailed the strike as a courageous decision . Turkey and Israel also praised it. Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said it was a positive first step but demanded an escalation against Syria from the West. He added: We find it a positive and concrete step taken against the war crimes of the Assad regime. Is it enough? I don t find it enough. It is time to take serious steps for the protection of innocent Syrian people. The airstrike was the first direct US assault on Assad s government in the six years of a civil war that has killed as many as 400 000 and displaced millions of people. U.S. Navy destroyer (Photo: REUTERS) White House officials insisted the raid was a one-off intended to deter future chemical weapons attacks and not an escalation of the American role in Syria. But the swift action is thought also to be a big warning to Russia as well as to other countries such as North Korea China and Iran to steer clear of gas warfare. US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson added: This clearly indicates the president is willing to take decisive action when called for. I would not in any way attempt to extrapolate that to a change in our policy or our posture relative to our military activities in Syria today. There has been no change in that status. But Jane s analyst Reed Foster said while the airstrike will further weaken the Syrian air force s capabilities he warned it will not significantly diminish the ability of the Assad regime to conduct further chemical weapons attacks . Russian Defence Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov condemned the raid insisting the gas attacks were as a result of a direct hit on a rebel base hiding chemicals. Russian Defence Ministry s Igor Konashenkov gives a briefing on US strikes (Photo: Getty) Read More Unilateral action without legal authorisation risks more deaths in Syria conflict says Jeremy Corbyn The Kremlin said: President Putin views the US strikes as aggression against a sovereign state in violation of the norms of international law and on a made-up pretext. This step by Washington will inflict major damage on US-Russia ties which are already in a lamentable state. Only Iran and terror group Hizbollah supported Assad after the attack. Tehran s foreign ministry spokesman Bahrem Qasemi said: Such measures will strengthen terrorists in Syria. The American raid with missiles fired from destroyers USS Porter and USS Ross in the Mediterranean took place in the early hours and under the cover of darkness and with little warning. Although Russia was tipped off before the missiles hit. Moscow has suspended communication with US forces designed to stop planes colliding over Syria. Sukhoi-22 fighter jet of the Syrian air force (Photo: Getty) The RAF temporarily halted operations in the country amid fears of a mid-air crash. Russia and the US have been co-operating over the safe use of airspace in Syria since 2015 in a protocol that involves military planners sending daily reports to each other about areas they intend to operate in. The battered airfield near Homs has also been used by Putin s attack helicopters in support of ground operations. But non-e of Putin s aircraft were there when it was hit. Assad s military strength is bolstered by Russian S-300 and S-400 surface-to-air missile systems which threaten US manned strike aircraft on missions against IS. Britain has more than 16 Tornado and Typhoon fighter aircraft supporting Operation Shader from its base in Cyprus as well as Rivet Joint and Sentinel surveillance planes. Oil prices yesterday leapt after the US air strikes. Brent crude rose 2% to more than 56 a barrel in a knee-jerk reaction to the attacks. It could put up the price of petrol and diesel. Read More US airstrikes after Syria chemical weapons attack Latest updates Watch Trump s full address to world What happens now? Putin condemns US airstrikes Britain backs US missile attacks Trump orders bombs on Syria air base World War 3 gets a little closer Corbyn s response If West ramps up attacks world faces new Cold War By JACK BLANCHARD Political Editor Trump s decision to launch more than 50 cruise missiles at a Syrian airfield could prove a watershed moment in the bloody civil war. It will have implications for America s fraught relations with Russia and indeed for Mr Trump s own Presidency. And it may suck Britain into a military conflict which since 2011 we have carefully avoided. The message of the strike is that the West has at last drawn a line in the sand. Before Tuesday s chemical attack by Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad in Idlib President Trump had shown no interest in finding a military solution to the six-year conflict. His priority seemed to be improving relations with Russia Assad s closest ally. All that has changed. Assad will be under no illusions he has overstepped the mark. The prospect of him using chemical weapons again seems unlikely. His Kremlin sponsors know the West means business unlike in 2013 when he last gassed his people. The key question now is how each side responds. This appears to be a limited one-off strike. It will not on its own change the course of the civil war. But the US has crossed a Rubicon showing it is ready to intervene to save lives. If this is the start of more significant US involvement pressure will start to bear on Britain to get involved. Already Lib Dem leader Tim Farron is calling for the UK to consider surgical strikes . But any sustained Western attack could lead to direct conflict with Russia. That would bring the world to its most dangerous point since the end of the Cold War. Tomahawk cruise missile (Photo: http://buybacklinksz.isblog.net/what-are-backlinks-and-why-are-they-vital-to-my-internet-success-2721432 Getty Images) Everyone knows the US is primed for lethal action By BRUCE JONES Analyst at Jane s Defence Weekly The President s strikes will have been be viewed carefully either by special forces unmanned drones or satellites. The question is what happens next? Had any target not been destroyed there may be additional strikes by cruise missiles or by aircraft now able to fly with impunity if local ground-to-air defences have been degraded. Trump has not lost initiative he has created a mood of expectancy and nervousness and Russia and Syria will now find him unpredictable. A very useful posture in conflict. I strongly believe there will now be a lull a period of assessment by the US military and of the reaction from Syria and Russia and then it is entirely possible we will see more strikes by the US. Crucially Trump has sent a message to Syria and Russia and other players now know he is prepared to take lethal action when someone crosses the line. It may be hard to believe but Donald Trump is even more simplistic than George W Bush in matters of war. George W Bush enjoyed all the certainty of a very simple man: you were either with us or against us good or evil marching for democracy or plotting terrorist attacks. Yet Donald Trump manages to make Bush look like Baron von Metternich. He just launched military strikes against a brutal Syrian regime he used to describe as NOT our problem . That s the same Syrian regime propped up by his own Russian friends. Let s stop pretending we re not clueless about the state of the world | Marina Hyde Read more There s a lot to be said for moral clarity after the Assad regime s disgusting chemical attacks that murdered so many civilians in northern Syria this week. But that s not what Trump represents. His moral certainty was nowhere to be found in 2013 after the first large-scale chemical attacks that crossed Obama s infamous red line. President Obama do not attack Syria tweeted Trump. There is no upside and tremendous downside. Now Trump himself is upside down on Syria. He initially blamed Obama and his red line for the chemical attacks this week insisting that the overblown rhetoric had hurt the United States. This from a man who told this gem to reporters aboard Air Force One yesterday: I think we ve had one of the most successful 13 weeks in the history of the presidency. Facebook Twitter Pinterest The world reacts to Trump s Syria missile strikes Yes Donald Trump is a great big bag of contradictions and he just swaggered his way into the single most complex civil war in living memory a war that is even more complicated than raising a high-rise hotel in a foreign capital. At least Bush took more than a year after 9/11 before he invaded Iraq. Trump hasn t reached the 100-day mark and he s already walking into his own quagmire. Because he can t stop with one volley of Tomahawk missiles. There will be more human rights abuses and more massacres. And Trump will be forced to decide between bombing regime targets or bombing targets belonging to its biggest rebels: the Isis forces Trump has already condemned as the most evil group on the face of the planet. This was the kind of quandary Obama couldn t resolve. Could the US launch effective strikes without triggering a full war with the Assad regime and its Russian supporters? What would all those strikes do to the very civilians the US was supposedly concerned about? Trump now cares deeply about the suffering of Syria s civilians and refugees. Under any circumstances this is a development we should all welcome. The most vulnerable people on the planet need all the help they can get from anyone with any power to make a difference. Years of previous attempts at changing Assad s behavior have all failed and failed very dramatically Trump told the cameras on Thursday night. As a result the refugee crisis continues to deepen and the region continues to destabilize threatening the United States and its allies. It is very hard to square this Donald Trump with the Donald Trump who described Angela Merkel s refugee policy as an utterly catastrophic mistake and called the Iraq invasion possibly the worst decision that has ever been made in the history of our country . That other Donald Trump only made those pronouncements two months ago. The Guardian view on Syria missile strikes: a world defined by Trump s impulses | Editorial Read more Let s just pretend that Donald Trump has undergone a conversion of biblical proportions on the road to Damascus. Let s assume his old slogan of America first is nonoperational and his support for his own travel ban on six Muslim-majority countries has just been eviscerated by several dozen Tomahawks. For this conversion to stick for this moment of moral clarity to be credible we should now see a few immediate reversals on the rest of the Trump agenda. He might start with his revised Muslim travel ban (currently blocked by the courts) which halts all refugee entry for 120 days while his officials develop new ideological tests known as extreme vetting . He might welcome the refugees coming from Australia in what he used to call a dumb deal . He might reverse his proposed budget that guts funding for the United Nations overseas aid and the state department in general. This is after all a newly woke president who understands the importance of multilateral treaties monitored by the UN system. There can be no dispute that Syria used banned chemical weapons violated its obligations under the Chemical Weapons Convention and ignored the urging of the UN security council Trump said on Thursday night. The challenge for this all-new season of Trump is that his first and biggest test is credibility. The world needs to trust the United States: that these bombing targets are legitimate that the Syrian regime is indeed responsible and that the president has the legal authority and political support of the international community and Congress. Credibility and legitimacy it s fair to say have not been Trump s strong points to date. He has rejected the conclusions of his own intelligence agencies on Russia s interference in his own election. He believes climate change is a Chinese hoax. He insists on lying to world leaders about the size of his inauguration crowds and the nonexistent margin of his election victory. Let s hope for the sake of Syria s civilians whose suffering has been shamefully ignored for far too long that the new Donald Trump can straighten himself out in time for the next round of Tomahawks. WASHINGTON: It s the holey season in the American capital. The President wants to plug the constant leaks. The mayor has kicked off the annual Pothole Palooza to fill up thousands of pockmarks dotting the streets of Washington. But the Fake News Media as Donald Trump relishes to call it loves the holes -- ones of the political variety -- that drip drip juicy tales from his own spooks about his team s trysts with Putin s spies. It is the same Fake News Media that said there is no path to victory for Trump that is now pushing the phony Russia story thundered the tweeter-in-chief calling it A total scam! The real story turns out to be SURVEILLANCE and LEAKING! Find the leakers! the POTUS said doubling down on his old claim that his predecessor Barack Obama had spied on (him) before nomination . Calling it a crooked scheme against us he suggested that Obama s National Security Advisor Susan Rice may have committed a crime by asking the spooks to unmask names of Trump associates in intelligence reports about foreigners. Trump then turned to the failing New York Times to give them what he thought was going to be the biggest story -- It is one of the big stories of our time. Asked if he believed Rice committed a crime he told the Times Do I think? Yes I think so as he branded the Russia story a total hoax . Trump s attack on Rice came as Devin Nunes Republican chairman of the House Intelligence Committee stepped aside from his panel s Russia probe. Nunes had got into the crosshairs of the Democrats by telling Trump first that he and his associates may have been caught up in incidental collection of intelligence. The second Trump ally to step aside from the Russia probe after Attorney General Jeff Sessions did so as the House Ethics Committee launched an investigation into what he called false and politically motivated complaints of unauthorised disclosures of classified information . On her part Rice dismissed as absolutely false the president s ludicrous charge that the Obama officials utilised intelligence for political purposes . I leaked nothing to nobody and never have and never would Rice told MSNBC. But days after telling PBS I know nothing about this -- unmasking of Trump officials -- Rice acknowledged It was not uncommon to request the identities of Americans caught on intelligence surveillance of foreigners. It was necessary at times to make those requests she claimed. I don t have a particular recollection of doing that more frequently after the election. Jumping on the Russian bandwagon Hillary Clinton also came out of the woods to blame her stunning loss to Trump on Russian meddling FBI Director James Comey who reopened a probe of her email saga 11 days before the election WikiLeaks and misogyny . Meanwhile the POTUS moved his strategic advisor Stephen Bannon another bête noire of the liberal left from the front to the back seats of the National Security Council. The failing New York Times was quick to suggest that Trump was not pleased by the President Bannon puppet-master theme promoted http://buybacklinksz.blogzet.com/all-information-regarding-backlinks-1936997 by magazines late-night talk shows . Others suggested that Bannon had lost out in a turf war to Trump s son-in-law Jared Kushner who has a finger in every POTUS pie. Then even as he was having his first summit meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach Florida the commander-in-chief dropped 59 tomahawk missiles on Syria in a punitive strike for its use of poison gas. The decisive action by the America First president against Syrian leader Bashar Assad after his heinous attack crossed a lot of lines for me ... beyond a red line won Trump plaudits from both sides of the political divide. Confirmation of his Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch after the Republican controlled Senate exercised the nuclear option -- change of rules to lower confirmation threshold from 60 to 50 -- added icing to his cake. But Washington Post s wonkblog had another measure of Trump going presidential. Between his January 20 inauguration and March 31 Trump had posted 357 tweets with 60 percent of them ending with an exclamation mark. But if earlier most of his tweets had two three four and even 15 exclamation marks now he usually makes do with just one! (Arun Kumar can be contacted at arun.kumar@ians.in) A photograph tweeted out by White House press secretary Sean Spicer has given the world a look inside Donald Trump s Mar-a-Lago situation room . The president was at his Florida resort for talks with the Chinese president Xi Jinping when he gave approval for the launch of Tomahawk missiles aimed at one of Bashar al-Assad s airbases in Syria. Facebook Twitter Pinterest Trump s team in the situation room annotated. Photograph: Shealah Craighead/Photoshot/Aval/ZUMAPRESS.com After dinner on Thursday night he crammed around a small table in the resort s reportedly freshly constructed secure room for a briefing on the progress of the strike. The image released by Spicer on Friday shows Trump sitting at a table with secretary of state Rex Tillerson commerce secretary Wilbur Ross national security adviser HR McMaster chief of staff Reince Priebus special adviser and son-in-law Jared Kushner and others. Sitting on the sidelines is adviser Steve Bannon Stephen Miller and the sole woman in the group deputy national security advisor Dina Powell. Spicer is also in shot sitting alone in the corner near the door. It had a big impact on me story behind Trump s whirlwind missile response Read more The group was reportedly looking at a secure video feed of defence secretary Jim Mattis vice president Mike Pence and others telling Trump that 58 of the 59 rockets launched had hit their targets. The http://buybacklinksz.tblogz.com/how-to-search-for-backlinks-1956121 image of Trump and his team was instantly likened to the photograph of Barack Obama Hillary Clinton Joe Biden and others watching the raid that killed Osama bin Laden. Jim Sciutto (@jimsciutto) I wonder if the similarity to bin laden raid photo is intentional #SyriaStrikes pic.twitter.com/W6h69yGXOL April 7 2017 Oliver Willis (@owillis) he soooooo wants to have a bin laden raid photo https://t.co/AeDsP10vhQ April 7 2017 The photo was also pored over for clues as to who is in and out of the president s favour. Most noteworthy was the position of Kushner at Trump s table and Bannon on the periphery. There were also questions over why so many economy-related aides were present including Ross treasury secretary Steve Mnuchin and Gary Cohn director of the National Economic Council. But that could probably be explained by the other business at Mar-a-Lago Trump s meeting with Xi where trade was high on the agenda. Nicky Woolf (@NickyWoolf) why on earth is Mnuchin there? air strikes aren t exactly in the treasury brief https://t.co/ph358IN9JT April 7 2017 Garrett M. Graff (@vermontgmg) Part of what s striking is how few national security officials are in Trump s Syria photo.... https://t.co/zDxQE9QgAq April 7 2017 Zeke Miller (@ZekeJMiller) Interesting that Ross is there. He s technically not a member of NSC unless international economic issues are on the agenda https://t.co/sbYA2G0nH8 April 7 2017 HighlightsA theory blamed US deep state for gas attack in Syria not Assad regime Mike Cernovich Alex Jones Infowars called attack a false flag On Twitter reactions from the Trump Internet were fractured and furious For hours the Trump Internet warned that their president was being tricked. Mike Cernovich and Alex Jones s Infowars - both have earned praise from President Trump or those close to him in the recent past - promoted a conspiracy theory all day Thursday that blamed the U.S. deep state for the gas attack in Syria and not the Assad regime. Infowars called the attack a false flag meant to force the United States into a war.(The deep state is the conspiracy world s belief that career government workers can exert authority to influence policy disregarding elected officials.)Under the hashtag #SyriaHoax a part of Twitter that usually musters its powers to promote Trump s agenda started to urge Trump to stay out of Syria.One account tweeted We don t want war in Syria!! Don t believe the #SyriaHoax we need to focus on our own country right now. America First. I voted for you my whole family voted for you said Angelo John Gage a Marine veteran who was once the chairman of the white nationalist National Youth Front. We all busted our a--es to destroy the fake media news and now you re falling for it. His video reaction to rumors of U.S. military action in Syria was a direct address to Trump and it went viral. Both WikiLeaks and Infowars reposted it.Cernovich meanwhile livestreamed himself talking about Syria for about 11 hours total on Thursday. Days ago Cernovich was getting praise from Trump s son who suggested he should win a Pulitzer. He spent Thursday rallying his followers to try to change Trump s mind about intervention in Syria.Cernovich tweeted The White House comment line for @realDonaldTrump is 202-456-1111. Be sure to call to comment about Syria! 202-456-1111 Cernovich was adamant that Trump might actually listen to him and his readers for a decent reason: There s plenty of evidence that Trump reads and values conspiracy-theory sites like Infowars and Cernovich himself appears to have some readers in the Trump administration. On Sunday Cernovich was the first to report a story about Obama national security adviser Susan E. Rice requesting the unmasking of anonymous Americans named in foreign intelligence reports implying that he now has sources with access to that information. And on Thursday afternoon Cernovich said one of his sources told him U.S. airstrikes were possible in Syria that evening which turned out to be right (although rumors of a possibly military action were circulating around Washington much of the day).Several hours into his livestream however news broke that Trump hadn t listened to them. I don t know if this is true or not. This is not my journalism he said reading the news on his iPad while broadcasting live. I certainly don t want this to be true. As it became clear to him that it was true Cernovich said: This is appalling really. This is unbelievable. This is not what we voted for. This is definitely not what we voted for. Cernovich resumed taking listeners calls. One of the first after the strikes was particularly stark: Is the world over? Are we all gonna die now? the caller asked. Cernovich said it wasn t. The caller responded I m literally scared sh---less now. I might have to kill myself. Okay peace out. Another caller said that Trump s contract with the people was essentially void. On Twitter the reaction from the Trump Internet was fractured and furious. Paul Joseph Watson a Youtuber who writes for Infowars had one of the most dramatic.He tweeted a series of tweets that stated: I guess Trump wasn t Putin s puppet after all he was just another deep state/Neo-Con puppet. It s been fun lads but the fun is over. I ll be focusing my efforts on Le Pen who tried to warn Trump against this disaster. Guys I can t vehemently oppose destabilizing the Syrian government for 6 years and then support it just because Trump did it. Sorry. Others began to participate in a meme that s usually found only among Trump s opponents: digging up the president s old tweets on a given topic to point out his hypocrisy. Several people shared a photo of a Trump tweet from 2013 in which he wrote What I am saying is stay out of Syria. 4chan s /pol/ board was a mess overnight with posts trying to rationalize the missile strike criticizing Trump and blaming Trump s daughter Ivanka for the decision to take military action on Thursday. Others proclaimed their loyalty to Trump and dismissed his critics on the board as shills. Other Trump Internet personalities were trying to send a different message. Bill Mitchell for instance fired off a ton of tweets urging supporters to calm down: 1) Trump takes bold action. 2) Everyone freaks out. 3) Time passes and Trump proven right. 4) Everyone calms down. 5) Rinse and repeat... The same was true on r/The_Donald an enormous Reddit board best known for spamming Reddit with pro-Trump memes. On Friday morning one of the top posts there was titled I m Done with Trump. Click through though and the punchline is obvious. The body of the post says: . . . s book The Art of the Deal . What a fantastic read. Did I miss something? It s worth noting though that r/The_Donald also has a very strict rule against disrespecting Trump in any posts there.Still it s hard to say right now how many of Trump s now-furious supporters will jump off the Trump train for good because of this. Some even found a silver lining in the idea that maybe this would give the impression that the Trump Internet isn t completely a propaganda machine for whatever the president does. Cernovich ended Thursday night with the conclusion that Trump s better nature got the best of him in authorizing an attack because he has a soft spot for children.(Except for the headline this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)