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Trump likely to gain popularity after missile strike

Author
Newstalk ZB Staff/AAP,
Publish Date
Sat, 8 Apr 2017, 6:25AM
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Trump likely to gain popularity after missile strike

Author
Newstalk ZB Staff/AAP,
Publish Date
Sat, 8 Apr 2017, 6:25AM

UPDATED 8.53am

Donald Trump is expected to gain popularity at home for his missile strike in Syria.

Auckland University international relations expert Stephen Hoadley says the US President has sent a very severe message to Assad about the use of chemical weapons.

READ MORE: Trump launches missile strike on Syria

He said many people will cheer Donald Trump for taking direct action.

"It'll relieve that period of uncertainty that we felt about the Trump administration; indecisive, divided against itself- well now here's a very decisive action that no doubt will attract public support."

Hoadley said the public, as always, will be divided - but history shows people like a decisive President.

Although he also admits that even if the action itself may be justified, the possibility it will escalate is scary.

"The worry is of course that there'll be misunderstanding, there'll be overreaction, it'll be tit for tat actions and the proxy conflict in the Middle East between the United States and Saudi and the Golf states on the one side, and Russia and Iran and Syria on the other could escalate into further armed conflict."

Stephen Hoadley says that would not be good for oil prices.

US Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin has told reporters that he plans to announce additional economic sanctions aimed at Syria in the near future, part of the US response to a poison gas attack that Western countries say was carried out by the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

"We expect that those (sanctions) will continue to have an important effect on preventing people from doing business with them," Mnuchin said today.

"These sanctions are very important and we will use them the maximum effect."

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