In April, Trump ordered a devastating cruise missile strike on a Syrian airfield in retaliation for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s sarin gas attack on civilians. The overwhelming display of firepower consisted of at least 50 Tomahawk missiles fired from a U.S. destroyer in the Mediterranean, which completely destroyed the air base.
The strike infuriated the Kremlin, with Putin calling it a “significant blow” to bilateral relations and Russian Prime Minister Dimitri Medvedv saying Trump had “completely ruined” any chance of easing tensions.