After the election of Donald Trump, the U.S. no longer wished to remove Assad from power. That changed after the Khan Shaykhun chemical attack. Donald Trump ordered missile strikes to hit a Syrian airbase. Assad responded by saying that the United States's behaviour was an "unjust and arrogant aggression." He also said that the Syrian army had given up all its chemical weapons in 2013. He claimed that the chemical attack was a lie and was used to justify a U.S. airstrike.