Trump said Obama needed war authority from Congress. Will he ask for it now?

WASHINGTON — Four years ago, Donald Trump insisted that then-President Barack Obama needed congressional approval for military strikes inside Syria after a chemical attack blamed on Bashar Assad’s government. Top Democrats and some Republicans in Congress say it is now President Trump’s duty to seek similar war-making authority.

In August 2013, Trump delivered his blunt message on Twitter. “What will we get for bombing Syria besides more debt and a possible long term conflict? Obama needs Congressional approval,” the entrepreneur said.

Nearly four years later, some lawmakers are sending a similar message to the new commander in chief after he rained missiles on a Syrian airbase thought to be the point of origin for a regime chemical attack earlier this week. Syria’s government has rejected blame for the atrocity, which killed dozens of civilians, including children, in an area near Turkey’s border mostly controlled by anti-Assad rebels, and drew global outrage.