President Donald Trump is denouncing the chemical attack on Syrian civilians, calling it an "affront to humanity."
Trump said as he welcomed King Abdullah II of Jordan, "These are very troubled times in the Middle East."
He calls the attack a "horrible thing, unspeakable" and says, "It's a terrible affront to humanity."
Trump also thanked the king and his wife for visiting the White House, saying the two leaders will engage in some "very interesting discussions."
Asked how he plans to respond to the attack he blames on Syrian President Bashar Assad, Trump said, "You'll see."
A suspected chemical attack in a town in Syria's rebel-held northern Idlib province killed dozens of people on Tuesday. It's one of the worst attacks in the country's six-year civil war.
Meanwhile, a senior European Union official says international donors have pledged $6 billion to help conflict-torn Syria this year, a figure in line with their target.
EU Humanitarian Aid Commissioner Christos Stylianides said donors from more than 70 countries meeting in Brussels on Wednesday had made a "collective pledge of $6 billion for this year alone."
Stylianides says Syria's "needs are massive. Our conference is sending a powerful message. We are not letting down the people of Syria."
He described the pledge made at the conference as "an impressive figure. These commitments are significant."
President Trump also said that the goal of "any responsible refugee policy" is to pave the way for refugees to return home.
Trump said he intends "finally to advance the cause of peace in the Middle East" and to the refugee crisis that has reached the worst since World War II.
Trump said he would partner with Jordan and other regional allies, including Egypt and Iraq, to address the problem.
The United Nations last week said that the number of Syrian refugees alone has exceeded 5 million.
Trump recently signed an executive order to temporarily ban Syrian refugees, as well as travelers from six Muslim-majority nations, from traveling to the U.S. That ban has been challenged by the courts.
King Abdullah is often considered one of the closest, if not the closest, U.S. allies in the Middle East. This isn’t the first time Trump has met with the Jordanian king. Trump in February met with Abdullah and discussed the possibility of establishing safe zones in Syria, according to a White House statement about the meeting. Trump has highlighted Jordan’s help in the U.S. fight against the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS).
Trump is also scheduled to meet with Chinese president Xi Jinping at his Mar-a-Lago club in Florida later this week.
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