Take a look at the week in politics from April 8 through 14.
Surface-to-air missile fire erupts above Damascus, Syria, in the early hours of Saturday. The United States, in coordination with the United Kingdom and France, launched missile strikes against three targets associated with Syria’s chemical weapons program in retaliation for the country’s alleged chemical attack.
President Donald Trump announces to the American public that he “ordered the United States armed forces to launch precision strikes on targets associated with the chemical weapon capabilities of Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad” on Friday night. On Saturday morning, Trump hailed the strikes as “perfectly executed,” declaring on Twitter, “Mission accomplished!”
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg sits for photographers ahead of his testimony before a joint hearing of the Senate Commerce and Judiciary Committees on Tuesday. It was one of two congressional hearings at which Zuckerberg testified. His appearances on Capitol HIll came in the wake of the Cambridge Analytica data scandal.
House Speaker Paul Ryan on Wednesday announced he will not seek re-election. Ryan has endorsed Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy to succeed him as speaker.
Teachers strike at the state capital in Oklahoma on Monday to protest for better teacher pay, working conditions and school funding. The walkout ended Thursday after nine days.
Members of the Arizona National Guard take a break at the Papago Park Military Reservation in Phoenix on Monday. Arizona deployed its first 225 National Guard members to the Mexican border after President Trump’s directive last week.
Russian Ambassador to the United Nations Vassily Nebenzia and United States Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley greet each other at the beginning of a United Nations Security Council meeting on Tuesday. On Friday, Haley slammed Russia for complicity in Syria’s alleged chemical attack. Saturday, following overnight strikes on Syria by the United States, United Kingdom and France, she continued to blame Russia for propping up the Assad regime’s use of chemical weapons.
President Trump signs a measure Wednesday aimed at curbing online sex trafficking. The new law paves the way for victims to hold websites accountable for knowingly facilitating sex trafficking.
Secretary of State designate Mike Pompeo testifies before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee during his confirmation hearing Thursday. Pompeo faces an uphill confirmation battle. Two key Democrats on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee are signaling they won’t back him, meaning he could be the first secretary of state nominee to receive an unfavorable committee vote since 1925.
Former US President Bill Clinton holds hands with former British Prime Minister Tony Blair at an event Tuesday marking the 20th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement in Belfast, Northern Ireland.
President Trump’s personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, arrives back at his Manhattan hotel on Tuesday. On Monday, the FBI raided Cohen’s home, office and hotel room. FBI agents removed Cohen’s computer, cell phone, business files and financial documents, and also sought communications related to the “Access Hollywood” tape that captured Trump making lewd remarks about women, sources familiar with the matter have told CNN. Trump slammed the raid as “an attack on our country.”
Florida Gov. Rick Scott holds a Senate campaign rally in Hialeah, Florida, on Tuesday. Scott formally kicked off his campaign against incumbent Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson on Monday.
A staffer exits the Senate subway with a poster detailing EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt’s ethics issues on Wednesday. Former EPA deputy chief of staff Kevin Chmielewski alleged to congressional investigators this week that Pruitt routinely directed staffers to book expensive hotels, help him earn frequent flier miles and schedule meetings to align with his personal travel desires.
Ivanka Trump attends a meeting with Peruvian women at the Lima Stock Market, in Lima, Peru, on Thursday. The first daughter and presidential adviser is in South America as part of the US delegation for the Summit of the Americas. along with Vice President Mike Pence. President Trump canceled his trip to the summit on Tuesday in order to monitor the US response to Syria.
Former ambassador John Bolton attends a cabinet meeting on Monday, his first day as White House national security adviser. In his first week in the role, Bolton oversaw the dismissals of spokesman Michael Anton, homeland security adviser Tom Bossert, and Nadia Schadlow, the deputy national security adviser for strategy.
100 cutouts of Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg were seen on the Capitol lawn Tuesday ahead of Zuckerberg’s congressional testimonies. The display was the work of global activist group Avaaz, which wants Zuckerberg, Internet CEOs and government regulators to fight disinformation campaigns across Facebook and other social platforms.
President Donald Trump walks from the Oval Office to the Rose Garden to discuss tax policy on Thursday. Republican senators who met with the President that day said he is directing his top trade and economic advisers to look into re-entering the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement, from which the United States withdrew in January 2017.