United States

Neil Gorsuch’s confirmation to the Supreme Court, the air strike on Syria, and threatening Kim Jong-Un with “fire and fury”

Another objective high on the list of Republican priorities during the 2016 election, the selection of a judicial conservative to replace Scalia on the Supreme Court, was accomplished in April with the Senate’s confirmation of Trump’s nominee, Neil Gorsuch. Democrats attempted to employ a filibuster to block Gorsuch’s appointment, but the Republican majority changed the Senate rules to remove the 60-vote minimum required to terminate debate and proceeded to a confirmation vote. In the event, Gorsuch was confirmed by a 54–45 vote that went largely along party lines.

In the meantime, several high-profile foreign policy issues heated up. On April 6, 2017, responding to a chemical weapons attack by the government of Bashar al-Assad that killed some 80 Syrian civilians, Trump ordered an air strike on the Syrian air base at which the chemical attack had originated. Nearly five dozen Tomahawk missiles were launched against the air base from warships in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. The attack increased the already high tensions between the United States and Russia, which supported the Assad government.

Elsewhere, the regime of Kim Jong-Un in North Korea stepped up its aggressive development of missile-launched nuclear weapons. Departing from the Obama administration’s policy of “strategic patience,” which sought to use sanctions and political isolation to make an impact on North Korean behaviour, Trump attempted to persuade China, which was broadly engaged with North Korea, to use its influence to restrain Kim Jong-Un. At the same time, Trump issued sabre-rattling warnings to Kim Jong-Un while U.S. and South Korean forces undertook joint military exercises as a show of strength. A defiant North Korea responded in early July with its first successful launch test of an intercontinental ballistic missile, which was interpreted by experts as having a range capable of reaching Alaska. On August 8 Trump warned North Korea not to make any more threats to the United States, promising that threats would be met with “fire and fury like the world has never seen.”