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Darth Vader was on Air Force One's TV as President Trump moved to bomb Syria

Christopher Hooton
Friday 07 April 2017 11:03 BST
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(Getty)

A photo has been taken on Air Force One of President Donald Trump next to Darth Vader, with Rogue One being shown on one of the plane's screens as Trump travelled to his "Winter White House" Mar-a-Lago, where he announced a missile strike on Syria.

The POTUS spoke briefly to press, who had presumably put on the Star Wars film while waiting - an interesting choice of film which sees Vader plotting to dominate the universe with powerful superweapons.

Syrian troops were killed last night in the US missile strikes on a government airbase thought to be the source of a devastating chemical attack.

Trump ordered the firing of 59 cruise missiles, leading Russia to suspend a memorandum with the US that prevented incidents and ensured flight safety.

Under the memorandum, signed after Russia launched an air campaign in Syria in September 2015, Russia and the US had exchanged information about their flights to avoid incidents in the crowded skies over Syria - where Russia has several dozen warplanes and batteries of air-defense missiles.

A statement from the Russian Foreign Ministry read: "The very presence of US troops and other countries on the territory of Syria, without the consent of the Government or the decision of the UN Security Council is a gross, obvious and unwarranted violation of international law.

"If before it was due to the task of combating terrorism, now there is a clear act of aggression against a sovereign Syria. US Actions taken today further destroy the Russian-American relations."

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