CNN host and longtime Donald Trump critic Fareed Zakaria praised the president Friday morning after he ordered cruise missile strikes on a Syrian airfield believed to be used for a chemical weapons attack on civilians.
"It is day 78 of the Trump presidency. What changed last night?" asked Alisyn Camerota, host of CNN's "New Day."
"I think Donald Trump became president of the United States," Zakaria responded. "I think this was actually a big moment."
Zakaria noted that Trump had resisted the notion of military action against Syria throughout the course of the 2016 campaign.
"President Trump recognized that the president of the United States does have to act to enforce international norms, does have to have this broader moral and political purpose," he said.
"For the first time really as president, he talked about international norms, international rules, about America's role in enforcing justice in the world. It was the kind of rhetoric we have come to expect from American presidents since Harry Truman," Zakaria concluded.
Zakaria's tone towards Trump represented a marked contrast from his earlier statements on the president. The CNN host caused a bit of a stir during the 2016 election by calling Trump a "bullshit artist" on live TV.
"He's spent his whole life bullshitting," he said as late as last month. "He's succeeded by bullshitting. He has gotten the presidency by bullshitting."