‘Heartbroken and Outraged, Ivanka Influenced Donald Trump’s Decision to Strike Syria’  

US President Donald Trump's oldest daughter weighed in on his response to the Syrian chemical weapons attack, the White House says.

White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer told reporters at his daily press briefing on Wednesday that "there is no question that" Ivanka Trump and others "weighed into him" on the decision.

The president's son, Eric Trump, told The Daily Telegraph in an interview that the President had been influenced by his sister's reaction to the gas attack that killed dozens last week.

Eric Trump said his sister was "heartbroken and outraged" by the attack.

Eric Trump says his father is "a great thinker, practical not impulsive".

Eric Trump told the Telegraph his father's decision to attack Syria proved that he is not in league with Russia and will not be "pushed around" by Vladimir Putin.

"If they disrespect us and if they cross us, fine. There will be no one harder - he has got more backbone than anybody. We're no worse off than we were before. Maybe we're finding that we can't be."

Asked about Putin's threats of military escalation over Syria, he told the Telegraph his father was not easily intimidated. "I can tell you he is tough and he won't be pushed around. The cards will shake out the way they do, but he's tough."

The president was "deeply affected" by the television images in the aftermath of the Syrian chemical attack of children being "sprayed down by hoses to keep their skin from burning", Eric Trump said.

He added: "Ivanka is a mother of three kids and she has influence. I'm sure she said: 'Listen, this is horrible stuff.' My father will act in times like that. And, by the way, he was anti doing anything with Syria two years ago. Then a leader gasses their own people, women and children, at some point America is the global leader, and the world's superpower has to come forward and act, and they did with a lot of support of our allies and I think that's a great thing."

Ivanka Trump, who is employed as an official adviser to her father in the White House, said on Twitter she was "heartbroken and outraged by the images coming out of Syria following the atrocious chemical attack" last Wednesday.

She subsequently praised her father's decision to take the strike.