Trump told Xi of Syria strikes over 'beautiful piece of chocolate cake'

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US President Donald Trump informed Chinese President Xi Jinping of US missile strikes on Syria as they were having dessert at the Mar-a-Lago estate. Photo: AFP

Published: 12:17am, 13 Apr 2017Updated: 12:17am, 13 Apr 2017

US President Donald Trump informed the Chinese President Xi Jinping that he had launched missile strikes on Syria as the pair ate “the most beautiful piece of chocolate cake that you have ever seen”, the US president has claimed.

In an interview with Fox Business, Trump offered his first account of how he had broken the news to Xi as they dined at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida at the start of a two-day bridge-building summit last Thursday.

“I was sitting at the table. We had finished dinner. We are now having dessert. And we had the most beautiful piece of chocolate cake that you have ever seen. And President Xi was enjoying it,” Trump said.

“And I was given the message from the generals that the ships are locked and loaded. What do you do? And we made a determination to do it. So the missiles were on the way.

.@POTUS tells @MariaBartiromo he told President Xi about the Missile strikes over "the most beautiful piece of chocolate cake." pic.twitter.com/vPLu7ZhxbR

— FOX Business (@FoxBusiness) April 12, 2017

“And I said: ‘Mr President, let me explain something to you … we’ve just launched 59 missiles, heading to Iraq [sic] … heading toward Syria and I want you to know that.’

“I didn’t want him to go home … and then they say: ‘You know the guy you just had dinner with just attacked [Syria].’”