Hillary Clinton criticizes Trump on Syria, N. Korea

Hillary Clinton admitted at a women’s event that she supported the Syrian airstrike, though she said it wouldn’t make much difference. She also called Syria and North Korea “wicked problems,” taking several jabs at President Donald Trump’s foreign policy.

The former secretary of state was the featured speaker at the Women for Women International luncheon in New York City on Tuesday, being interviewed on stage by CNN’s Christiane Amanpour. Clinton started with a pointed appeal to Trump.

“I am going to publicly request that this administration not end our efforts making women’s rights and opportunities central to American foreign policy and national security,” Clinton said.

That request comes a day after an internal Trump administration memo called for ending the Let Girls Learn program, former First Lady Michelle Obama’s signature education initiative for girls in developing countries.

Syria is “one of those wicked problems,” Clinton said after Amanpour asked her about Trump’s decision to launch airstrikes against a Syrian air base after President Bashar Assad’s forces allegedly used chemical weapons to attack civilians.

Clinton said she supported the US airstrikes, but not publicly because “that wasn’t my role.” However, she continued, “I am not convinced that it really made much of a difference, and I don’t know what kind of potentially backroom deals were made with the Russians.”

“There’s a lot that we don’t really yet fully know about what was part of that strike,” she added. “And if all it was was a one-off effort, it’s not going to have much of an effect.”