But both statements suggest the aim of the strike was to punish Assad, not to defend the United States.
Thursday night's strikes - some 60 cruise missiles fired from two ships in the Mediterranean - were the culmination of a rapid, three-day transformation for Trump, who has long opposed deeper US involvement in Syria's civil war.
Syria's conflict began in March 2011 with anti-government protests, but has since spiraled into a bitter and complex civil war that has drawn in global players and jihadist fighters.
Their comments came as Tillerson was making the Trump administration's first official trip this week to Russian Federation, a staunch Assad ally.
"We strongly condemn the illegitimate actions by the US The consequences of this for regional and worldwide stability could be extremely serious", Russia's deputy UN envoy, Vladimir Safronkov, told a meeting of the UN Security Council on Friday.
JUDY WOODRUFF: Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the missile strike was fully warranted, but may not be enough.
After dinner Thursday, the president informed Xi that US missiles had just made impact in Syria. Videos can be found online purporting to show Russian helicopters at the base as recently as February, but Fox News quotes Pentagon briefers stating "no Russian aircraft were at the Sharyat airfield" when the missiles struck.
Pentagon and USA -led coalition officials have said they do not work hand in hand with Syrian and Russian forces in fighting IS, though they admit to sometimes using a "deconfliction channel" to make Russian commanders aware of their military positions and intentions.
The previous day US President Donald Trump said pictures of the Khan Sheikhun victims in agony, had "an enormous impact" on him.
He said, "Syria launched a horrific chemical attack on innocent civilians".
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Reactions were more cautious among officials at the United Nations in NY, where the U.N. Security Council discussed the USA missile strike during an inconclusive meeting on Friday. The White House insisted it was a one-off attack prompted by humanitarian concerns about the Assad regime's use of prohibited weapons.
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: It is in this vital national security interest of the United States to prevent and deter the spread and use of deadly chemical weapons. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said Thursday that "steps are underway" to form a coalition of nations that would look to remove Assad from power.
Jack Goldsmith, a Harvard Law School professor and head of the Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel during the Bush administration, sardonically tweeted that whatever the legal basis for the strikes is, it "exceeds all prior precedents under domestic and worldwide law".
That became the justification for Trump to authorize "a targeted military strike on the airfield in Syria from where the chemical attack was apparently launched".
The governor of Homs, Talal Barazi, said that the strike proves that the United States is supporting terrorism within Syria. Mr. Barazi told Syrian News Channel that "they are not surprised today to see the supporting parties interfering directly after the failure of terrorists in targeting Syria". With this action, President Trump reestablished a red line on the use of chemical weapons. Some 80 people died in the sarin gas attack Tuesday, which was carried out by the Syrian regime, according to USA officials.
Russian Federation joined the war on Assad's behalf in 2015, turning the momentum in his favor.
Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said the country "strongly supports the swift and just response of the United States".
"Italy understands the reasons for the USA military action", Foreign Minister Angelino Alfano said on Twitter, according to a translation by Reuters, which also reported Alfano calling it "a signal of deterrence against the risks of further use of chemical weapons by Assad". The base's runway was still in use. Those trips were apparently being monitored by US radar systems at the time, and shortly after there were reports that people in the area were suffering symptoms consistent with exposure to chemical weapons. The strike came as a response to the chemical attack in Idlib on April 4 and targeted what Washington claims was a starting location for the attack.
For months, the US -led coalition spearheading the fight against the Islamic State group has conducted a delicate detente, fighting in northern Syria while also turning a watchful eye on Syrian forces and Russian jets targeting the terrorist group.
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