Donald Trump's decision to launch a cruise missile attack on Syria proved that he is not in league with Russia and will not be "pushed around" by Vladimir Putin, the US president's son has said.
Eric Trump said his father was not intimidated by the Russian president's talk of war, and there would be "no one harder" than President Trump if they "cross us".
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Spicer: Trump acted 'decisively' on Syria
White House press secretary Sean Spicer defends US military action against Syria, after President Donald Trump ordered airstrikes last week, saying: "If you gas a baby ... I think you will see a response from this president."
He also confirmed that President Trump's decision to bomb a Syrian airbase to punish President Bashar al-Assad for a nerve gas attack last week was influenced by the reaction of his sister Ivanka, who said she was "heartbroken and outraged" by the atrocity.
Eric Trump, 33, the president's second son, who has taken over the running of his father's property empire, with his brother Donald Jnr, warned Mr Putin his father was "deeply committed" to building what could be the world's largest ever peacetime military force as he is a "big believer" in Ronald Reagan's philosophy of achieving peace through strength.
President Trump pledged to improve relations with Mr Putin during his campaign for the White House but his new administration has been plagued with allegations of close entanglements with Russian officials.
Eric Trump said his father was merely arguing that the US should try to be "best friends with other superpowers" if that was possible and described allegations of links with the Russian regime as "ridiculous".
He said: "If there was anything that Syria did, it was to validate the fact that there is no Russia tie."
Speaking at the Trump Turnberry golf resort in Ayrshire, he said: "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 Mr Putin's threats of military escalation over Syria, he said of his father: "He is not a guy who gets 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."
He said his father 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". Mr Trump, whose wife is pregnant with their first child, said: "It was horrible. These guys are savages and I'm glad he responded the way he responded."
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."
Ms Trump, who is employed as an official advisor 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.
The times we are living in call for difficult decisions - Proud of my father for refusing to accept these horrendous crimes against humanity https://t.co/yV0oJuC9dE
— Ivanka Trump (@IvankaTrump) April 7, 2017
Eric Trump rejected claims his father had acted impulsively after seeing the images, saying the president was "a great thinker, practical not impulsive". He added: "I'm proud he took that action - and, believe me, he thinks things through."
The Daily Telegraph