Politics

Trump To Skip South America Junket To Oversee Syria Response

NICHOLAS KAMM/AFP/Getty Images

Saagar Enjeti White House Correspondent
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President Donald Trump will skip his scheduled trip to South America later this week to oversee the U.S. response to Syria, White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said in a Tuesday morning statement.

“President Trump will not attend the 8th Summit of the Americas in Lima, Peru or travel to Bogota, Colombia as originally scheduled. At the President’s request, the Vice President will travel in his stead,” Sanders said, adding “the President will remain in the United States to oversee the American response to Syria and to monitor developments around the world.”

Trump’s Syria response comes after Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad is suspected of using chemical weapons against civilians Saturday. The attack killed dozens of women and children. The President previously struck Assad for using Sarin gas against civilians in April 2017 and publicly is incensed at the regime’s repeated action.

“We’re making a decision as to what we do with respect to the horrible attack that was made near Damascus.  And it will be met, and it will be met forcefully,” he said Monday evening. “We can’t let atrocities like we all witnessed — and you can see that and it’s horrible — we can’t let that happen. In our world, we can’t let that happen, especially when we’re able to — because of the power of the United States, because of the power of our country — we’re able to stop it.”