Trump’s impatience to strike Syria collides with British prudence

Published April 12, 2018 10:58am ET



MEETINGS, CALLS, MORE MEETINGS: President Trump is scheduled to meet with his national security team today, amid signs that his promised quick response to Syrian President Bashar Assad’s chemical attack is being met with caution by allies Britain and France.

TWO BIG QUESTIONS: In London today, Prime Minister Theresa May called an emergency meeting of her Cabinet to discuss just what Britain is prepared to do in response to Trump’s call for a swift retaliatory attack. While May has said publicly “all the indications” are the Syrian regime was responsible for last weekend’s chemical strike, British media reports say May is resisting a rush to act quickly, and has privately requested more evidence from the Americans. May, who conferred with French President Emmanuel Macron yesterday, is also said to want assurances that another military strike would accomplish more than last year’s U.S. cruise missile attack, which Assad shrugged off, and which failed to curb his use of chlorine bombs.

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