Meeting in the Oval Office with King Abdullah II of Jordan, President Trump immediately brought up the deadly chemical attack in Syrian, calling it a “horrible thing.”
He signaled that the U.S. would not stand by while Syrian President Bashar Assad uses chemical weapons on civilians, including killing dozens of children.
He refused to say what action he’s considering.
In response to a reporter’s question about a U.S. response to Syria, Mr. Trump said: “You’ll see.”
“These are very troubled times in the Middle East. And we see what happened just recently, yesterday in Syria. Horrible. Horrible thing. Unspeakable,” said Mr. Trump, seated beside King Abdullah, who is spending the day at the White House.
First lady Melania Trump and Queen Rania Al-Abdullah stood behind their husbands as photographers snapped shots.
“But I want to thank you both very much for being at the White House, and we’re going to have some interesting discussions,” he told the king and queen.
Jordan could play an important role in the U.S. response to the chemical attack Tuesday, which killed as many as 100 people, including dozens of children.
The Trump administration blamed the Assad regime. Mr. Trump has refused to “telegraph” what moves he might take in response.
A Middle East peace deal is expected to top the agenda at meetings throughout the day, but other major topics include the crisis in Syria and Jordan’s role in the fight to destroy the Islamic State terror group.
• S.A. Miller can be reached at smiller@washingtontimes.com.
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