By Noah Bierman
Tribune Washington Bureau
WASHINGTON, D.C. — President Donald Trump, facing an international crisis in Syria and a personal one with the FBI raid of his attorney’s office and residence, abruptly canceled a planned trip to South America.
Trump had planned to leave Washington on Friday for a whirlwind journey to Peru and Colombia, highlighted by the Summit of the Americas gathering of international leaders in Peru. The visit would have been his first to the region as president.
The White House, in a statement Tuesday morning, attributed Trump’s cancellation to the alleged chemical weapons attack in Syria over the weekend.
“The president will remain in the United States to oversee the American response to Syria and to monitor developments around the world,” Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said.
Trump said Monday he would “forcefully” respond to the apparent chemical weapons attack, which U.S. officials have blamed on the Syrian government and its allies, and would soon decide how.
Vice President Mike Pence will attend the Latin America summit in Trump’s place.
A year ago, Trump was absent from the White House when the U.S. launched missiles at Syria following another chemical weapons attack. At the time, Trump was holding an international meeting at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Fla.
The fact that he decided he needs to remain in the country this time could suggest that the response to this latest incident will be more prolonged than last year’s single strike.
At the same time, however, in addition to the Syria crisis, Trump has been fuming over Monday’s FBI raid of Michael Cohen, his personal attorney. He unleashed an angry tirade to reporters Monday night followed by terse tweets Tuesday morning.
“A TOTAL WITCH HUNT!!!” he tweeted.
“Attorney—client privilege is dead!” he wrote in another tweet.
Trump is extremely unpopular in Latin America, in large part because of his harsh language about illegal immigration and drug smuggling, with one major poll putting his approval rate at 16 percent. But his absence could reflect poorly on U.S. interest in the region, particularly since he has yet to visit.
President Bill Clinton skipped an Asia summit at the last minute in 1998, sending Vice President Al Gore to Japan. At the time, Clinton was also facing a Middle East crisis in Iraq and an investigation that led to impeachment charges.
