After chemical attack, Donald Trump turns from resigned to resolved

By JONATHAN LEMIRE and VIVIAN SALAMAnnnPALM BEACH:USA President Donald Trump first saw the photos Tuesday morning.nnThe images were ghastly. Men and women gasping for breath. Small children foaming at the mouth and in agony. The lifeless bodies of babies sprawled on the ground.nnThis was the aftermath of a chemical attack ordered by Syrian President Bashar Assad, who the U.S. would soon conclude had unleashed sarin gas, a brutal nerve toxin, on his own people. The president peppered his advisers with questions, according to national security adviser H.R. McMaster, who later said Trump was immediately focused on getting to the bottom of “who was responsible.”nnBy the end of the briefing, the president had dispatched his team to draw up options for a response.nnThe leap to considering intervention was remarkable. In 2013, Trump had argued against military intervention in Syria when it was President Barack Obama’s decision to make. He had hardly portrayed himself as a humanitarian crusader on the campaign, when he adopted the slogan “America First.”nnJust last week, the White House declared itself resigned to the status quo of a Syria led by Assad. It was “a political reality that we have to accept,” White House spokesman Sean Spicer had said.nnBut as Trump spent Tuesday in meetings about the nation’s business climate and his infrastructure plan, the images from Syria weighed on him, his aides said. He was disturbed by images of “babies,” some the ages of his grandchildren.nnTuesday evening the National Security Council’s Deputies Committee briefed Trump with options, a meeting that set in motion a new president’s startling transformation from resigned to resolved to act.nn___nnUnder the spring sunshine in the Rose Garden, 24 hours after his first briefing on the chemical attack, Trump was asked what he thought.nnStanding next to King Abdullah II of Jordan, the typically blustering president was unusually grave.nnHe revealed his horror, saying the images “of innocent children, innocent babies” killed by poison gas were causing him to rethink his approach on Syria.nn”It’s very, very possible, and I will tell you it has already happened, that my attitude toward Syria and Assad has changed very much,” Trump said. The attack “crossed a lot of lines for me.”nn”I now have responsibility,” Trump said, “and I will have that responsibility and carry it very proudly.”nnLater that afternoon, Trump convened a meeting his top national security advisers to review three options ranging in levels of risk and scope. The details on each are not clear. But a U.S. official with knowledge of the proposals said one plan would have targeted a number of chemical weapons sites, a move that would have directly diminished Assad’s ability to carry out future attacks.nnBut the military was concerned that if an attack resulted in chemical agents being dispersed, the U.S. could be blamed for any sickness or death, said the official, who was not authorized to discuss secret military plans. Another option was the firing of Tomahawk missiles at an air field, an attack viewed as sending a signal to Assad. It was recommended by the Pentagon, the official said, and the one Trump would ultimately choose.nnBut not yet.nnTrump agreed to meet with the team again Thursday.nn___nnThe turbulence was so bad on Air Force One from Washington to Palm Beach, Florida, on Thursday afternoon that Spicer’s cup of coffee went flying against a cabin wall. Trump and a number of aides were flying to the president’s Mar-a-Lago resort for a summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping. The much-anticipated meeting, unbeknownst to the reporters onboard, would soon be overshadowed.nnElsewhere on that same aircraft, Trump convened his national security team and consulted with others, including Vice President Mike Pence, over secure video conference to discuss the options again. The president was close to a decision.nnAfter the meeting he stopped by the press cabin to talk to reporters. As a scene from the “Star Wars” movie “Rogue One” played on the TV over his shoulder, he called the chemical attack “a disgrace to humanity” and hinted that “something should happen,” but offered no further details.nnShortly after landing in Florida, Trump and the team huddled again, this time in a freshly constructed secure room at Trump’s palatial oceanside estate. Trump then gave approval to launch nearly 60 Tomahawk cruise missiles at the airfield believed to be the source of the chemical attacksnn___nnAn hour later Trump’s party was dining on pan-seared Dover sole with champagne sauce and dry-aged prime New York strip steak.nnThough Trump had just given the order, he delighted in playing the gracious host for Xi, escorting the Chinese president and his wife around his lush estate. The group drew applause and stares as they passed the patio filled with club members before all sat down to dinner at the 32-seat table in the private dining room, with light flowing in from the windows facing the water.nnTrump, who made talking tough about the need to improve trade deals with China a centerpiece of his campaign, was generous with Xi, declaring that the two men “are going to have a very, very great relationship and I look very much forward to it.”nnEven as American missiles streaked across the Syrian sky, Trump gave no outward indication of what he had ordered, making good on his campaign promise never to publicly telegraph his military strategy.nnAround 8:30 p.m. on the East Coast, the first missiles slammed into the Syrian air base. Only then did Trump inform Xi of what he had done.nn___nnOn Thursday night, more than a dozen of Trump’s highest-ranking aides crammed around a small table in the secure room at Mar-a-Lago for a briefing on the strikes.nnTo the president’s left was Tillerson, to his right Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross. Rival factions competing for his Trump’s ear ? outsider conservatives led by Steve Bannon, moderates led by his powerful son-in-law Jared Kushner ? also squeezed inside. Over a secure video feed, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, Pence and others told Trump that 58 of the 59 rockets launched had hit their targets.nnA photo of the moment tweeted by Spicer evoked the shot of Obama and his inner circle in the Situation Room watching the raid that killed Osama bin Laden.nnSoon after they left the room, Trump delivered a statement to the nation that was arranged so hastily that TV news crews were not able to broadcast it live.nn”It is in this vital national security interest of the United States to prevent and deter the spread and use of deadly chemical weapons,” said Trump. He concluded by saying, “We hope that as long as America stands for justice, then peace and harmony will, in the end, prevail.”nnTrump finished after just three minutes. As he left, the clink of wine glasses and plates could be heard as the wait staff cleaned up dinner.nnSource: AP, Lemire reported from New York. Associated Press writers Darlene Superville, Lolita C. Baldor and Catherine Lucey in Washington contributed to this report.nnFollow Lemire on Twitter at http://twitter.com/@JonLemire and Salama at http://twitter.com/@vmsalama