FOREIGN POLICY/NORTH KOREA/SYRIA/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “A confluence of crises in Syria and North Korea is forcing President Donald Trump to re-evaluate his fledgling foreign policy, deciding which advisers he will listen to and which campaign pledges to jettison.
The apparent chemical-weapons attack in Syria and the latest ballistic missile test by North Korea raise the stakes for two upcoming events: Mr. Trump’s summit this week with Chinese President Xi Jinping , a key ally of North Korea, and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson’s planned visit next week to Russia, a patron of the Syrian regime.
The president has signaled in recent days that he is willing to scramble the U.S. approach to North Korea, including by using military force, and he put his stance on Syria in play as well in a news conference on Wednesday [4-5-17].”
-Carol E. Lee and Felicia Schwartz, “Donald Trump’s Foreign Policy Tested by Syria, North Korea Crises,” The Wall Street Journal online, April 5, 2017 8:01pm