FOREIGN POLICY/SYRIA/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT/TRUMP PEOPLE/SEAN SPICER: “White House press secretary Sean Spicer said twice Monday [4-10-17] that the Trump administration will respond if the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad uses barrel bombs against his own people, something that’s been a regular occurrence in the six-year civil war.
‘If you gas a baby, if you put a barrel bombing to innocent people, I think you can see a response from this president,’ Spicer said in response to a question during his daily briefing. ‘That’s unacceptable.’
Spicer said the use of the crude, unguided explosives, would cross a line for Trump, who last week authorized cruise missile strikes on a Syrian base after the regime used chemical weapons on its own people.
But shortly after Spicer’s press briefing, multiple White House officials looked to clarify the comments, implying the press secretary misspoke.
Spicer ‘did not signal a change in administration policy,’ an official said, adding that it was Spicer’s attempt to signal Trump is ‘never going to rule anything out’ when it comes to responding in Syria.
The attempted explanation was aimed at avoiding drawing a line in Syria that the Trump administration will have to follow, something the Obama administration dealt with after then-President Barack Obama drew a ‘red line’ that Trump and other Republicans routinely exploited.”
-Dan Merica, “Spicer on Syria: If you gas a baby or barrel bomb, expect a response,” CNN Politics, CNN.com, April 10, 2017 11:13pm