MILITARY/NATIONAL SECURITY/SYRIA/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “Donald Trump always strives to command center stage, but the pugilistic American President is now embroiled in so many escalating global and domestic tests of will, it’s becoming impossible to keep count. Unrestrained and lashing out at enemies at home and abroad, Trump is increasingly exporting the turbulence that has exhausted Washington. Yet another pivotal week for the Trump presidency opens on Monday [4-9-18] with top officials gathering under the direction of new national security adviser John Bolton to discuss how to respond to a chemical weapons attack in Syria with the world on edge over a potential strike. The assault on civilians, already blamed by Trump on Bashar al-Assad, is raising the prospect of new US military action, since the Syrian President was clearly not deterred by American missile strikes after a similar attack last year. Heightening tensions, Syrian state television reported a missile strike on an airbase Sunday night, which it said was likely from the US. The Pentagon, however, denied responsibility, and Russia’s Defense Ministry has since claimed that Israel was behind the strikes.”
-Stephen Collinson, “Crises, confrontations envelop Trump at home and abroad,” CNN Politics, CNN.com, April 9, 2018 12:47 pm