MILITARY/RUSSIA/SYRIA/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT/TWITTER: “President Donald Trump on Thursday [4-12-18] softened his rhetoric about potential airstrikes on Syria, a day after warning Russia that missiles ‘will be coming, nice and new and ‘smart.’ In an early morning tweet and later in comments at the White House, Trump attempted to cloud the timing of military action — a day after indicating it was imminent — and said a final decision had not yet been made. ‘Never said when an attack on Syria would take place. Could be very soon or not so soon at all!,’ the President tweeted. Trump notably did not rule out plans to attack Syria in retaliation for the weekend’s suspected chemical attack on civilians at the hands of the Assad regime. The President, however, did not specifically refer to the attack’s timing in his Wednesday tweet, though he warned Russia to ‘get ready.’ In Thursday’s tweet, Trump also suggested he did not get enough credit for US gains against ISIS in the region, asking, ‘Where is our ‘Thank you America?'”
–Jennifer Hansler, “Trump softens rhetoric on potential Syria strike,” CNN Politics, CNN.com, April 12, 2018 1:04 pm