AP Photo/Evan Vucci
Donald Trump fancies himself a decisive leader. On the campaign trail he said he would never “telegraph” his military strategy, but early Wednesday morning, he appeared to do just that:
Russia vows to shoot down any and all missiles fired at Syria. Get ready Russia, because they will be coming, nice and new and “smart!” You shouldn’t be partners with a Gas Killing Animal who kills his people and enjoys it!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 11, 2018
Now, just a day later, the president seems to have sharply reversed course, returning to Twitter in an effort to make his missile threat much less decisive sounding.
Never said when an attack on Syria would take place. Could be very soon or not so soon at all! In any event, the United States, under my Administration, has done a great job of ridding the region of ISIS. Where is our “Thank you America?”
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 12, 2018
So Trump now appears to be denying that in Wednesday’s tweet he blurted out too much about his strategy for responding to the recent chemical weapons attacks in Syria.
Meanwhile, some of the president’s most prominent supporters are busy concocting bizarre conspiracy theories about the chemical attack. For example, Michael Flynn Jr.—the son of Michael Flynn, Trump’s original national security advisor who is now cooperating with Robert Mueller’s investigation—had this to say:
https://twitter.com/mflynnJR/status/984197168532738048
