Trump: Syria decision to come ‘fairly soon’

President Trump said Thursday he will decide “fairly soon” how to respond to an apparent chemical weapons attack in Syria.

“Now we have to make some further decisions, so they’ll be made fairly soon,” the president told reporters at the White House.

{mosads}Trump’s comments make it clear that despite promising a missile strike against Syria 24 hours ago, no decisions have yet been made on a U.S. response.

The president said he will attend a meeting later Thursday to discuss possible options.

“We’ll see what happens, folks. Too bad that the world puts us in a position like that,” Trump said.

The president took to Twitter on Wednesday to warn Russia, a key Syrian ally, to “get ready” because American missiles “will be coming, nice and new and ‘smart!’”

According to The Washington Post, the remark reportedly alarmed Trump administration officials who have been working with U.S. allies in crafting a joint response to last weekend’s attack, which killed 40 people.

It also undercut Trump’s stated desire not to telegraph military decisions to U.S. adversaries, something he frequently accused President Obama of doing.

On Thursday morning, Trump rejected that criticism, tweeting that he “never said when an attack on Syria would take place.”

“Could be very soon or not so soon at all!” he added.

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