President Donald Trump is canceling his trip this week to the Summit of the Americas in Lima, Peru, to focus on the tense situation in Syria.
White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said Tuesday that Trump will also not travel to Bogota as planned. Vice President Mike Pence will attend the summit instead.
“The president will remain in the United States to oversee the American response to Syria and to monitor developments around the world,” Sanders said.
The announcement heightens speculation that Trump will respond in force against an alleged chemical weapons attack on civilians in Syria. Trump said Monday that the United States will decide on a response to the ‘atrocious’ attack in Syria within 24 to 48 hours.
“We are very concerned when a thing like that can happen,” Trump said. “This is about humanity. We’re talking about humanity. And it can’t be allowed to happen.”
This was to be Trump’s first trip to Latin America as president where he was expected to call on the region to take stronger action against the economic and humanitarian crisis in Venezuela. Hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans have fled the country, overwhelming many of its neighbors.
On Monday, Brian Hook, the senior policy adviser to the Secretary of State, said one of the administration’s primary goals at the summit is to “galvanize further regional support to address the Venezuelan crisis.”
At the same time, Trump will likely be put on the defensive over concerns that U.S. financial sanctions on Venezuela might be exacerbating the humanitarian crisis.
It’s unclear if there’s an appetite for broader sanctions against Venezuela, but the region did take the extraordinary step of rescinding President Nicolás Maduro’s invitation to this year’s event.
Franco Ordoñez: 202-383-6155, @francoordonez