NOTE TO EDS: I AM OUT OF WASHINGTON, SO NO SIGN-OFF ON THIS PIECE
US President Donald Trump has signaled a major U-turn in his policy towards Syria.
As he meets with Chinese President Xi Jinping for an all-important summit in Florida today, he's also calling on his Defence Secretary James Mattis to plan for a possible military strike against Syrian President Bashar al Assad.
President Trump called Tuesday's chemical attack in northern Syria "reprehensible", and he says he no longer believes that President Bashar al Assad can continue playing a role governing in Damascus.
Our Washington Correspondent Simon Marks says that represents a sea-change in President Trump's thinking.
IN: "It was only….."
OUT: "…some kind of action"
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It was only as recently as Tuesday that the White House Press Secretary told reporters the concept of "regime change" in Damascus was no longer what he called a "fundamental option" for the United States.
His comments came after news broke of the chemical attack near Idlib….but before the full scale of the horror there had apparently dawned on his boss the President.
Now….just 48 hours later….the new man in the Oval Office is reversing course.
First word of that came on Air Force One as President Trump flew to Florida for his summit meeting with the Chinese leader.
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He's there, he said of President Bashar al Assad….he's running things, so the President said, something should happen.
That "something" was later fleshed out by Secretary of State Rex Tillerson.
He says the Syrian attack has led to new thinking within the Trump administration.
They concede that they now believe President Assad has got to go.
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And he went further.
Amid reports that President Trump has asked to see plans for military reprisals against Syria….and told Republican members of Congress that he's thinking of launching some kind of cruise missile strike at Syrian air force targets….the Secretary of State indicated all options are on the table.
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That's another stunning U-turn.
President Trump - as a private citizen - used to argue strenuously AGAINST American intervention in Syria.
Now he may authorize it….even though by doing so, he would be on a collision course with Russian President Vladimir Putin….and with Americans who don't believe the country should be returning to an era of military involvement overseas.
Libertarian Ron Paul is a former Congressman who ran for the Presidency in 2008.
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And then there is the question of what happens after any kind of military strike.
It is far from clear that President Trump or his top officials have even begun to have that conversation, so fresh is their apparent determination to take some kind of action.