U.S President, Donald Trump, on Tuesday cancelled a visit to Peru and Colombia this week to oversee the U.S. response to an alleged chemical attack in Syria.
The cancellation of Trump’s plans came three days before his scheduled departure for Lima, Peru, where he was to attend the 8th Summit of the Americas before travelling to Bogota, Colombia.
White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said Vice President Mike Pence will stand in for Trump so the president can remain in Washington “to oversee the American response to Syria and to monitor developments around the world”.
Trump said on Monday that he was consulting with advisers on a response to a suspected chemical attack in a rebel-held town near Damascus in which 42 people were killed.
He called the attack “atrocious” and said the U.S. would respond “forcefully” within two days.
Trump had planned to use the Lima summit to meet with leaders of the region, including Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto.
His objectives included discussing ways to fight corruption and transnational crime, as well as urging Latin American countries to take a hard line on Venezuela.
A planned face-to-face meeting with Nieto was expected to cover trade between the U.S. and Mexico, which has been fraught with controversy over Trump’s insistence that the North American Free Trade Agreement be renegotiated.
The meeting, which now is expected to be handled by Pence, also was expected to cover the construction of a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border