The afternoon of April 9, Trump chose an ill-fitting moment to reveal his sudden vulnerability: a special all-hands meeting with his Pentagon leaders to discuss how to respond to the Syrian government’s latest slaughter of innocent civilians by dousing them with chemical weapons. Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad had gassed his own people, and the top military brass had come to the White House to meet with Trump to review his options. National Security Council officials had worked with Defense Department officials to prepare specific targets should Trump authorize a mission to take out, or at
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