in this? and could that then mean hands off, russia, in syria? >> sure. trump does not want the escalate this into a problem between the united states and russia. but i think the bottom line here is we have to look at the broader question of all of this, which is what is trump's actual policy in syria. and in my column in today's paper, what i wrote about is it's very hard to send a message if you don't have a message to send. and donald trump's policy to syria has been oppositeville. basically, four years ago when there was the first chemical weapons attack he sent out this tweet storm to president obama in which he said don't strike. don't strike assad. don't do this. there is going to be a disaster. there is no percentage in it for the united states. don't do it. now he does the opposite. it seems the trump doctrine is do the opposite of what obama would do. in fact, fewer people were killed in this chemical weapons attack than the last one four years ago. so i think the question is just a few days ago, his people, nikki haley and rex tillerson