Trump’s military action creating more tension than it relieves

In its first 100 days, the Trump White House has done better than many expected in handling some crises and the strategic signals it projects to the world, says Peter Apps

WHEN US President Donald Trump ordered cruise- missile strikes on a Syrian airbase shortly after this month’s chemical weapons attack, some Obama administration veterans were openly impressed. “[We] never would have gotten this done in 48 hours,” one of them told Politico.

The strikes were the starkest demonstration so far of one of the paradoxes of the Trump White House, particularly on foreign policy. The administration has often projected a chaotic image and put out wildly mixed messages on topics such as US support for Nato.