U.S. President Donald Trump is considering striking eight potential targets in Syria in response to the recent chemical weapons attack in Douma, an unnamed source told CNBC on Thursday.
Those targets include two Syrian airfields, a research center and a chemical weapons facility, said the source.
The source also noted that Syria's military has repositioned a significant amount of air assets to Russian-controlled airfields in hopes that Washington would be reluctant to strike there.
More than 150 people were killed in an alleged chemical weapons attack in the city of Douma, east of Damascus, on Saturday night.
Trump castigated the Syrian government and Assad, calling the apparent chemical weapon attack “sick”, and warning that the “Animal Assad” would have a “big price to pay” for the use of sarin nerve gas.
On Thursday, the President said he would meet with Defense Secretary James Mattis and Gen. Joseph Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. The White House said after the meeting no decision had yet been made on whether the U.S. military will respond to the attack.
"We're looking very very seriously, very closely at that whole situation and we'll see what happens folks," Trump told reporters Thursday.
Since the attack, Trump has sharpened his rhetoric against Syria and its most powerful ally Russia and issued a threat via Twitter of a potential U.S. strike against the war-torn country.
On Thursday, however, Trump appeared to backtrack and said that a U.S. missile strike on Syria may not be imminent.
“Never said when an attack on Syria would take place. Could be very soon or not so soon at all! In any event, the United States, under my Administration, has done a great job of ridding the region of ISIS. Where is our ‘Thank you America?’” he tweeted.