For Donald Trump, the buck stops … with Barack Obama

Barack Obama and Donald Trump arrive for the inauguration ceremony in January. (J. Scott Applewhite/AP/Pool)

Trump keeps blaming Obama. Fresh polls show voters don’t buy it.

BY JAMES HOHMANN with Breanne Deppisch

As the western world processed stomach-churning images of dead children, apparently murdered by chemical weapons, the president couldn’t help but take a potshot at his predecessor. “These heinous actions by the Bashar al-Assad regime are a consequence of the past administration’s weakness and irresolution,” Trump said in a statement yesterday afternoon. “President Obama said in 2012 that he would establish a 'red line' against the use of chemical weapons and then did nothing. The United States stands with our allies across the globe to condemn this intolerable attack.”

As he ripped Obama, Trump mentioned neither Russia nor Iran. Both counties are actively propping up Assad’s regime.

The president also offered no path forward, except to say that the savagery, which observers on the ground say killed at least 58, “cannot be ignored.” Asked how the U.S. will respond, Sean Spicer replied: “We’ll talk about that soon.”

This White House is stuck in permanent campaign mode. Several officials involved in internal administration discussions told the AP that the National Security Council had been preparing a different statement, until the president’s closest advisers took over the process.

(More here.)