The White House announced on Tuesday that Donald Trump will not travel to South America this week as planned.

The president had been due to attend the Summit of the Americas in Lima and travel to Bogotá, Colombia, as well. Vice-president Mike Pence will make the trip in his stead. It would been Trump’s first visit to Latin America as president.

A statement issued by the White House press secretary, Sarah Sanders, said: “At the president’s request, the vice-president will travel in his stead. The president will remain in the United States to oversee the American response to Syria and to monitor developments around the world.”

On Monday, Trump said a decision about a US response to a chemical weapons attack in Syria was imminent.

Speaking to reporters at the White House, he said: “We’re making decisions as to what we do with respect to the horrible attack that was made near Damascus. And it will be met. And it will be met forcefully. When I will not say because I don’t like talking about timing.”

In April 2017, the US launched 59 Tomahawk cruise missiles into Syria in response to a chemical weapons attack by the Assad regime. Trump made the decision while entertaining China’s president, Xi Jinping, at his private club in Florida.

At the White House press briefing on Tuesday afternoon, White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said Trump’s “national security team thought it was best he stay in the United States”.

“Mar-a-Lago happens to be within the United States,” she added.

Trump also faces pressure from within the US, over an FBI raid on the office of his attorney, Michael Cohen. He described the raid as “an attack on our country in a true sense … an attack on what we all stand for”.

In a statement, Pence communications director Jared Agren said: “The vice-president is honored to represent the United States at the eighth Summit of the Americas at President Trump’s request.

“He looks forward to promoting policy that will lead to an even stronger US economy and working with our close allies in Latin America to collectively hold undemocratic actors in the region accountable for their actions.”

Pence travelled to Latin America in August 2017, visiting Argentina, Chile, Colombia and Panama.