Arick Wierson is an Emmy Award-winning television producer and former Senior Media Adviser to New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg. Currently, he advises political and corporate clients in the United States, Africa and Latin America. You can follow him on Twitter @ArickWierson. The views expressed in this commentary are his own.

(CNN) On Tuesday, the White House announced that President Donald Trump was canceling his trip to Lima, Peru, for a regional summit with other heads of Latin American and Caribbean countries. His sudden cancellation and decision to send Vice President Mike Pence in his place will drive an even bigger wedge between the United States and its regional allies.

Officially, the White House is pointing to the chemical attacks in Syria as the reason why Trump needs to stay in Washington. As if President Trump weren't fully capable of monitoring whatever countermeasures he is planning from Air Force One, an airplane the White House website describes as "...equipped with advanced secure communications equipment, allowing the aircraft to function as a mobile command center."

Arick Wierson

The reality is that the FBI's raid on Michael Cohen's office has deeply rattled the President, and that may well be why he has opted to stay close to his family, friends and allies as this crisis unravels.

But Trump's excuse -- or his statement Tuesday afternoon that he "would have loved to have gone" -- isn't fooling anyone. He never wanted to attend the Summit of the Americas. "Given President Trump's disdain for the region, its people, and its institutions, combined with his total lack of interest in Latin America, except as his own personal piñata, one can only consider the Lima summit dead on arrival," Jerry Haar, Professor of Management & International Business at Florida International University, told me.

Unlike some of his previous travels where Trump was treated as royalty -- remember his extravagant trip to Saudi Arabia last year? -- his trip to Peru was going to resemble an uncomfortably large Thanksgiving dinner in which he would assume the role of the slightly off-kilter uncle who everyone was hoping wouldn't show up.

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