Story highlights Trump has not reconsidered his hard line on Syrian refugees

Some Republicans argued that more forceful action against Assad is the best way to relieve the refugee crisis

(CNN) In a pair of statements, one a day before and another just after he launched a missile strike against Syria on Thursday, President Donald Trump told Americans that the chemical weapons attack launched by the Assad regime on its own people fundamentally altered his view of the long, bloody conflict.

"It was a slow and brutal death for so many," Trump said on Thursday night. "Even beautiful babies were cruelly murdered in this very barbaric attack. No child of god should ever suffer such horror."

A day earlier, during a press conference with Jordan's King Abdullah, he described Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad's actions as "heinous" and intolerable. "My attitude toward Syria and Assad," Trump said, "has changed very much."

But his reversal has shown its limits.

Despite the vocal expressions of concern for innocent civilians caught in Assad's death grip, Trump has not yet shown a willingness to reconsider his hard line on Syrian refugees. The administration's initial failed travel ban would have halted their entry into the US indefinitely. Its second crack, tied up now in the courts, would impose a 120-day ban.

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