An armada of 12 warships — the largest US strike force since the 2003 Iraq war – is steaming toward the Middle East as President Trump mulls an attack on Syria in retaliation for a chemical weapons attack on civilians, according to a report.

The aircraft carrier USS Harry S Truman set sail from Norfolk, Va., on Wednesday with five escort warships and they were expected to join four destroyers and two nuclear-powered subs believed to already be in or near the Mediterranean, the Times of London reported.

Trump on Wednesday appeared to telegraph an attack on Syria by tweeting that missiles “will be coming” in response to the attack on the town of Douma on April 7.

The president threatened that “nice and new and ‘smart’ missiles will be coming” after a Russian diplomat pledged that its military would intercept any rockets fired into Syria.

But Trump tempered those remarks the next day as he consulted allies such and Britain and France, who could join in any American-led strikes on Syria.

“Never said when an attack on Syria would take place. Could be very soon or not so soon at all!” Trump wrote on Twitter, after facing a backlash for signaling his moves, something he had vowed as a candidate he would never do.