In response to a question about whether U.S. military forces are "ready right now to conduct a retaliatory strike if ordered," Mattis added: "We stand ready to provide military options if they are appropriate as the President determines."
Mattis’s comments followed President Trump’s tweet this morning promising that missiles "will be coming" to Syria soon:
In spite of Trump’s above certainty about Assad’s culpability in the chemical attack, on Monday, the president said that American intelligence had not been able to confirm who had carried out the attack. He also expressed frustration that the area was not immediately made open to international investigators [emphasis mine]: