The strike on chemical arms sites reflected President Trump’s competing impulses: an effort to demonstrate strength countered by a view that involvement in the Middle East since 9/11 has been a waste.
As prosecutors revealed a monthslong fraud investigation of Michael D. Cohen, President Trump’s personal lawyer and fixer, Mr. Trump called Mr. Cohen on Friday to “check in.”
In an address from the White House, President Trump said the United States and European allies sought to punish Syria’s president for a suspected chemical attack.
The president ordered the strike without authorization by the United Nations Security Council or by Congress, raising questions about his legal limits.
The official, Elliott Broidy, stepped down over a $1.6 million payment to a woman he impregnated. The deal was arranged by President Trump’s lawyer Michael D. Cohen.
A memoir by James Comey, the former F.B.I. director, is the only firsthand account to emerge so far by a former Trump official, describing a president whose connection to honesty is tenuous at best.