JUST ENDED: White House press briefing with Sarah Sanders
Michael Cohen: The FBI raided the office of Trump’s personal lawyer on Monday. Here’s what Trump said about it.
Syria: The President is mulling retaliation after a reported chemical attack in Syria.
White House press secretary Sarah Sanders offered no new indications on how the US plans to respond to the alleged chemical weapons attack in Syria.
Sanders’ comments come as Trump has spoken in recent days with key US allies — including the President of France Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Theresa May — while he weighs a response to the latest reported use of chemical weapons against civilians in Syria.
Trump indicated on Monday he would make a decision on how to respond within 48 hours and said those responsible would have to pay a price for their actions.
White House press secretary Sarah Sanders declined to say whether national security adviser John Bolton pushed out President Trump’s homeland security adviser Tom Bossert.
“I’m not going to get into specific details” about personnel changes, Sanders told reporters.
CNN reported earlier that Bolton, who took up his post Monday, had pushed out Bossert out of his job.
Reporter April Ryan asked press secretary Sarah Sanders if President Trump has considered resigning from office within the last week.
Sanders said no and added that the question was “absolutely ridiculous.”
White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said the President wanted to stay in the United States while he is monitoring what is happening in Syria. A reporter pressed her on why he could launch an attack on Syria last year from Mar-a-Lago but why he was unable to travel to Peru and Colombia this weekend.
Sanders pointed out that Mar-a-Lago “happens to be within the United States” and that he wanted to stay in the country while he is monitoring the attacks on Syria.
“The President and his national security team thought it was best that he stay in the United States,” while global developments unfold, she said.
President Trump said as recently as Thursday that Michael Cohen “is my attorney,” but White House press secretary Sarah Sanders on Tuesday could not say whether that’s still the case after yesterday’s FBI raid.
Sanders referred reporters to Michael Cohen when asked whether Cohen is still Trump’s personal attorney.
“I’m not sure,” she said.
White House press secretary Sarah Sanders President Trump “believes he has the power to” fire special counsel Robert Mueller.
“He certainly I believes he has the power to do so,” Sanders said when asked whether Trump believes he has that power.
She did not suggest Trump would be moving to fire Mueller.
Asked about Trump’s comments that the raid on Michael Cohen’s office and hotel room is “an attack on our country,” Sanders said she has nothing to add.
Press secretary Sarah Sanders says the President thinks special counsel Robert Mueller “has gone too far” with the raid of his lawyer’s office.
The FBI raided Michael Cohen’s office on Monday after a referral from Mueller.
“I think that the President has been clear that he thinks this has gone too far and beyond that I don’t have anything to add,” Sanders said. “I think the President has been clear what his position is.”
Michael Cohen: The FBI on Monday raided the office of President Trump’s longtime personal lawyer. Trump called the raid a “TOTAL WITCH HUNT” and added that “attorney-client privilege is dead.” This will likely be a major focus for reporters at today’s briefing.
Stormy Daniels: When the feds raided Cohen’s office yesterday, they were looking for records related to several topics, including payments to the porn actress and Karen McDougal, a former Playboy model.
Syria: President Trump said he would make a decision soon about retaliation in Syria. US allies have rallied behind his warning that Syria would pay a “big price” if it is found to have carried out a chemical attack on the rebel-held town of Douma.
Peru: President Trump was scheduled to go there this week for a summit, but he abruptly canceled it. The White House said he was staying in town to “oversee the American response to Syria and to monitor developments around the world.”
Mueller: The FBI raided Cohen’s office after a referral from the special counsel. Now some are worried that the President could make a move to fire Robert Mueller. When asked about firing Mueller yesterday, the President said, “we’ll see what happens.”
Tom Bossert: The White House homeland security adviser was pushed out of his position by the new national security adviser John Bolton, sources told CNN. Sources said while Bolton did not have a personal problem with Bossert, he wanted to put his own team in place.
![CORRECTION / This picture shows a general view of damaged structures at the site of a strike in Bartalla in the northern Iraqi Nineveh province on July 29, 2026. US-Saudi strikes on Iraq on July 29 killed at least 20 members of a former paramilitary alliance that includes pro-Iran groups, the alliance said. The United States and Saudi Arabia said they had struck Iran-backed militants in Iraq in response to attacks on US forces and Saudi oil facilities. (Photo by Zaid AL-OBEIDI / AFP via Getty Images) / Attention editors: AFP covers the war in the Middle East through its extensive regional network, including bureaus in Tehran, Jerusalem and several neighboring countries.Since the start of the conflict, journalists have been working under increasingly restrictive conditions. Authorities in several countries have limited reporters' movements, photo and live video coverage from sensitive locations. Some governments and armed groups have banned images of missile or drone strikes and other security-related sites. / "The erroneous mention[s] appearing in the metadata of this photo by Ziad OBEID has been modified in AFP systems in the following manner: corrects byline to [Zaid AL-OBEIDI] instead of [Ziad OBEID]. Please immediately remove the erroneous mention[s] from all your online services and delete it (them) from your servers. If you have been authorized by AFP to distribute it (them) to third parties, please ensure that the same actions are carried out by them. Failure to promptly comply with these instructions will entail liability on your part for any continued or post notification usage. Therefore we thank you very much for all your attention and prompt action. We are sorry for the inconvenience this notification may cause and remain at your disposal for any further information you may require."](https://media.cnn.com/api/v1/images/stellar/prod/gettyimages-2287466969.jpg?c=16x9&q=h_270,w_480,c_fill)
