Washington, April 10 (RHC)-- The U.S. president will not be traveling to Colombia or to Peru later this week, as initially announced by the White House.  In a statement issued by White House press secretary Sarah Sanders, Trump will stay in Washington in order to "oversee the U.S. response to Syria," referring to an alleged chemical attack. 

Trump had been scheduled to travel to Lima, Peru, on Friday to attend the Summit of the Americas and then travel on to Bogota, Colombia.  The trip had been expected to be tense and awkward because of Trump's repeated disparagement of the region over immigration, narcotics and trade. 

His travel plans changed after a Saturday night attack on the Syrian town of Douma which killed at least 60 people and injured more than 1,000 others.  Trump has vowed to make a swift decision to respond to what he called "atrocities." 

"At the president’s request, the vice president will travel in his stead.  The president will remain in the United States to oversee the American response to Syria and to monitor developments around the world," the White House press secretary said in a statement. 

Last year, Washington bombed a Syrian government air base after a chemical weapons attack.  It was not yet clear what decision Trump will make in response to the alleged attack.  Syria and Russia have strongly denied there was a chemical weapons attack and have proposed international inspections. 

This will be the second trip to the region for Vice President Mike Pence.  He met with leaders in Colombia, Argentina and Panama in August.