President Trump has begun bombing Syria. Having found domestic policy difficult, complicated, and time-consuming, he has turned to foreign affairs to try to strike a pose of confidence and decisiveness. He started earlier in the week with North Korea because he was looking for the softest, least controversial target. It gave him something to look tough on given the impending meeting with the Chinese president.

But now he’s turned to something far more committal in Syria, and he’s made the decision in almost no time. Not only does this give the lie to the claim that Trump is Putin’s Manchurian Candidate, given Russia’s alliance with Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad, but it’s a sign of just how reactive and incoherent Trump’s approach to foreign policy is. Considering the swiftness with which he decided to send in the Tomahawks and warplanes, he can’t have put much thought into it at all. He just saw it as a chance to act, to be the kind of leader he imagines himself to be.

But there is no escaping politics. Bombing Syria changes the situation with ISIS, and with the Kurds in northern Syria, which changes things for the Turks. The Russians have other interests here, not to mention that there are Russians in Syria who could get hit by a stray missile. The Russians have denounced the strikes. There are laws (thin as they are) regulating the use of force abroad without congressional authorization. Trump is going to have to explain the goal and endgame. Having said publicly he has changed his mind about Assad, he has given the impression that he wants regime change — but how?