Tag: Trump foreign policy

British ambassador who called Trump ‘inept’ in leaked cables resigns

The Hill logoThe British ambassador to the U.S. resigned on Wednesday, days after leaked cables that criticized President Trump escalated tensions between the two close allies.

Kim Darroch’s resignation came one day after Trump bashed him as a “very stupid guy” and “pompous fool” and his tenure became a flashpoint in the race to replace outgoing British Prime Minister Theresa May.

“Since the leak of official documents from this Embassy there has been a great deal of speculation surrounding my position and the duration of my remaining term as ambassador. I want to put an end to that speculation. The current situation is making it impossible for me to carry out my role as I would like,” Darroch wrote in his resignation letter, released by the U.K. Foreign Office.

View the complete July 10 article by Jordan Fabian on The Hill website here.

Qatar has ties to Iran, but Trump eyes ‘investments’ ahead of talks with emir

President didn’t mention Jared Kushner’s Middle East peace plan during dinner for al-Thani

ANALYSIS — Escalating a name-calling feud with your closest ally’s envoy to your government and threatening another with trade penalties is an unconventional way to build a coalition. But amid tensions with Iran, President Donald Trump is doing just that.

The U.S. leader is slated to meet privately Tuesday afternoon with Qatar’s ruling emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani in the Oval Office. The duo will have no shortage of things to discuss, from how to combat Iran’s increasingly aggressive actions related to its nuclear program to Qatar’s ongoing spat with some close American allies.

But before his meeting with al-Thani, the president appeared to have woken up fired up. He posted tweets continuing to slam Sir Kim Darroch, the United Kingdom’s ambassador to Washington, after cables leaked over the weekend of the British diplomat describing Trump and his administration as “clumsy and inept.”

View the complete July 9 article by John T. Bennett on The Roll Call website here.

Hopes dim for passage of Trump trade deal

The Hill logoHouse Democrats say there’s little to no chance that Congress will take up President Trump‘s replacement for the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) before the end of summer. 

With only three more weeks scheduled to be in session before the August recess, House Democrats from across the spectrum are demanding that the trade pact with Mexico and Canada be renegotiated, citing concerns with the implications for labor and environmental standards as well as drug prices.

The Trump administration has been pushing for approval of the deal, known as the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), by August due to concerns that the 2020 presidential campaign will make it politically impossible to complete the deal this fall. Congress will also have to deal with avoiding a government shutdown and debt default after returning to Washington on Sept. 9 from the monthlong summer recess.

View the complete July 5 article by Cristina Marcos on The Hill website here.

Trump administration lays broad legal grounds for military strike on Iran

Washington Post logoAs it has contemplated military action against Iran, the Trump administration has opened the door to virtually every legal authority it might use to justify an attack, from tying Iran to al-Qaeda, to President Trump’s assertion that it would not involve American ground troops and “wouldn’t last very long.”

Democrats and some Republicans have tried repeatedly to pin the administration down, including last week’s unsuccessful attempt to muster 60 Senate votes for an amendment requiring Trump to ask Congress before launching any military engagement.

When asked directly about legal justification, senior administration officials have offered undetailed assurances that any action would “consistent with our Constitution,” as Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said last month, or they deferred to lawyers.

View the complete July 3 article by Karen DeYoung and Missy Ryan on The Washington Post website here.

No, Obama didn’t beg Kim Jong Un for a meeting

Washington Post logo“They couldn’t have meetings. Nobody was going to meet. President Obama wanted to meet, and Chairman Kim would not meet him. The Obama administration was begging for a meeting. They were begging for meetings constantly. And Chairman Kim would not meet with him. And for some reason, we have a certain chemistry or whatever.”

— President Trump, at a news conference with South Korean President Moon Jae-in, Seoul, June 30, 2019

Trump went to the demilitarized zone and crossed the demarcation line on Sunday, becoming the first sitting U.S. president to enter North Korea. It was his third meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

That’s a lot of face time and photo ops. What has Trump gotten in return, aside from a hazy commitment from Kim to denuclearize North Korea? Well, at least Kim is open to discussion, Trump says, after “constantly” rebuffing requests to meet with President Barack Obama.

There’s just one problem with this claim — a total lack of evidence.

View the complete July 2 article by Salvador Rizzo on The Washington Post website here.

Trump’s reality show takes over U.S. foreign policy

Washington Post logoPresident Trump did something historic on Sunday. Before onlooking cameras and a grinning despot, he became the first U.S. president to cross the line of demarcation that separates the two Koreas.

For the former reality television host, the scene was vintage Trump. Over the past few weeks, Trump’s team teased the prospect of a third meeting since 2018 with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, possibly after the president wrapped up his visit to Japan and the Group of 20 summit. Rumors and speculation gripped the White House press corps. Then came a presidential tweet from Osaka on Saturday, where Trump indicated he would travel to the DMZ, the last frozen frontier of the Cold War, and coyly asked the despot in Pyongyang to meet him there for a handshake.

Donald J. Trump

✔@realDonaldTrump

After some very important meetings, including my meeting with President Xi of China, I will be leaving Japan for South Korea (with President Moon). While there, if Chairman Kim of North Korea sees this, I would meet him at the Border/DMZ just to shake his hand and say Hello(?)!

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Donald J. Trump

✔@realDonaldTrump

Leaving South Korea after a wonderful meeting with Chairman Kim Jong Un. Stood on the soil of North Korea, an important statement for all, and a great honor!

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Kim happily obliged, achieving a feat unmatched by his father or grandfather. And so, before a bruising scrum of bodyguards and journalists, Trump strode past Panmunjom’s blue-painted compounds and got a photo op for the ages.

View the complete July 1 article by Ishaan Tharoor on The Washington Post website here.

Truce in US-China trade war as 2 rivals seek breakthrough

OSAKA, Japan — President Donald Trump and China’s Xi Jinping agreed to a cease-fire Saturday in their nations’ yearlong trade war, averting for now an escalation feared by financial markets, businesses and farmers.

Trump said U.S. tariffs will remain in place against Chinese imports while negotiations continue. Additional trade penalties he has threatened against billions worth of other Chinese goods will not take effect for the “time being,” he said, and the economic powers will restart stalled talks that have already gone 11 rounds.

“We’re going to work with China where we left off,” Trump said after a lengthy meeting with Xi while the leaders attended the Group of 20 summit in Osaka.

View the complete June 29 article by Jonathan LeMire and Zeke Miller from the Associated Press on The Star Tribune website here.

Jared Kushner’s ‘deal of the century’ fails to materialise in Bahrain

Senior adviser to Trump found no interest in his proposals for ending Israel/Palestine conflict

In the end, the ‘deal of the century’ was little more than a failed clearance sale. Jared Kushner arrived in Bahrain touting bedrock principles at untenable discounts. And even then there were no buyers.

The conference that was supposed to offer a new way out of the malaise of the Israel/Palestine conflict provided little of the sort. Its central premise of prosperity as a precursor to a lasting solution barely appeared to register on either side of the separation wall.

In Ramallah and Gaza, there was very little interest in the Trump administration’s proposals. Even in Israel, local media played down the gathering and did nothing to ramp up expectations.

View the complete June 26 article by Martin Chulov on The Guardian website here.

‘Now comes the reckoning’: Trump arrives at global gathering with most of his foreign policy gambits hanging in the balance

Washington Post logoPresident Trump arrives in Japan on Thursday for a two-day gathering of global leaders with his biggest foreign policy initiatives in the balance and time running out to score a major breakthrough as he prepares to make the case for reelection.

The president is slated to meet at the Group of 20 summit in Osaka with key allies and adversaries — including China’s Xi Jinping, Russia’s Vladimir Putin, Japan’s Shinzo Abe, Saudi Arabia’s Mohammed bin Salman and India’s Narendra Modi — as he seeks to clinch an elusive trade pact with Beijing, consolidate international support in a tense staredown with Tehran and navigate a path forward on stalled nuclear talks with North Korea.

The complex panoply of issues has threatened to destabilize the global economy and potentially plunge the United States into another military conflagration in the Middle East. Though Trump has projected confidence, his tactics have set foreign capitals on edge, with fellow leaders uncertain in which direction the mercurial and impulsive president intends to head next.

View the complete June 25 article by David Nakamura and Damian Paletta on The Washington Post website here.

Trump jets to Japan to wing it at G-20 summit as Iran tensions build

Official unable to lay out agenda for high-stakes meetings with Xi, Putin and MBS

After a week of brinksmanship and backing down, President Donald Trump  heads to a G-20 summit in Japan on Wednesday for talks with other world leaders amid a volatile confrontation with Iran and stalled trade talks with China.

Senior administration officials made clear this week that Trump, who admits his negotiating style is based on gut feelings and big bets, will largely wing it at the meeting. Officials declined to describe any set agenda for the president’s talks with world leaders, including Chinese President Xi Jinping, Russian President Vladimir Putinand South Korean President Moon Jae-in.

The Xi and Moon meetings will focus on trade and North Korea’s nuclear arms program. But on both matters, a senior administration official contended, “I don’t think the president is feeling any pressure on either of those accounts.”

View the complete June 25 article by John T. Bennett on The Roll Call website here.