Author: Deb Riechmann
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Trump names hostage envoy O’Brien national security adviser
WASHINGTON • President Donald Trump on Wednesday named Robert O’Brien, his chief hostage negotiator and an established figure in Republican policy circles, as his new national security adviser. O’Brien, the fourth person in two years to hold the job, becomes the administration’s point person on national security amid rising tensions with Iran after the weekend…
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Trump says he’s considering 5 candidates to replace Bolton
WASHINGTON • President Donald Trump said Wednesday he’s looking at five individuals to become his fourth national security adviser to replace John Bolton, the hawkish diplomat who clashed with the president on global challenges, especially Iran and North Korea. “John wasn’t in line with what we were doing,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office.…
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Trump reverses new North Korea sanctions, bucking US Treasury
PALM BEACH, Fla. — President Donald Trump tweeted Friday that he has reversed his administration’s decision to slap new sanctions on North Korea, with his press secretary explaining that he “likes” leader Kim Jong Un and doesn’t think they’re necessary. It’s unclear, however, which sanctions the president was referencing in his tweet, which took Treasury…
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Trump, Kim summit collapses over sanctions impasse
HANOI, Vietnam — Talks between President Donald Trump and North Korea’s Kim Jong Un collapsed Thursday after the two sides failed to bridge a standoff over U.S. sanctions, a dispiriting end to high-stakes meetings meant to disarm a global nuclear threat. Trump blamed the breakdown on North Korea’s insistence that all the punishing sanctions the…
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Trump, Kim to hold second summit with world watching
HANOI, Vietnam • President Donald Trump is paying a courtesy call on his Vietnamese hosts while North Korea’s Kim Jong Un was expected to take in some sights Wednesday before the leaders open their second nuclear summit with a one-on-one meeting and private social dinner. But the carnival-like atmosphere in the Vietnamese capital, with vendors…
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Trump sets odds of reaching wall deal at less than 50-50
President Donald Trump said Sunday that the odds congressional negotiators will craft a deal to end his border wall standoff with Congress are “less than 50-50.” As hundreds of thousands of furloughed federal workers prepared to return to work, Trump told The Wall Street Journal he doesn’t think the negotiators will strike a deal that…
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White House dangles threat of another shutdown over wall
WASHINGTON • Two days after the record-long shutdown ended, the White House made clear Sunday that President Donald Trump is prepared to shutter the government again without a border wall deal from Congress. The president’s standoff with Democrats on Capitol Hill is far from over and the clock is ticking — the spending bill Trump…
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Trump warns Turkey if it strikes against Kurds
WASHINGTON • President Donald Trump warned Sunday that if Turkey attacks U.S.-backed Kurdish forces in Syria, the United States will “devastate Turkey economically.” Trump’s decision to pull American troops out of Syria has left the United States’ Kurdish allies vulnerable to an attack from Turkey. Ankara views the Kurdish forces as terrorists aligned with insurgents…
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GOP allies still trying to figure out how to read Trump
WASHINGTON • As the first two years of President Donald Trump’s administration close, Republican allies still haven’t figured out how best to influence a leader who takes cues from the forces that swept him to office and seems to fear losing them above all else. Republicans on Capitol Hill and even the president’s closest advisers…
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No Saudi Arabia punishment for Jamal Khashoggi killing, Trump says
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump said Tuesday the U.S. will not punish Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman at this time nor cut arms sales to Saudi Arabia for the killing of U.S.-based columnist Jamal Khashoggi. Trump called the killing of Khashoggi inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul a “horrible crime” that the U.S. does…