DC Roundup: Trump Tweets, Contentious Press Briefings, Senate Hearings

Developments in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday include President Donald Trump criticizing congressional probes of alleged links between his campaign and Russia, as well as truncated White House press briefings, fired National Security Advisor Michael Flynn agreeing to turn over some documents to a Senate committee, and covfefe anyone?:

WATCH: Kushner, Merkel top questions at contentious press briefing

White House Truncates Media Briefing, Leaving Questions Unanswered -- The White House spokesman, during a truncated, off-camera briefing Wednesday, brushed aside a question about a report that fired FBI Director James Comey plans to testify publicly that President Donald Trump pressured him to end an investigation into a top Trump aide's ties to Russia.

Trump Assails Congressional Probes of His Campaign's Links to Russia -- U.S. President Donald Trump again assailed the congressional probes into his campaign's links to Russia on Wednesday, claiming opposition Democrats were blocking the testimony of one of his former aides looking to clear his name. "Witch Hunt!" Trump declared in one comment on his Twitter account.

Flynn to Provide Senate Committee Documents in Russia Probe -- U.S. President Donald Trump's former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn has agreed to hand over documents to the Senate intelligence committee in connection with its investigation into Russia's efforts to influence last year's U.S. presidential election. Flynn had previously refused a subpoena from the committee, with his lawyers asserting the request was too broad in what it was seeking.

Activist Seeks Trumps' Help in Freeing Labor Investigators in China -- The head of a New York-based advocacy group has called on President Donald Trump and his older daughter to help secure the release of three men who reported labor violations at a Chinese company that makes shoes bearing the Ivanka Trump brand.

Man With Weapons, Ammo Arrested at Trump’s Washington Hotel -- A guest at President Donald Trump’s Washington hotel has been arrested after police found guns and ammunition in his car. Bryan Moles was detained by Washington police early Wednesday morning at Trump International Hotel. The hotel is just blocks from the White House. Police say they found a handgun, a rifle and about 90 rounds of ammunition, after they received a tip.

CNN, Other Entities Drop Comedian Kathy Griffin Over Trump Photo -- Hours after U.S. President Donald Trump admonished Kathy Griffin Wednesday for appearing in a photograph holding a reproduction of a severed, bloody head that resembled him, the comedian has lost a lucrative television job. Cable News Network (CNN) terminated an agreement with Griffin to co-host its New Year's Eve coverage, after stating earlier in the day the image was “disgusting and offensive.”

House Committee Subpoenas Flynn, Cohen; Comey to Testify -- The House intelligence committee said Wednesday it is issuing subpoenas for former national security adviser Michael Flynn and President Donald Trump’s personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, as well as their businesses, as part of its investigation into Russian activities during last year’s election.

Social Media Rushes to Define Trump's 'Covfefe' Tweet -- A midnight tweet from President Donald Trump has social media trying to find a meaning in the mysterious term "covfefe." Trump tweeted just after midnight on Wednesday: "Despite the constant negative press covfefe." The tweet immediately went viral and became one of the president's more popular posts before it was taken down after nearly six hours online. Trump poked fun at the typo, tweeting around 6 a.m., "Who can figure out the true meaning of "covfefe" ??? Enjoy!'"

Canada Urged to Scrap US Pact After Woman Dies Trying to Cross Border -- Canadian politicians and refugee advocates urged the government on Wednesday to scrap a U.S. pact that has spurred asylum seekers to cross the border illegally after a woman trying to walk into Canada was found dead of possible hypothermia.

Trump's Loss is Li's Gain as Berlin Rolls Out Red Carpet for China's PM -- China's Prime Minister Li Keqiang arrived in Berlin on Wednesday at the start of a European tour, poised to jump into the global climate change leadership gap left by U.S. President Donald Trump's impending withdrawal from the Paris climate pact. China's number two official was received with military honors at Chancellor Angela Merkel's office, becoming the second leader of a rising Asian giant to visit in as many days after India's Narendra Modi.

Trump Hails Signing of Deals Worth 'Billions' With Vietnam -- U.S. President Donald Trump discussed trade with Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc during a White House visit on Wednesday and welcomed the signing of business deals worth billions of dollars and the jobs they would bring. General Electric said earlier it had signed deals with Vietnam worth about $5.58 billion for power generation, aircraft engines and services, its largest ever single combined sale with the country.

Gulf Arab Row Rattles Trump's Anti-Iran Axis -- Just 10 days after President Donald Trump called on Muslim countries to stand united against Iran, a public feud between Qatar and some of its Gulf Arab neighbors is jolting his attempt to tip the regional balance of power against Tehran. Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) are incensed by Qatar's conciliatory line on Iran, their regional archrival, and its support for Islamist groups, in particular the Muslim Brotherhood, which they regard as a dangerous political enemy.

European Commission Chief Upbraids Trump on Climate Stance -- The European Commission president on Wednesday said that it was the "duty of Europe" to stand up to the U.S. if President Donald Trump decided to pull his country out of the Paris climate change accord. Jean-Claude Juncker said that "the Americans can't just get out of the agreement," adding that "it takes three to four years" to pull out.

Trump Nears Decision on Whether to Pull Out of Paris Climate Accord -- President Donald Trump is close to a decision on whether to pull the United States out of the landmark 2015 Paris Climate Accord. At his only appearance of the day, a photo session with visiting Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc, Trump deflected questions about his decision, saying only, “You are going to find out very soon.” He said he had been hearing from “a lot of people both ways” as he considers his options.

World Risks 4-year Legal Gray Zone if Trump Quits Climate Pact -- The United States could influence or even disrupt work by other nations to combat climate change until late 2020 even if President Donald Trump quits a global agreement, legal scholars said on Wednesday. Trump will honor a campaign pledge to pull out of the 195-nation Paris Agreement, a source briefed on the decision told Reuters on Tuesday. Trump tweeted he would announce his formal decision “over the next few days.”

A Guide to Global Warming, Paris Pact and the US Role -- If President Donald Trump pulls the United States out of the international agreement to reduce carbon dioxide emissions, what could that mean for the Earth? Here's a guide to what's in the Paris agreement, what's going on with global warming, and what might happen if the rest of the world keeps fighting man-made climate change and the U.S. stays partially or completely on the sidelines.

AP Explains: Kushner and the Back Story of Back Channels -- Jared Kushner's reported attempt to establish a "back-channel" line of communication between Russia and Donald Trump's presidential transition team is proving divisive, even if such talks aren't unusual. A look at what constitutes back-channel diplomacy, some examples from history and the risks and benefits of such informal communications.

Trump's Cellphone Diplomacy Raises Security Concerns -- President Donald Trump has been handing out his cellphone number to world leaders and urging them to call him directly, an unusual invitation that breaks diplomatic protocol and is raising concerns about the security and secrecy of the U.S. commander in chief's communications.

Clinton: False Stories on Facebook Helped Trump Win Election -- Hillary Clinton on Wednesday said hoaxes and false news stories on Facebook contributed to her loss in last year's U.S. presidential election, adding to a list of factors she blames for her defeat. The former Democratic candidate said earlier this month that interference by Russian hackers and then-FBI director James Comey helped tip the election to Republican President Donald Trump.

WATCH: White House press secretary on 'fake news'

Trump Frustrated by 'Fake News' That Overlooks His Accomplishments -- White House spokesman Sean Spicer abruptly walked out of his press briefing Tuesday as journalists shouted questions after him, highlighting the increasingly adversarial relationship between the Trump administration and the reporters who cover it. After a testy 20-minute question-and-answer session, Spicer told the jam-packed White House briefing room that President Donald Trump was frustrated with the number of "fake news" stories being reported, while news about his accomplishments during his just-completed foreign tour was downplayed.

Mexico to Review Rules of Origin to Help NAFTA Renegotiation -- Mexico's foreign minister says the country is "inevitably" set to review rules of origin when renegotiating the North American Free Trade Agreement, giving a boost to President Donald Trump's manufacturing push. The rules dictate how much U.S. content a product assembled in Mexico must have in order to escape tariffs when being imported into the United States. Currently set at 62.5 percent for the auto industry, that number could increase.

Snowden Says Democracy Under Threat by Attacks on ‘Fake News’ -- Democracy and political legitimacy are increasingly under threat from attacks by politicians like U.S. President Donald Trump on “fake news” and free speech, former U.S. National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden told a conference on Tuesday.

Haley Represents Another Side of 'America First' Policy -- Nikki Haley crouched low in the trailer of an 18-wheeler, taping up a box of lentils and wheat for besieged Syrians, her hands-on diplomacy a world apart from the gleaming new NATO headquarters where President Trump was debuting his "America First" doctrine overseas.

US Starts Providing Weapons to Syrian Kurds -- The United States said Tuesday that it had begun distributing arms to Syrian Kurdish militia members battling to help retake Raqqa from Islamic State, moving ahead with a war plan that has angered NATO ally Turkey. Pentagon spokesman Major Adrian Rankine-Galloway said the Kurdish fighters received small arms and vehicles from the U.S. military. He said he thought the arms were distributed earlier Tuesday.

Let's block ads! (Why?)

Read More DC Roundup: Trump Tweets, Contentious Press Briefings, Senate Hearings : http://ift.tt/2qCvx1c

Activist Seeks Trumps' Help in Freeing Labor Investigators in China

The head of a New York-based advocacy group has called on President Donald Trump and his older daughter to help secure the release of three men who reported labor violations at a Chinese company that makes shoes bearing the Ivanka Trump brand.

"We appeal to President Trump, Ivanka Trump herself, and to her related brand company to advocate and press for the release of our activists," Li Qiang, executive director of China Labor Watch, the men's employer, said Wednesday.

The Ivanka Trump brand has declined to comment. The White House and Ivanka Trump's lawyer did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Calls to provincial police in China were not answered. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said she was unaware of the situation and declined to make further comments.

Hua Haifeng and two other labor activists, Li Zhao and Su Heng, had been covertly investigating labor conditions at two Chinese factories that make shoes for Trump and other brands, in the cities of Ganzhou and Dongguan. They disclosed preliminary findings to China Labor Watch, indicating workers at the factories had been subject to extremely long hours.

Hua was arrested in Jiangxi province on suspicion of illegally using eavesdropping equipment; he and the other two men disappeared Saturday and were last seen in Ganzhou, in southern Jiangxi province, China Labor Watch reported Tuesday.

The arrest and disappearances came amid Chinese President Xi Jinping's crackdown on the country's advocacy groups and civil society. In the past year, dozens of human rights activists have been detained in China.

The global human rights group Amnesty International called for the release of the three men if they are being held only for investigating possible labor abuses at the factories, which are owned by Huajian International.

"Activists exposing potential human rights abuses deserve protection, not persecution," said Amnesty International spokesman William Nee. "The trio appear to be the latest to fall foul of the Chinese authorities' aggressive campaign against human rights activists who have any ties to overseas organizations, using the pretense of 'national security.' "

The relationship between the Trump family and China has received widespread attention since last year's presidential campaign. While Trump has accused China of taking coveted manufacturing jobs from the U.S., the Trump family has sought to benefit financially from the Chinese market.

Trump recently obtained more than 75 trademarks in China. The family of Jared Kushner, Ivanka Trump's husband, is attempting to raise money from Chinese investors for a real estate venture.

Let's block ads! (Why?)

Read More Activist Seeks Trumps' Help in Freeing Labor Investigators in China : http://ift.tt/2sphUyC

House Committee Subpoenas Flynn, Cohen; Comey to Testify

WASHINGTON — 

The House intelligence committee said Wednesday it is issuing subpoenas for former national security adviser Michael Flynn and President Donald Trump’s personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, as well as their businesses, as part of its investigation into Russian activities during last year’s election.

In addition to those four subpoenas, the committee has issued three others, to the National Security Agency, the FBI and the CIA, for information about requests that government officials made to “unmask” the identities of U.S. individuals named in classified intelligence reports, according to a congressional aide.

The subpoenas were announced as the special counsel overseeing the government’s investigation into possible Trump campaign ties to Russia has approved former FBI Director James Comey to testify before the Senate intelligence committee, according to a Comey associate.

Watch: Spicer: 'Best Messenger Is the President Himself'

At a Wednesday briefing, press secretary Sean Spicer said inquiries about the Russia investigation must be directed to Marc Kasowitz, another of Trump’s personal attorneys. It marked the first time the White House had officially acknowledged that outside counsel had been retained. Calls and emails to Kasowitz’s New York firm were not immediately returned Wednesday.

Comey testimony

The Comey associate, who wasn’t authorized to discuss details of the testimony and spoke on condition of anonymity, declined to discuss the content of Comey’s planned testimony. The associate did say that Robert Mueller, whom the Justice Department appointed earlier this month to lead the government’s inquiry, is allowing Comey to make certain statements.

Lawmakers are likely to ask Comey about his interactions with Trump as the bureau pursued its investigation into his campaign’s contacts.

Associates have said Comey wrote memos describing certain interactions with Trump that gave him pause in the months after the election, including details of a dinner in which he claimed the president asked him to pledge his loyalty, and a request to shut down the investigation of Flynn.

A spokesman for Mueller, a former FBI director, declined to comment. Mueller’s separate probe could conceivably look at the circumstances surrounding Comey’s firing.

Congress is currently out of session. It resumes next Tuesday. No date for Comey’s testimony has been set.

The Associated Press reported earlier this month that Comey planned to testify before the Senate committee after Memorial Day, but the approval from Mueller to do so could indicate that date is fast approaching.

A spokeswoman for the committee’s chairman, Sen. Richard Burr, R-N.C., said the committee welcomes Comey’s testimony, but declined to comment further.

House investigation

The House panel pursuing its own investigation of the Trump campaign and possible Russia ties has also sought information from Comey, asking the FBI to turn over documents related to his interactions with both the White House and the Justice Department.

Subpoenas were approved Wednesday for Flynn and his company, Flynn Intel Group, and Cohen, and his firm, Michael D. Cohen & Associates.

Cohen, who had refused an earlier request for information, saying it was “not capable of being answered,” told the AP Tuesday that he would comply with subpoenas, should they be issued. He said he has “nothing to hide.”

The subpoenas sent to government agencies were related to Trump’s complaints that Obama administration officials had asked, for political reasons, to be told the names of Trump associates documented in intelligence reports. Officials only “unmask” the identities of Americans for certain reasons, for example, if the name of a person is needed to understand the intelligence being provided.

Another senior committee aide said any subpoenas related to the unmasking issue would have been sent by committee Chairman Rep. Devin Nunes, R-Calif., who recused himself from the Russia investigation after being criticized for being too close to the White House. The committee aide, who wasn’t authorized to discuss the issue and spoke only on condition of anonymity, said the action would have been taken without agreement from the Democratic minority on the committee.

Trump dismisses allegations

Trump has repeatedly dismissed allegations that his campaign collaborated with Russia ahead of the presidential election. Early Wednesday morning, the president tweeted “Witch Hunt!” in reference to testimony by Comey and former CIA director John Brennan before Congress on the topic.

Mueller adds to team

Also Wednesday, a Justice Department official confirmed that Mueller had named a top Justice Department official to his team. Andrew Weissmann had been head of the criminal division’s fraud section since 2015.

The longtime Justice official previously served as FBI general counsel under Mueller. He began his career with Justice in 1991 at the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Eastern District of New York. He later joined and ran the Enron Task Force.

The department official spoke on condition of anonymity because the official was not authorized to publicly announce the appointment.

Let's block ads! (Why?)

Read More House Committee Subpoenas Flynn, Cohen; Comey to Testify : http://ift.tt/2sfRnVr

Clinton: False Stories on Facebook Helped Trump Win Election

RANCHO PALOS VERDES, CALIFORNIA — 

Hillary Clinton on Wednesday said hoaxes and false news stories on Facebook contributed to her loss in last year's U.S. presidential election, adding to a list of factors she blames for her defeat.

The former Democratic candidate said earlier this month that interference by Russian hackers and then-FBI director James Comey helped tip the election to Republican President Donald Trump.

Speaking at a technology conference near Los Angeles, Clinton on Wednesday mentioned Facebook by name and said that fake stories spread on the social network influenced the information that people relied on.

"The other side was using content that was just flat-out false and delivering it in a very personalized way, both sort of above the radar screen and below," Clinton said during an on-stage interview at the Code conference.

A representative for Facebook could not immediately be reached for comment.

Facebook Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg said just after the November election that it was "crazy" to think that fake news on the site had influenced the election in any way.

In December, though, Facebook said it would introduce tools to prevent fake news stories from spreading. It also said it would work with organizations such as fact-checking website Snopes and ABC News to check the authenticity of stories.

Let's block ads! (Why?)

Read More Clinton: False Stories on Facebook Helped Trump Win Election : http://ift.tt/2rqny6E

European Commission Chief Upbraids Trump on Climate Stance

BRUSSELS — 

The European Commission president on Wednesday said that it was the "duty of Europe" to stand up to the U.S. if President Donald Trump decided to pull his country out of the Paris climate change accord.

Jean-Claude Juncker said that "the Americans can't just get out of the agreement," adding that "it takes three to four years" to pull out.

Juncker went on to say that the Group of Seven leaders "tried to explain this in clear, simple sentences to Mr. Trump" at a recent summit in Italy. He said that even though "it looks like that attempt failed" ... the "law is the law."

In a gibe at the U.S. administration, Juncker told the audience at an event of the Confederation of German Employers in Berlin that "not everything that is written in international agreements is fake news."

Juncker said: "If the U.S. president pulls out of the Paris agreement, and he will in the next days or hours, then it is Europe's duty to say that that is not how it works."

A White House official said earlier in the day that Trump was planning to pull out of the Paris deal, although a final decision hadn't been made.

Trump on Wednesday declared that abandoning the Paris climate agreement would be a victory for the American economy.

The European Union and China, meanwhile, will reaffirm their commitment to the climate accord this week regardless of whether the U.S. pulls out of the pact, a senior EU official said.

Talks on Friday

The official told reporters that the EU and China will also "spell out" how they plan to meet their commitments to the landmark international accord to fight global warming at talks in Brussels on Friday.

The official is involved in preparing the meeting between EU Council President Donald Tusk, Juncker and Chinese Premier Li Keqiang, but can't speak on the record because their meeting statement wasn't finalized. Li and a major Chinese delegation are due to arrive in Brussels late Thursday following talks in Berlin.

"The EU and China are joining forces to forge ahead on the implementation of the Paris Agreement and accelerate the global transition to clean energy," EU climate commissioner Miguel Arias Canete said about the upcoming EU-China summit, stressing they remain committed to Paris.

A White House official said Wednesday that there could be "caveats in the language" announcing a withdrawal, leaving open the possibility that Trump's decision isn't final.

That possibility was met with derisive howls from EU lawmakers when a session of the European Parliament was informed about it.

"Climate change is not a fairy tale. It is a tough reality which affects people's daily lives," European Parliament President Antonio Tajani said in a statement. "People die or are obliged to leave their homes because of desertification, lack of water, exposure to disease, extreme weather conditions. If we don't act swiftly and boldly, the huge human and economic cost will continue to increase."

Tajani suggested that Washington's withdrawal should be a signal for Europe to step up its efforts — and reap the benefits.

"Our climate action strategy represents an opportunity to attract investment, innovation and develop new green technologies," he said. "We have got the talent and the will to make this possible in all sectors."

Offsetting action

Tajani said earlier he would confer with Tusk and Juncker about "joint initiatives to be adopted together as a European Union" to offset the decision.

The EU official involved in organizing the EU-China meeting said it would "send important signals for the multinational system," as Trump moves to alter or abandon some of the international trade agreements the U.S. has signed.

Alden Meyer, director of strategy and policy for the Union of Concerned Scientists advocacy group, said, "I don't think any other countries will follow the U.S. out of Paris, so if he does leave, Trump will be in splendid isolation with the leaders of Syria and Nicaragua."

In Madrid, the leaders of India and Spain expressed their commitment to fighting climate change and reiterated their support for implanting the Kyoto and Paris accords.

In a joint statement issued following talks in the Spanish capital between Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Spanish counterpart Mariano Rajoy, the two countries said taking action on climate change was a priority for both nations.

On Tuesday, Modi said in Berlin that it would be a "crime" to spoil the environment for future generations as the world awaits a decision on U.S. climate policy.

Rajoy and Modi agreed to boost bilateral cooperation in combating climate change.

Let's block ads! (Why?)

Read More European Commission Chief Upbraids Trump on Climate Stance : http://ift.tt/2qCFyYa

A Guide to Global Warming, Paris Pact and the US Role

WASHINGTON — 

If President Donald Trump pulls the United States out of the international agreement to reduce carbon dioxide emissions, what could that mean for the Earth?

Here's a guide to what's in the Paris agreement, what's going on with global warming, and what might happen if the rest of the world keeps fighting man-made climate change and the U.S. stays partially or completely on the sidelines.

What is the Paris Agreement trying to do?

The 2015 agreement aims to prevent the Earth from heating up by 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) since the start of the industrial age.

But the world has already warmed about 1.1 degrees Celsius (2 degrees Fahrenheit) since the Industrial Revolution, so this is more about preventing an additional 1.6 degrees Fahrenheit of warming.

How?

Each nation submitted its own goals for curbing heat-trapping emissions. Those pledges added up to preventing 117 billion tons of carbon dioxide from being put into the air by 2030, analysts calculate.

The U.S. set a target for reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 2025 at 26 to 28 percent below 2005 levels — or about 1.6 billion tons of annual emissions. A study last year in the journal Nature Climate Change said America will probably only reach four-fifths of that goal.

For China, the No. 1 polluter, having overtaken the United States, the goal was for emissions to peak by 2030 and then start dropping, reducing the amount of carbon pollution per person to about 60 percent of 2005 levels. Some recent signs show that Chinese carbon emissions may have already flattened out, a decade earlier than expected. China accounts for nearly one-third of the pledged reductions.

The Paris accord was agreed upon by 197 countries and has been ratified by 147 parties, which includes the European Union. That put the deal in effect.

The goals are voluntary. There is no climate court. All that's required is a plan and reporting on progress toward the plan.

What are the U.S. options?

The U.S. could stay in the agreement and work toward fulfilling its pledges. It could stay in the accord and not hit its goals. It could stay in the pact and change its target, probably by lowering it. Or it could pull out of the agreement altogether.

It takes at least a year for a nation to withdraw from the pact.

No matter what the U.S. does, the Paris Agreement remains in effect.

The science

The world is warming, with the last three years the hottest on record. This year is on track to be the second-warmest, behind 2016.

Sea levels are rising. Sea ice in the Arctic is at record low levels. Glaciers worldwide are melting, as are parts of Antarctica. Plants and animals are changing in their growing and migration habits because of shorter and milder winters. Extreme weather in many places has increased.

All but a very few scientists say the overwhelming majority of warming is man-made, as do dozens of scientific academies and professional societies. Scientists have known since the 19th century that burning coal, oil and gas spews carbon dioxide into the air, which then acts like a blanket to trap heat on Earth.

Carbon dioxide stays in the air for 100 years, and about one-fifth of what has accumulated in the atmosphere came from the U.S., more than any other country.

What will happen without U.S. cooperation?

The Associated Press interviewed dozens of scientists and consulted computer simulations, and they say without the U.S. pledges, the dangerous 2-degree rise is nearly inescapable.

But they also say that even with the U.S. doing its share, preventing that warming is going to be unlikely and will require even more cuts than contained in the Paris agreement.

University of Oklahoma meteorology professor Jason Furtado said blowing past the 2-degree mark would be a potential "tipping point" that would lead to "a new and irreversible state in the climate system."

One computer simulation — one that many other scientists say is too much of a worst-case scenario — calculates that if the U.S. increases carbon dioxide emissions and the rest of the world hits its targets, America's added carbon pollution will be responsible for about half a degree of warming (0.3 degrees Celsius).

Other scientists look at market forces and see the United States still cutting emissions because the nation is already shifting toward cleaner fuels such as cheaper natural gas, solar and wind. Solar power employs more people in the U.S. than coal.

"The U.S. pulling out of Paris will not stop the fight against global warming, since almost all other countries are committed to it," said German climate scientist Stefan Rahmstorf. "But it could delay it and any delay could be detrimental, as stopping global warming before critical tipping points are crossed is a race against the clock."

Let's block ads! (Why?)

Read More A Guide to Global Warming, Paris Pact and the US Role : http://ift.tt/2rVDhet

Trump Hails Signing of Deals Worth 'Billions' with Vietnam

WASHINGTON — 

U.S. President Donald Trump discussed trade with Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc during a White House visit on Wednesday and welcomed the signing of business deals worth billions of dollars and the jobs they would bring.

General Electric said earlier it had signed deals with Vietnam worth about $5.58 billion for power generation, aircraft engines and services, its largest ever single combined sale with the country.

"They just made a very large order in the United States - and we appreciate that - for many billions of dollars, which means jobs for the United States and great, great equipment for Vietnam," Trump told reporters at the White House.

Phuc said on Tuesday he would sign deals for U.S. goods and services worth $15 billion to $17 billion during his Washington visit, mainly for high-technology products and for services.

Communist Vietnam has gone from being a bitter adversary of the United States during the Cold War to an important partner in the Asia-Pacific, where both countries share concerns about China's rising power.

Phuc told Trump the relationship had undergone "significant upheavals in history," but that the two countries were now "comprehensive partners."

However, while Hanoi and Washington have stepped up security cooperation in recent years, trade has become a potential irritant, with a deficit widening steadily in Vietnam's favor, reaching $32 billion last year, compared with $7 billion a decade earlier.

Trump, who has had strong words for countries with large trade surpluses with the United States, said he would be discussing trade with Phuc, as well as North Korea.

Washington has been seeking support for efforts to pressure North Korea to drop its nuclear and missile programs, which have become an increasing threat to the United States. Hanoi has said it shares concerns about North Korea.

Analysts said that while the Trump administration welcomed new business deals with Vietnam, it wants to see moves on trade.

Murray Hiebert, a Southeast Asia expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington said the view was that deals were "nice, but not enough."

"They want Vietnam to bring some ideas about how to tackle the surplus on an ongoing basis," he said.

On Tuesday, U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer expressed concern about the rapid growth of the deficit with Vietnam. He said it was a new challenge for the two countries and he was looking to Phuc to help address it.

The deficit with Vietnam - Washington's sixth largest - reflects growing imports of Vietnamese semiconductors and other electronics products in addition to more traditional sectors such as footwear, apparel and furniture.

Vietnamese Trade Minister Tran Tuan Anh presented Lighthizer on Tuesday with suggestions to address some U.S. concerns, such as advertising on U.S. social media, electronic payment services and imports of information security and farm products, Vietnam's trade ministry said.

Vietnam also urged the United States to remove an inspection program for catfish, speed import licenses for its fruit and make fair decisions on anti-dumping and anti-subsidy measures on Vietnamese products, the ministry said.

Vietnam was disappointed when Trump ditched the 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade pact, of which Hanoi was expected to be one of the main beneficiaries, and focused U.S. trade policy on reducing deficits.

Phuc's meeting with Trump makes him the first Southeast Asian leader to visit the White House under the new administration.

It reflected calls, letters, diplomatic contacts and lower-level visits that started long before Trump took office in Washington, where Vietnam retains a lobbyist at $30,000 a month.

Let's block ads! (Why?)

Read More Trump Hails Signing of Deals Worth 'Billions' with Vietnam : http://ift.tt/2sf9YRB

White House Truncates Media Briefing, Leaving Questions Unanswered

WHITE HOUSE — 

The White House spokesman, during a truncated off-camera briefing Wednesday, brushed aside a question about a report that fired FBI director James Comey plans to testify publicly that the president pressured him to end an investigation into a top Trump aide’s ties to Russia.

“We are focused on the president’s agenda,” answered White House press secretary Sean Spicer. “Going forward, all questions on these matters will be referred to outside counsel Marc Kasowitz.”

The New York City litigator was retained by Trump last week to represent the president in all matters concerning the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election.

CNN on Wednesday reported that Comey will tell the Senate Intelligence Committee, as soon as next week, that Trump urged him to drop his ongoing investigation into Michael Flynn, whom the president fired as his national security advisor.

Earlier in the day, the president on Twitter used the term “Witch Hunt” to characterize congressional investigations into his 2016 campaign’s links to Russia, blaming opposition Democrats for allegedly blocking the testimony of another former aide, Carter Page, looking to clear his name.

During the daily White House briefing, Spicer also was asked about mysterious Wednesday morning tweets on the president’s @realDonaldTrump account referring to “covfefe.”

Shortly after midnight, Trump tweeted, “Despite the constant negative press covfefe”

The tweet, with the mystery word not found in any dictionary, stayed online for six hours before being deleted. Then, just after 6 a.m., the president tweeted: “Who can figure out the true meaning of ‘covfefe’ ??? Enjoy!”

That one stayed up, unleashing another round of social media confusion.

Asked about the cryptic message, Spicer replied, “The president and a small group of people know exactly what he meant.”

Pressed for clarification, the press secretary did not respond, much to the chagrin of a befuddled press corps.

Cameras were not permitted to record Spicer’s comments, as the White House apparently moves to reduce the number of contentious televised briefings.

The administration alternatively used the terms “gaggle” and “pen and pad” session” for Wednesday’s briefing, saying audio could be recorded but could not be aired live or streamed.

Despite the ground rule, the 11-minute briefing was aired live by some cable networks, in which one-fourth of the session was consumed by Spicer reading prepared announcements.

As the press secretary abruptly walked off the podium, one frustrated reporter exclaimed, “How short are these gonna be?”

Let's block ads! (Why?)

Read More White House Truncates Media Briefing, Leaving Questions Unanswered : http://ift.tt/2rcBErT

This Day in History: Watergate Leaker 'Deep Throat' Reveals Self in 2005

Twelve years ago today, May 31 — and 31 years after the resignation of President Richard Nixon — the principal leaker in the Watergate scandal, known as “Deep Throat,” revealed his identity in an article published in Vanity Fair magazine.

Mark Felt's coming forward stunned both Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, whose reporting in The Washington Post newspaper helped bring down Nixon’s presidency. Both went to great lengths to conceal Felt’s identity, and they promised to keep it a secret until his death.

Although his name was circulated in the years after Nixon resigned, Felt consistently denied being Deep Throat.

“I never leaked information to Woodward and Bernstein or to anyone else," he wrote in his 1979 memoir.

Just six years before his 2005 admission, Felt, then aged 91, was quoted as saying, “It would be contrary to my responsibility as a loyal employee of the FBI to leak information.”

During the middle of the night in an Arlington, Virginia, parking garage, Felt corroborated stories linking Nixon’s reelection committee to the Watergate break-ins and illegal investigations of the Democratic Party.

He also alerted Woodward to the far-reaching nature of the scandal, indicating that it could be traced back to government higher-ups, including Nixon himself.

Nixon resigned — the first president to ever do so — while impeachment proceedings were underway. Top aides H.R. Haldeman, John Erlichman and White House Counsel John Dean all spent time in prison.

Other key players who were jailed: John Mitchell, Attorney General, Howard Hunt and G. Gordon Liddy, both former White House staffers, along with Charles Colson, special counsel to the president.

Additionally, five burglars, who were caught breaking in to the Democratic national headquarters at the Watergate Hotel, were jailed.

In 1973, The Washington Post won a Pulitzer Prize for its coverage. Hollywood made of a movie in 1976 called “All the President’s Men,” starring Robert Redford and Dustin Hoffman.

Mark Felt died ​on December 18, 2008, at the age of 95.

Let's block ads! (Why?)

Read More This Day in History: Watergate Leaker 'Deep Throat' Reveals Self in 2005 : http://ift.tt/2rVpXH9

Trump Assails Congressional Probes of His Campaign's Links to Russia

WASHINGTON — 

U.S. President Donald Trump again assailed the congressional probes into his campaign's links to Russia on Wednesday, claiming opposition Democrats are blocking the testimony of one of his former aides looking to clear his name.

"Witch Hunt!" Trump declared in one comment on his Twitter account.

Trump said, without citing evidence, Democrats on the House of Representatives Intelligence Committee "don't want" Carter Page, a former campaign adviser whose ties to Moscow officials are under investigation, to testify. Trump said Democrats "have excoriated Page about Russia," but that he "blows away their case against him."

The president said Page wants to show the "the false or misleading testimony" of former Federal Bureau of Investigation chief James Comey and ex-Central Intelligence Agency director John Brennan about Page's connections with Russian interests.

The FBI last year obtained a warrant under the country's Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act to monitor Page's communications.

Page, an international businessman and energy consultant, on Monday sent a letter to the House Intelligence panel saying he had been told he "might not be immediately afforded the opportunity" to testify and made clear he was eager to do so at a public hearing.

The 45-year-old Page accused Comey; former president Barack Obama, Trump's defeated challenger former U.S. secretary of state Hillary Clinton, and the U.S. news media of making "unrelenting lies about me."

Trump's defense of Page came as his first national security adviser, Michael Flynn, agreed to hand over documents to the Senate Intelligence Committee in connection with its investigation into Russia's efforts to influence last year's U.S. presidential election.

Flynn had previously refused a subpoena from the committee, with his lawyers asserting the request was too broad in what it was seeking.

The committee filed a narrower subpoena, and Flynn is now expected by next week to provide some personal documents and those related to two businesses.

The House intelligence committee is conducting its own investigation, and Trump's personal attorney, Michael Cohen, turned down a request Tuesday to provide information, calling it "poorly phrased, overly broad and not capable of being answered."

Four concurrent probes

There are currently four congressional investigations of Trump campaign links to Russia and Moscow's meddling in the election. In addition, the Justice Department appointed former FBI director Robert Mueller as a special counsel to probe whether Trump campaign aides illegally colluded with Russia during the long political campaign.

Trump has rejected allegations of collusion and dismissed the U.S. intelligence community's assessment that Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered an influence campaign aimed at disrupting the November election and help Trump win.

"Russian officials must be laughing at the U.S. & how a lame excuse for why the Dems lost the election has taken over the Fake News," Trump wrote Tuesday on Twitter. Clinton has said that Russian interference was partly to blame for her defeat.

Later, at a White House briefing for reporters, spokesman Sean Spicer said Trump "is frustrated ... to see stories come out that are patently false, to see narratives that are wrong, to see, quote, unquote, fake news, when you see stories get perpetrated that are absolutely false, that are not based in fact."

Trump's Russia comment came as news reports continued to focus on Jared Kushner, Trump's son-in-law and a White House adviser, and his reported attempt to establish a back-channel communications link to Russian officials in the weeks before Trump's inauguration in January.

Some foreign affairs experts said the move, while Obama had weeks left in his term, worried them that it could undermine U.S. security, and some opposition Democrats have suggested Kushner's security clearance should be revoked. Other experts say exploring the creation of "backchannels" is commonplace, even during presidential transitions.

Spicer deflected several questions about Kushner's actions, telling one reporter his inquiry "presupposes facts that have not been confirmed."

Let's block ads! (Why?)

Read More Trump Assails Congressional Probes of His Campaign's Links to Russia : http://ift.tt/2sePUPl

Social Media Rushes to Define Trump's 'Covfefe' Tweet

WASHINGTON — 

A midnight tweet from President Donald Trump has social media trying to find a meaning in the mysterious term "covfefe."

Trump tweeted just after midnight on Wednesday: "Despite the constant negative press covfefe."

The tweet immediately went viral and became one of the president's more popular posts before it was taken down after nearly six hours online. Trump poked fun at the typo, tweeting around 6 a.m., "Who can figure out the true meaning of "covfefe" ??? Enjoy!'"

The term became a top trending item on Twitter, with many users supplying tongue-in-cheek meanings. One user joked that "covfefe" is already a popular name for babies in states that voted for Trump. Silicon Valley executive Andrew Crow went as far to change his last name on Twitter to "Covfefe." Jimmy Kimmel lamented that he'll never write anything funnier than the term.

Dictionary publisher Merriam-Webster checked in with an eye-rolling tweet about people looking up "covfefe" on its website. Dozens of definitions have been submitted the Urban Dictionary website, which crowdsources meanings for slang terms.

The president returned to his normal Twitter routine later in the morning by slamming Democrats over the probe into Russia's meddling in the 2016 election.

Let's block ads! (Why?)

Read More Social Media Rushes to Define Trump's 'Covfefe' Tweet : http://ift.tt/2smy6AK

Reports: Trump to Pull Out of Paris Climate Agreement

President Donald Trump is ready to remove the U.S. from the Paris climate change agreement signed in 2016 by his predecessor Barack Obama, according to several U.S. media outlets.

The U.S.-based website Axios, citing senior White House officials with direct knowledge of Trump’s decision, was the first to report that Trump decided to pull out of the deal and that EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt will handle the details.

After news of Trump's decision leaked Wednesday, Trump took to Twitter that he would announce his intentions "over the next few days," but provided no further details.

The agreement is meant to curb the earth’s heating and reduce the impacts of climate change.

Trump refused to endorse the agreement during a meeting this weekend at the G7 summit with other world leaders. He has previously said he believes climate change is hoax being perpetuated by the Chinese.

Should Trump choose to pull the U.S. out of the agreement, it would put the country in line with Syria and Nicaragua as the only non-participants in the world.

The decision to leave would deal a heavy blow to the agreement, as the U.S. is the second-largest carbon dioxide producer behind China, and the deal hinges on the willingness of large countries to reduce emissions.

WATCH: What is Climate Change?

Let's block ads! (Why?)

Read More Reports: Trump to Pull Out of Paris Climate Agreement : http://ift.tt/2roFVsF

Trump Admonishes Comedian Kathy Griffin for Posting Gruesome Mock Image of Him

U.S. President Donald Trump admonished comedian Kathy Griffin Wednesday for appearing in a brief video holding a reproduction of a severed, bloody head that resembled the president.

In an early morning tweet, Trump said the image is disturbing - particularly to his children.

After seeing negative online reaction, Griffin apologized Tuesday night -- saying she "moved the line" and then "crossed it."

Griffin had shared the image in a tweet that has since been deleted at Griffin's request.

The photo was taken by Tyler Shields, whose own biography notes he has evolved from Hollywood's "bad boy of photography."

The criticism came from liberals and conservatives alike, including the president's son, Donald Trump Jr., former Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney and daughter of 2016 presidential candidate Hillary Clinton Chelsea Clinton, who called the image "vile and wrong."

The CNN news channel, which has featured Griffin as a co-host on its New Year's Eve coverage, said the picture was "disgusting and offensive."

The cable news network said in a statement it is "evaluating our New Year's coverage."

Let's block ads! (Why?)

Read More Trump Admonishes Comedian Kathy Griffin for Posting Gruesome Mock Image of Him : http://ift.tt/2rUvOMQ

Social Media Rushes to Define Trump's 'Covfefe' Tweet

WASHINGTON — 

A midnight tweet from President Donald Trump has social media trying to find a meaning in the mysterious term "covfefe."

Trump tweeted just after midnight on Wednesday: "Despite the constant negative press covfefe."

The tweet immediately went viral and became one of the president's more popular posts before it was taken down after nearly six hours online. Trump poked fun at the typo, tweeting around 6 a.m., "Who can figure out the true meaning of "covfefe" ??? Enjoy!'"

The term became a top trending item on Twitter, with many users supplying tongue-in-cheek meanings. One user joked that "covfefe" is already a popular name for babies in states that voted for Trump. Silicon Valley executive Andrew Crow went as far to change his last name on Twitter to "Covfefe." Jimmy Kimmel lamented that he'll never write anything funnier than the term.

Dictionary publisher Merriam-Webster checked in with an eye-rolling tweet about people looking up "covfefe" on its website. Dozens of definitions have been submitted the Urban Dictionary website, which crowdsources meanings for slang terms.

The president returned to his normal Twitter routine later in the morning by slamming Democrats over the probe into Russia's meddling in the 2016 election.

Let's block ads! (Why?)

Read More Social Media Rushes to Define Trump's 'Covfefe' Tweet : http://ift.tt/2rUySs9

Trump Admonishes Comedian Kathy Griffin for Posting Gruesome Mock Image of Him

U.S. President Donald Trump admonished comedian Kathy Griffin Wednesday for appearing in a brief video holding a reproduction of a severed, bloody head that resembled the president.

In an early morning tweet, Trump said the image is disturbing - particularly to his children.

After seeing negative online reaction, Griffin apologized Tuesday night -- saying she "moved the line" and then "crossed it."

Griffin had shared the image in a tweet that has since been deleted at Griffin's request.

The photo was taken by Tyler Shields, whose own biography notes he has evolved from Hollywood's "bad boy of photography."

The criticism came from liberals and conservatives alike, including the president's son, Donald Trump Jr., former Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney and daughter of 2016 presidential candidate Hillary Clinton Chelsea Clinton, who called the image "vile and wrong."

The CNN news channel, which has featured Griffin as a co-host on its New Year's Eve coverage, said the picture was "disgusting and offensive."

The cable news network said in a statement it is "evaluating our New Year's coverage."

Let's block ads! (Why?)

Read More Trump Admonishes Comedian Kathy Griffin for Posting Gruesome Mock Image of Him : http://ift.tt/2sdsgT5

Reports: Trump to Pull Out of Paris Climate Agreement

President Donald Trump is ready to remove the U.S. from the Paris climate change agreement signed in 2016 by his predecessor Barack Obama, according to several U.S. media outlets.

The U.S.-based website Axios, citing senior White House officials with direct knowledge of Trump’s decision, was the first to report that Trump decided to pull out of the deal and that EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt will handle the details.

The agreement is meant to curb the earth’s heating and reduce the impacts of climate change.

Trump refused to endorse the agreement during a meeting this weekend at the G7 summit with other world leaders. He has previously said he believes climate change is hoax being perpetuated by the Chinese.

Let's block ads! (Why?)

Read More Reports: Trump to Pull Out of Paris Climate Agreement : http://ift.tt/2rnLAPx

Haley Represents Another Side of 'America First' Policy

BAB AL-HAWA, TURKEY-SYRIA BORDER — 

Nikki Haley crouched low in the trailer of an 18-wheeler, taping up a box of lentils and wheat for besieged Syrians, her hands-on diplomacy a world apart from the gleaming new NATO headquarters where President Donald Trump was debuting his "America First" doctrine overseas.

Haley, Trump's U.N. ambassador, had started the day in Turkey's capital, opened a refugee school in the south of the country, then traveled hours in an armored vehicle to the Syrian border. Her afternoon stop had to be short. She had a packed schedule, and at a nearby refugee camp she was soon kicking soccer balls with stranded Syrians and noshing on shawarma.

As she hopped a flight to Istanbul, Trump was arriving in Brussels to scold European allies for relying too much on U.S. defense spending. Haley's mission represented another side of Trump's "America First," assuring nations on the border of the world's worst crisis that the U.S. wasn't forgetting them.

"I think 'America First' is human rights and 'America First' is humanitarian issues," Haley said. "It's what we've always been known for."

Haley's trip last week to Jordan and Turkey showcased the outspoken former South Carolina governor-turned-Trump diplomat's emergence as Trump's foreign policy alter ego: still bold, still brash-talking, but with greater attention to America's traditional global roles and the personable side of diplomacy.

Human rights, democracy

Whereas Trump has emphasized U.S. security and prosperity and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has distinguished between America's interests and its values, Haley is the national security voice insisting the U.S. still seeks to promote human rights, democracy and the well-being of others. Yet Haley brushes off any suggestion of divergent interests, arguing instead that the members of Trump's Cabinet simply "see the world through a different scope."

"We take basically what we work with every day and try to make America first through that lens," she said at Altinozu Refugee Camp in southern Turkey, in explaining her sharply contrasting style. "For me to make America first, I have to fight for the political solution, have to fight for human rights and I have to fight for humanitarian issues, because I'm surrounded by it every day."

So far, the White House has cautiously embraced Haley's higher profile, perhaps as an antidote to Democratic and Republican critiques that Trump doesn't care about human rights. Her prominent role as a face of Trump's foreign policy has fueled talk in Washington about her political future, including potentially as a future secretary of state.

And while Haley has sometimes contributed to mixed messages, on everything from Syria to the delicate issue of Jerusalem's status, the White House has continued sending her out frequently to represent the administration in public and on television. On Tuesday, Haley's office announced she'll travel next week to Switzerland to give a speech to the U.N. Human Rights Council and then to Israel, where she'll meet Israelis and Palestinians and observe local U.N. operations.

Haley's role as boundary-pusher may have roots in her political upbringing in South Carolina, where the daughter of Indian immigrants became the first female governor in a state notorious for its "good ol' boy" Republican network.

When a self-avowed white supremacist gunned down nine black worshippers in a Charleston church, Haley sat front and center for weeks at every one of the funerals. She grieved publicly throughout her second term after the "1,000-year flood," Hurricane Matthew and other tragedies in the state.

Confederate flag

Yet it was her role in the roiling controversy over removing the Confederate flag from the South Carolina Statehouse grounds that largely defined her ascent as a national political figure. For many in the state, it was a cherished symbol of Civil War sacrifices. But the rebel flag had been brandished by the Charleston church gunman in a display of hate, and Haley said South Carolinians needed to move forward and "put themselves in other people's shoes."

"She's definitely someone who seemed to rise to the occasion when faced with these controversies," said Gibbs Knotts, who teaches political science at the College of Charleston. "She hadn't necessarily had a legislative success, but her ability to handle crises and connect with people and represent the state was when she was at her strongest as governor."

After being picked by Trump in January for the U.N. ambassadorship, Haley said that "everything I've done leading up to this point has always been about diplomacy."

"It's been about trying to lift up everyone, getting them to work together for the greater good, and that's what I'm going to attempt to do going forward," she said.

As a member of Trump's administration, though, it's been more complicated.

While Haley conducted her reassurance tour for Syria's neighbors last week, Trump unveiled a budget proposing sweeping cuts to U.S. foreign aid. Many of the same U.N. agencies whose programs Haley visited faced sharply reduced U.S. contributions, creating uncertainty about whether she could deliver on her declarations of support.

Let's block ads! (Why?)

Read More Haley Represents Another Side of 'America First' Policy : http://ift.tt/2rCsPZA

Iowa's Republican Senators: Health Care Law Repeal Unlikely

ALTOONA, IOWA — 

Lowering expectations, Iowa's two Republican senators say the long-promised repeal of "Obamacare" is unlikely, and any final agreement with the Republican-controlled House is uncertain.

The comments Tuesday by Sens. Chuck Grassley and Joni Ernst come as the Republican-controlled Senate moves forward on its work to dismantle the 2010 health care bill while facing conflicting demands within their own party and lockstep Democratic opposition. Both senators are active players in the health care debate.

"You can't repeal it in its entirety," Ernst told reporters after a joint appearance with Grassley in suburban Des Moines.

Frank admission

It was a frank admission from loyal conservatives representing a state Republican Donald Trump carried in November.

The Senate's filibuster rule means that Republicans -- who control the Senate with 52 seats -- can't repeal the entire law.

"You've got to have 60 votes and we don't have 60 votes at this point," Grassley said.

Grassley, in his seventh term, is a senior member of the Finance Committee, which oversees the law's tax and Medicaid provisions. Ernst, elected in 2014, says has been part of an informal GOP health care working group's discussions.

"As much as I'd love to go back and scrap the whole darn thing, we're simply unable to do that," Ernst said.

Other Senate rules permit the GOP majority to repeal portions of Obamacare without Democratic support but render other parts of the law off limits.

"That just allows us to tinker around the edges," Ernst earlier told Eric Borseth, an Altoona, Iowa, businessman who implored her to "get rid of that monstrosity."

What Grassley and Ernst did not mention are divisions within the Republican caucus in the Senate. Getting every Republican on board is proving arduous.

House measure

House Republicans passed a measure May 4 axing major parts of the 2010 law, including hundreds of billions in extra Medicaid money that 31 states now receive for expanding to cover more lower-income Americans under the federal insurance program.

Such provisions, as well as the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office's estimate that 23 million Americans would lose health insurance, make the House bill a non-starter with several Republican senators.

Erasing Obama's health care law was a top promise of Donald Trump during his presidential campaign, and by congressional GOP candidates since its 2010 enactment.

But writing legislation that can pass with only Republican votes has proven agonizing.

House Speaker Paul Ryan of Wisconsin canceled a March vote after opposition from party conservatives and moderates would have sealed its defeat, and the two wings of the GOP spent weeks blaming each other for the bill's demise.

Ernst says the Senate will be able to make individual changes to Obama's law where only a simple majority vote is required.

For instance, she mentioned changing mandatory health care benefits required by insurers as ripe for Senate action.

Ernst stopped short of saying whether any legislation passed in the Senate would be accepted by the House.

"We will be working with the House," she said.

Let's block ads! (Why?)

Read More Iowa's Republican Senators: Health Care Law Repeal Unlikely : http://ift.tt/2rm16f0

Man Probing Ivanka Trump Brands in China Is Arrested; Two Others Missing

SHANGHAI — 

A man investigating working conditions at a Chinese company that produces Ivanka Trump-brand shoes has been arrested and two others are missing, the arrested man's wife and an advocacy group said Tuesday.

Hua Haifeng was accused of illegal surveillance, according to his wife, Deng Guilian, who said the police called her Tuesday afternoon. Deng said the caller told her she didn't need to know the details, only that she would not be able to see, speak with or receive money from her husband, the family's breadwinner.

China Labor Watch Executive Director Li Qiang said he lost contact with Hua Haifeng and the other two men, Li Zhao and Su Heng, over the weekend. By Tuesday, after dozens of unanswered calls, he had concluded: "They must be held either by the factory or the police to be unreachable."

China Labor Watch, a New York-based nonprofit, was planning to publish a report next month alleging low pay, excessive overtime and the possible misuse of student interns. It is unclear whether the undercover investigative methods used by the advocacy group are legal in China.

For 17 years, China Labor Watch has investigated working conditions at suppliers to some of the world's best-known companies, but Li said his work has never before attracted this level of scrutiny from China's state security apparatus.

"Our plan was to investigate the factory to improve the labor situation," Li said. "But now it has become more political."

Disney decision

Walt Disney Co. stopped working with a toy maker in Shenzhen last year after the group exposed labor violations. China Labor Watch has also published reports on child labor at Samsung suppliers and spent years investigating Apple Inc.'s China factories. In the past, the worst thing Li feared was having investigators kicked out of a factory or face a short police detention.

That has changed.

The arrest and disappearances came amid a crackdown on perceived threats to the stability of China's ruling Communist Party, particularly from sources with foreign ties such as China Labor Watch. Faced with rising labor unrest and a slowing economy, Beijing has also taken a stern approach to activism in southern China's manufacturing belt and to human rights advocates generally, sparking a wave of critical reports about disappearances, public confessions, forced repatriation and torture in custody.

Another difference is the target of China Labor Watch's investigation: a brand owned by the daughter of the president of the United States.

White House spokeswoman Hope Hicks referred questions to Ivanka Trump's brand. The Ivanka Trump brand declined to comment for this story.

Abigail Klem, who took over day-to-day management when the first daughter took on a White House role as presidential adviser, has said that the brand requires licensees and their manufacturers to "comply with all applicable laws and to maintain acceptable working conditions."

No reply from police

Li said China Labor Watch asked police about the three missing investigators on Monday but received no reply. Li added that a friend had tried to file a missing-person report on Li Zhao in Jiangxi, where the factory is located, but was told he had to do so in the man's hometown.

AP was unable to reach the other investigators' families. China's Ministry of Public Security and police in Ganzhou city and Jiangxi province could not be reached for comment Tuesday, which was a national holiday in China.

All three men were investigating Ganzhou Huajian International Shoe City Co.'s factory in Jiangxi province, just north of Guangdong province. Su Heng had been working undercover at the factory since April, Li said. The parent company is known as Huajian Group.

In January, Liu Shiyuan, then spokesman for the Huajian Group, told AP the company makes 10,000 to 20,000 pairs of shoes a year for Ivanka Trump's brand — a small fraction of the 20 million pairs the company produces a year. A current spokeswoman for the company, Long Shan, did not reply to questions Tuesday. "I told you I could not check until tomorrow," she said. "If your official letter contains a stamp and signature, we can confirm whether the media is real or not."

Li said investigators had seen Ivanka Trump-brand shoes in the factory, as well as production orders for Ivanka Trump, Marc Fisher, Nine West and Easy Spirit merchandise.

"We were unaware of the allegations and will look into them immediately," a spokeswoman for Marc Fisher, which manufactures Ivanka Trump, Easy Spirit and its own branded shoes, said in an email. Nine West did not respond to requests for comment.

Li Zhao and Hua Haifeng were blocked from leaving mainland China for Hong Kong in April and May — something that had never happened to his colleagues before, Li said. Hua Haifeng was stopped at the border Thursday and later questioned by police, Li said. During their final phone conversation on Saturday, Hua told Li that police had asked him to stop investigating the Huajian factory — another turn of events that Li said was unprecedented.

Excessive overtime, low wages

Li said the men had documented excessive overtime, with working days sometimes stretching longer than 18 hours, and a base salary below minimum wage. They were working to confirm evidence suggesting that student interns, some of whom allegedly quit in protest, were putting in excessive hours on work unrelated to their field of study, in violation of Chinese law, Li said.

The use of student workers in China is legal, but meant to be strictly regulated. Rights groups and journalists have documented widespread abuse of the system over the years.

"It is the role of the police to prevent that kind of independent investigation," said Nicholas Bequelin, East Asia director for Amnesty International. "The threshold is much lower today than it was one year ago, two years ago, and if this is something that has a foreign diplomacy dimension, that would make national security personnel even more willing to stop it."

Hua's wife, Deng, meanwhile, has yet to tell the couple's children, ages 3 and 7, about their father's plight. But they seem to know anyway, she said.

"My son suddenly burst into tears. He said he missed Papa," Deng said by phone from her home in central China's Hubei province. "I said Papa would come home soon and buy you toys."

She said the child looked at her and answered: "Papa was taken away by a monster."

Let's block ads! (Why?)

Read More Man Probing Ivanka Trump Brands in China Is Arrested; Two Others Missing : http://ift.tt/2rTaXcC

DC Roundup: Trump on Russia, McCain on Russia, WH Staffer Resigns

Developments in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday include President Donald Trump sending a series of early morning tweets that Russia must be laughing at the U.S. over investigations, longtime Republican Senator John McCain calling Russia a bigger challenge than Islamic State; the U.S. successfully testing a missile defense system, and the White House communications director resigns:

Trump: Russians Must Be Laughing at US Probes of Moscow Election Meddling -- U.S. President Donald Trump says that Russian officials "must be laughing" at the United States with its escalating investigations into Moscow's meddling in last year's election, which he claimed was "a lame excuse" adopted by opposition Democrats to explain losing the White House.

McCain: Russia, Putin 'Greatest Challenge We Have' -- U.S. Senator John McCain said Monday he views Russia and its president, Vladimir Putin, as the "greatest challenge we have," even more so than that posed by the Islamic State group. Speaking during a visit to Australia, McCain told the Australian Broadcasting Company Russia has tried to "destroy the very fundamental of democracy" with efforts to influence the U.S. presidential election and others elsewhere in the world.

White House Communications Chief Resigns -- The White House communications director has resigned in what could be the first of several changes in President Donald Trump's senior staff as he attempts to shape a response to investigations of his aides' links to Russia.

WATCH: White House press secretary Spicer talks about Trump-Merkel relationship

Trump: Germany Not Adequately Contributing to NATO -- U.S. President Donald Trump has reiterated his accusation that Germany does not pay its fair share of dues in NATO, three days after a meeting with the country's leader that the White House said went well.

US Successfully Tests Missile Defense System -- The Pentagon says its first-ever missile defense test involving an ICBM was a success. "The intercept of a complex threat-representative ICBM target is an incredible accomplishment," Vice Admiral Jim Syring of the Missile Defense Agency said. Tuesday's test involved two separate missile launches. A simulated attack intercontinental ballistic missile was fired from a tiny island in the Pacific. A second missile was launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.

WATCH: ICBM missile test

Senate Democrats Ask Trump for Answers on China Trademarks -- A group of Senate Democrats sent a letter to President Donald Trump on Tuesday, requesting information about a raft of trademark approvals from China this year that they say may violate the U.S. Constitution's ban on gifts from foreign governments. Alan Garten, chief legal officer of The Trump Organization, did not respond immediately to a request for comment. He has previously said that Trump's trademark activity in China predates his election and noted that Trump has stepped away from managing his company.

Overlooked and Insidious: Back-bay Flooding Plagues Millions -- Nearly five years after Superstorm Sandy delivered a wake-up call, the problem of back-bay flooding is coming into sharper focus. Studies are under way, money is starting to flow toward the problem, and the realization that destruction of wetlands for development along such shores is partly to blame is leading to discussion about building codes. ButPresident Donald Trump's budget proposal, released last week, would cut a combined $452 million from the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration and the Homeland Security department for research grants, flood mapping and analysis.

Path Cleared for Congress to Consider US Arms Sale to Riyadh -- U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has authorized the State Department to notify Congress of the Trump administration's sale of precision-guided munitions for Saudi Arabia to use in its Yemen campaign, a senior U.S. diplomat said on Tuesday. The notification is one of the last steps in the arms sale process and triggers a formal 30-day review to allow members of Congress to attempt to pass legislation to stop any sale.

State Dept. Defends Trump for Not Publicly Mentioning Human Rights in Saudi Arabia -- A senior State Department official has defended President Donald Trump at an on-camera briefing for not mentioning human rights during his recent speech in Saudi Arabia. On Tuesday, a reporter asked Acting Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Stuart Jones what he would say to critics who say the president's speech on countering terrorism in Riyadh basically gave Saudi Arabia and other countries in the region a “free pass” on human rights abuses. "I think the fact that, you know, you can argue that by taking it out of the public debate and having those conversations directly and quietly will be more effective.”

Let's block ads! (Why?)

Read More DC Roundup: Trump on Russia, McCain on Russia, WH Staffer Resigns : http://ift.tt/2sjU2MP

Trump Frustrated by 'Fake News' That Overlooks His Accomplishments

WHITE HOUSE — 

White House spokesman Sean Spicer abruptly walked out of his press briefing Tuesday as journalists shouted questions after him, highlighting the increasingly adversarial relationship between the Trump administration and the reporters who cover it.

After a testy 20-minute question-and-answer session, Spicer told the jam-packed White House briefing room that President Donald Trump was frustrated with the number of "fake news" stories being reported, while news about his accomplishments during his just-completed foreign tour was downplayed.

"The reason the president is frustrated is that there is a perpetuation of false narratives with the use of unnamed sources over and over again about things that are happening that don't ultimately happen," Spicer said before walking away from the podium. "I think that is troubling."

The incident came hours after news that White House Communications Director Mike Dubke had resigned, in what is seen as the first step in a staff shake-up that could involve Spicer himself. Reports quoting anonymous officials say Trump is increasingly dissatisfied that the story of the administration's accomplishments is getting lost as major news outlets focus on allegations of wrongdoing swirling around the White House.

'Best messenger is the president'

"Ultimately, the best messenger is the president himself; he's always proven that," Spicer said, suggesting that Trump might take on a more high-profile role in controlling the White House message. In the meantime, however, Spicer will assume the job of interim communications director, according to multiple news reports.

WATCH: 'Best Messenger Is the President Himself'

During the abbreviated question-and-answer session, Spicer faced tough questions on several issues, including alleged ties between key administration officials and Russia. The Washington Post reported last week that Trump's son-in-law and top adviser, Jared Kushner, had discussed establishing a secret and secure communications channel with Russia, at a time when former President Barack Obama was still in office for another month.

Spicer deflected a reporter's questions about the Post's article, refusing to confirm or comment on its allegations.

"What your question assumes is a lot of facts that are not substantiated by anything but anonymous sources that are so far being leaked out," the spokesman said.

Spicer was also asked about the president's relationship with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, which was reported to have been strained during their meetings last week in Europe.

"They get along very well; he has a lot of respect for her," Spicer said. "They continue to grow the bond that they had during the talks in the G-7."

WATCH: Spicer Talks about Trump, Merkel Relationship

New jobs for campaign staff?

The resignation of communications chief Dubke and Spicer's press briefing walkout come amid reports that the president is looking to bring in fresh blood to try to turn around his embattled four-month-old presidency.

Among those said to be in line for White House jobs are Corey Lewandowski and David Bossie, political veterans who worked as senior officials during Trump's campaign but did not join the administration. Trump was reported to have met both men at the White House on Monday, as he seeks to form a "war room" to combat negative publicity and get his stalled legislative agenda back on track. He is also said to be putting together an outside group to handle all Russia-related inquiries.

Many Washington political analysts see the resignation of Dubke, along with reports of tensions among the embattled communications team and the search for additional help, as signs of an administration in turmoil.

Lara Brown, interim director of George Washington University's Graduate School of Political Management, says very few of Trump's staff have the skills needed to run a complex organization like the White House.

"A lot of people within the White House have very little experience with government and the process of American politics," she said.

Brown says one of the Trump White House's biggest weaknesses is that the president's management style is not suited to running a vast, interconnected series of organizations.

"President Trump has always run his businesses in a closely held fashion, with very few individuals who have essentially managed separate projects," Brown told VOA. "That's not how politics works. Everything is profoundly connected, so you have a lot of people [in the White House] who don't understand how to maneuver through this process."

Let's block ads! (Why?)

Read More Trump Frustrated by 'Fake News' That Overlooks His Accomplishments : http://ift.tt/2sjPGFu

US High Court Will Hear Ohio's Bid to Revive Voter Purge Policy

The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday took up the latest in a series of voting rights cases, agreeing to hear Ohio's bid to revive the Republican-led state's policy of purging people from voter registration lists if they do not regularly cast ballots.

Civil liberties advocates who challenged Ohio's policy said it illegally erased voters from registration rolls and unlawfully disenfranchised minorities and poor people who tend to back Democratic candidates.

The justices will review a U.S. appeals court ruling that Ohio's policy ran afoul of a 1993 law called the National Voter Registration Act, which Congress passed to make it easier for Americans to register to vote.

A Reuters analysis last year found that in Ohio's three largest counties, which include Cleveland, Cincinnati and Columbus, voters were struck from the rolls in Democratic-leaning neighborhoods at roughly twice the rate as in Republican neighborhoods under the policy.

Ohio officials argued that canceling registrations for voters deemed inactive for six years helped clear from voting rolls those who had moved away or died.

In September 2016, ahead of the U.S. presidential election, the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati ruled that Ohio's policy was unlawful.

Democrats have accused Republicans of taking steps at the state level, including laws imposing new requirements on voters such as presenting certain types of government-issued identification, intended to suppress the vote of minorities, the poor and others who generally favor Democratic candidates.

The Supreme Court will be critical in determining whether such policies are lawful, already acting in some cases and considering taking up more.

ACLU lawsuit

The American Civil Liberties Union last year sued Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted, arguing that the state was violating the 1993 law, which prohibits states from striking registered voters "by reason of the person's failure to vote." The 6th Circuit agreed.

Husted called the Supreme Court's decision to hear his state's appeal encouraging. "Maintaining the integrity of the voter rolls is essential to conducting an election with efficiency and integrity," Husted said in a statement.

Under Ohio's policy, if registered voters miss voting for two years, they are sent registration confirmation notices. If they do not respond and do not vote over the following four years, they are removed from the rolls.

Husted has said Ohio's policy has been in place since the 1990s under both Republican and Democratic secretaries of state.

Freda Levenson, legal director of the ACLU of Ohio, expressed confidence that the Supreme Court would uphold the 6th Circuit ruling. "Ohio's purge of eligible voters has served as a powerful mechanism of voter suppression," Levenson said in a statement.

Husted said he has made maintaining accurate voter rolls a priority in order to increase election integrity and voter confidence, including removing nearly 560,000 dead people from the rolls and resolving instances of more than 1.65 million voters who were registered more than once.

The suit said the policy led to the removal of tens of thousands of people from the voter rolls in 2015, including one of the lead plaintiffs, Larry Harmon, a software engineer and U.S. Navy veteran who was blocked from voting in a state marijuana initiative in 2015.

Republican Donald Trump won Ohio in last November's presidential election.

'Motor voter' law

The National Voter Registration Act, dubbed the "motor voter" law when it was enacted, required states to permit registration by mail or when eligible people apply for or renew a driver's license, or visiting certain government agencies or military recruiting offices.

In another voting rights case, the justices on May 22 ruled that Republicans in North Carolina unlawfully took race into consideration when drawing congressional district boundaries, concentrating black voters in an improper bid to diminish their statewide political clout.

The justices on May 15 rebuffed a Republican bid to revive North Carolina's strict voter identification law that a lower court found deliberately discriminated against black voters.

The justices on March 1 ordered a lower court to reassess whether Virginia's Republican-led legislature unlawfully tried to dilute the power of black voters. The justices threw out the lower court's decision upholding 12 state legislature districts.

The justices will hear arguments in the Ohio case in their next term, which starts in October.

Let's block ads! (Why?)

Read More US High Court Will Hear Ohio's Bid to Revive Voter Purge Policy : http://ift.tt/2sk1gAB

UN Chief Urges Trump Administration to Stay in Paris Climate Deal

UNITED NATIONS — 

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Tuesday urged the Trump administration not to leave the Paris Climate Agreement, saying the deal would have long-term benefits for the U.S. economy and even its security.

Speaking to an audience of students, civil society and business leaders at New York University, Guterres delivered his subtle pitch to the U.S. administration, which has said a decision about whether to stay in the 2015 agreement will come soon.

"If one country decides not to be present — I'm talking about countries with an important global reach, like it is the case with United States or China — if one country decides to leave a void, I can guarantee someone else will occupy it," Guterres said in response to a student's question about dealing with the Trump administration's skepticism about climate change.

Guterres said he was engaging with the administration and Congress to try to convince them that it is in the United States' interest to stay in the deal, which seeks to keep the global temperature rise this century well below 2 degrees Celsius.

"There are many good arguments that in my opinion should lead an administration that has a concern to put its own interests first, and the interests of its people and its country first, to invest in what is necessary to preserve the global reach of its economy and to preserve the security of its citizens," Guterres said, alluding to Trump's "America First" policy.

"And so my argument today is that it is absolutely essential that the world implements the Paris Agreement, and that we fulfill that duty with increased ambition," Guterres said during his prepared address.

He said the science was "beyond doubt" and that the effects of global warming already were being felt around the world.

Nearly every country has signed on to the Paris Agreement, and a majority have ratified it. The accord entered into force last November. In addition to lowering greenhouse gas emissions, it seeks to mitigate the effects already felt by global warming.

"The sustainability train has left the station," Guterres said. "Get on board or get left behind. Those who fail to bet on the green economy will be living in a grey future."

He praised China for its "massive shift to other forms of energy," saying the country had made a "very strong bet recently in greening its economy."

Renewable energy

The U.N. chief noted that renewable forms of energy were growing in use and decreasing in cost.

"Last year, solar power grew 50 percent, with China and the United States in the lead," he said. "Around the world, over half of the new power generation capacity now comes from renewables. In Europe, the figure is more than 90 percent."

He said 80 percent of the world's energy still comes from fossil fuels — oil, gas and coal — and that would not change overnight. But it is important, he said, to engage the energy industry and governments to use those energy sources as moderately as possible while making the transition to renewable, clean ones.

"I think they are working towards having an answer for that, and so we'll wait and see what that answer is," Nikki Haley, the U.S. ambassador to the U.N., told reporters earlier Tuesday when asked about the administration's plans.

Let's block ads! (Why?)

Read More UN Chief Urges Trump Administration to Stay in Paris Climate Deal : http://ift.tt/2ri4qWt

State Dept. Defends Trump for Not Publicly Mentioning Human Rights in Saudi Arabia

CAPITOL HILL — 

A senior State Department official has defended President Donald Trump at an on-camera briefing for not mentioning human rights during his recent speech in Saudi Arabia.

On Tuesday, a reporter asked Acting Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Stuart Jones what he would say to critics who say the president's speech on countering terrorism in Riyadh basically gave Saudi Arabia and other countries in the region a “free pass” on human rights abuses.

Jones said human rights continues to be part of the U.S. dialogue with Saudi Arabia and all the other countries in the region:

“But the fact that it wasn't featured in the speech doesn't mean that it's not part of the bilateral dialogue and it's not a part of what we're constantly talking about," he said. "And I think the fact that, you know, you can argue that by taking it out of the public debate and having those conversations directly and quietly will be more effective.”

'We are not here to lecture'

Trump emphasized unity with Muslim majority nations on countering violent extremism during his speech.

“America is a sovereign nation and our first priority is always the safety and security of our citizens. We are not here to lecture — we are not here to tell other people how to live, what to do, who to be, or how to worship. Instead, we are here to offer partnership based on shared interests and values to pursue a better future for us all.”

Some human rights groups and U.S. lawmakers criticized the president for not mentioning Saudi Arabia's human rights record, including Republican Senator Marco Rubio, who told CNN “we are not here to lecture” would not have been part of a speech he would have delivered.

Strong statement against extremism

During the president's first trip abroad, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson was asked about the issue of human rights and told reporters “it was not the central part of our conversations” with Saudi leaders.

At Tuesday's briefing, Assistant Secretary Jones was asked how he characterized Saudi Arabia's commitment to democracy. After a long, 20-second pause, he said, the U.S. was able to make significant progress with its Saudi and Gulf Cooperation Council partners in making a strong statement against extremism.

Jones announced that he is retiring after serving as U.S. ambassador to Iraq and Jordan, and as deputy chief of mission in Cairo. He told reporters this is a personal decision he made more than a year ago.

Let's block ads! (Why?)

Read More State Dept. Defends Trump for Not Publicly Mentioning Human Rights in Saudi Arabia : http://ift.tt/2rCgVz5

Trump Jump-starts Search for New FBI Chief With Two Interviews

President Donald Trump on Tuesday was scheduled to interview two candidates to replace James Comey as head of the FBI, former agency No. 2 James Pistole and former Assistant Attorney General Chris Wray, the White House said.

The interviews mark a re-start of sorts for the search to find someone to replace Comey, who Trump fired on May 9. Trump said earlier this month he was "very close" to picking a nominee for the post and he had already met with several candidates.

"The president will be meeting with two additional candidates this afternoon, both Chris Wray and John Pistole," White House spokesman Sean Spicer told reporters. "When the president feels as though he's met with the right candidate he'll let us know."

Pistole, the former head of the Transportation Security Administration, served as deputy director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation from 2004 to 2010. USA Today was first to report that Trump would be meeting with Pistole.

Wray served as assistant attorney general in charge of the Justice Department's Criminal Division from 2003 to 2005.

Comey was leading an FBI probe into possible collusion between Trump's campaign and Russia to sway the 2016 presidential election. His dismissal prompted an outcry from Democrats and some Republican lawmakers and raised questions about whether the president was trying to interfere with the investigation.

The week after Comey was fired, reports emerged that Trump had asked Comey to end the agency's investigation into ties between former White House national security adviser Michael Flynn and Russia, according to a source who has seen a memo of the conversation written by Comey.

The Department of Justice appointed a special counsel, former FBI director Robert Mueller, to head an independent investigation of the Russia matter.

Let's block ads! (Why?)

Read More Trump Jump-starts Search for New FBI Chief With Two Interviews : http://ift.tt/2rlookU

Senate Democrats Ask Trump for Answers on China Trademarks

SHANGHAI — 

A group of Senate Democrats sent a letter to U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday, requesting information about a raft of trademark approvals from China this year that they say may violate the U.S. Constitution's ban on gifts from foreign governments.

"China's rapid approvals after years of court battles have raised questions as to whether the trademarks will prevent you from standing up to China on behalf of American workers and their businesses," the eight senators, led by Michigan Democrat Debbie Stabenow and Connecticut Democrat Richard Blumenthal, wrote.

China's most recent nod for a Trump trademark, covering clothing, came on May 6, bringing to 40 the number of marks China has granted or provisionally granted to the president and a related company, DTTM Operations LLC, since his inauguration. If there are no objections, provisional approvals are formally registered after 90 days. China has also rejected or partially rejected nine Trump trademarks since the inauguration.

Trademarks give the holder monopoly rights to a brand in a given market. In many jurisdictions, like China, they can also be filed defensively, to prevent squatters from using a name. Because trademarks are granted at the discretion of foreign governments and can be enormously valuable, they can be problematic for U.S. officials, who are barred by the emoluments clause of the constitution from accepting anything of value from foreign states without congressional approval.

In their letter, the senators were particularly interested in any special efforts Trump, his Chinese lawyers, or the U.S. Embassy in China, which sometimes advocates for U.S. firms, may have made to secure approval for the president's trademarks. They cited an Associated Press report quoting one of Trump's lawyers in China, Spring Chang, who said that "government relations are an important part of trademark strategy in China."

Concern about favoritism is particularly sharp in China, where the courts and bureaucracy are designed to reflect the will of the ruling Communist Party. China has defended its handling of Trump's intellectual property interests, saying it followed the law in processing his applications, though some trademark lawyers viewed the pace as unusually quick and well-coordinated. In addition, China approved one trademark for Trump-branded construction services after a 10-year legal battle that turned in his favor only after he declared his candidacy.

Alan Garten, chief legal officer of The Trump Organization, did not respond immediately to a request for comment. He has previously said that Trump's trademark activity in China predates his election and noted that Trump has stepped away from managing his company. However, the president retains an ownership stake in his global branding and real estate empire.

In April, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, a watchdog group, added "gratuitous Chinese trademarks" to its lawsuit against the president for alleged emoluments violations. Trump has dismissed the suit as without merit.

Let's block ads! (Why?)

Read More Senate Democrats Ask Trump for Answers on China Trademarks : http://ift.tt/2sisZSr