White House 'Very Concerned' About Iran Blocking Social Media

WASHINGTON — 

The Trump administration says it is "very concerned" about Tehran blocking Iranians from communicating via social media platforms in a bid to dampen four days of nationwide anti-government protests.

Iran blocked access to messaging app Telegram and photo-sharing app Instagram on Sunday, with state media saying the moves were meant to maintain peace. Iranians had been using the app to communicate about the street demonstrations, the biggest outpouring of public discontent with Iran's clerical leaders since 2009 protests against the results of a disputed presidential election.

In an exclusive interview with VOA Persian on Sunday, Deputy Assistant to the President for Strategic Communications Michael Anton said there is not much Washington can do about Iran's social media clampdown. But he said the Trump administration expects U.S. and other western companies to halt any concessions to the Iranian government. "(They should) not bow to any demands for censorship or curtailment of information," Anton said. "(They should) continue doing business the way they always have, and let information flow freely into Iran." He added that U.S. officials will be watching how those companies handle the issue.

Telegram CEO Pavel Durov, a Russian entrepreneur whose company has offices in London, posted a tweet on Sunday, saying Iran had blocked access to the messaging app after his refusal to shut down communication channels that he said were being used for peaceful protests.

In an online statement, Durov said it is unclear if the blocking of Telegram will be permanent or temporary. He said Telegram would "rather get blocked in a country by its authorities than limit peaceful expression of alternative opinions."

In a separate report published on Sunday, the Associated Press said U.S. tech giant Facebook, which owns Instagram, declined to comment about Iran's blocking of the photo-sharing app.

U.S. President Donald Trump criticized the Iranian government in a Sunday tweet for "clos(ing) down the Internet so that peaceful demonstrators cannot communicate".

In his VOA Persian interview, Anton said the White House also is "very concerned" about reports of several deaths and injuries in the four days of anti-government protests in Iran. "We certainly mourn with all of the victims' families and with the people of Iran," he said.

Anton said the Trump administration is coordinating with its allies in Europe, the Americas and elsewhere to apply pressure on Tehran to allow the protests to continue and to address the protesters' complaints about the high cost of living, government corruption and lack of democratic freedoms.

"We want to let them know that the world's civilized nations stand with them and are in favor of their just grievances being addressed and against the destabilizing behavior and oppression of the regime," Anton said.

In his first public response to the protests, Iranian state media quoted President Hassan Rouhani on Sunday as acknowledging that Iranians have the right to protest and criticize his government. But, Rouhani said social unrest and destruction of public property are unacceptable. He also said U.S. President Trump had "no right" to sympathize with the Iranian people. The Trump administration labels the Iranian government as the world's top state sponsor of terrorism, a charge Tehran rejects.

This report was produced in collaboration with VOA Persian

Let's block ads! (Why?)

Read More White House 'Very Concerned' About Iran Blocking Social Media : http://ift.tt/2lvfttq

Deadlines Loom as US Lawmakers Return to Washington

[unable to retrieve full-text content]

After a two-week holiday recess, U.S. lawmakers get back to work this week with a long to-do list and deadlines looming at the start of 2018. VOA's Michael Bowman reports from Washington. Read More Deadlines Loom as US Lawmakers Return to Washington : http://ift.tt/2q1k5w6

Pence Carving out a Role as Presidential Envoy

U.S. vice presidents historically have had widely varying influence in the White House, depending on their relationship with the president. As Donald Trump's administration prepares for its second year, VOA's Mike O'Sullivan reports on how Vice President Mike Pence's role continues to broaden.

Let's block ads! (Why?)

Read More Pence Carving out a Role as Presidential Envoy : http://ift.tt/2q1FTYB

Pence Carving a Role as Presidential Envoy

LOS ANGELES — 

U.S. vice presidents historically have held widely varying influence in the White House, depending on their relationship with the president. As Donald Trump’s administration prepares for its second year, Vice President Mike Pence’s role appears likely to broaden.

On overseas trips to Latin America and the Asia-Pacific region, and a recent holiday visit to U.S. troops in Afghanistan, Pence has embraced the role of presidential envoy.

WATCH: Mike O'Sullivan's Video Report

His work on international and domestic policy is more than merely symbolic, says Joel Goldstein of Saint Louis University School of Law, who has written two books on the changing vice presidency.

“Vice President Pence seems to be included and involved in decision making in the White House,” Goldstein notes. “And the vice president,” he adds, “has been laudatory, at time adulatory towards the president in his public comments.”

​‘Biggest cheerleader’

Some of Pence’s critics say he has taken on that role excessively, notes Sherry Bebitch Jeffe of the Price School of Public Policy at the University of Southern California.

She calls Pence “the president’s biggest cheerleader,” but argues that Pence serves as more than a publicist.

“He also has influence within the West Wing of the White House,” she says.

​Other VPs

That was not the case with vice presidents through much of U.S. history.

John Nance Garner, vice president under Franklin Roosevelt, famously said the job “is not worth a bucket of warm spit.” Nelson Rockefeller, Gerald Ford’s VP, called the job “standby equipment,” notes Jeffe, yet some recent vice presidents have become important players in their administrations.

Joe Biden and Al Gore, and even Dan Quayle were not afraid to confront their bosses when they disagreed with them and were rewarded with expanded duties, Goldstein says.

But Pence has taken on a unique role under a president who often makes controversial statements — when Trump questioned, for example, “the commitment to the joint defense provisions of NATO,” Goldstein says, or said he had not ruled out military action in restoring democracy to Venezuela to stop what the administration calls the nation’s slide to dictatorship.

The vice president has “cleaned up those statements,” Goldstein explains, reaffirming the U.S. commitment to the North Atlantic alliance and its commitment to diplomacy and economic sanctions in dealing with Venezuela.

Pence played a similar role, said Jeffe, after Trump appeared to equate the white nationalists behind violent protests in Charlottesville, Virginia, with the counter-protesters who rejected their racist message. Pence said the Trump administration condemns white supremacist fringe groups “in the strongest possible terms.”

Support not guaranteed

Pence has at times distanced himself from the president, however.

When Trump supported Alabama senate candidate Roy Moore, who was defeated in December following allegations that he had once made sexual overtures to young teenagers, Pence remained silent on the endorsement but said he found the allegations against Moore disturbing.

Pence is an evangelical Christian and social conservative, and Goldstein says that while it’s impossible to know what is said behind closed doors, Pence may have had a hand in White House moves that have pleased conservatives, such as loosening environmental regulations on American businesses and appointing conservatives to judicial posts.

Pence, unlike Trump, is an experienced politician, having served as a longtime congressman and Indiana’s governor.

“Pence knows the players on Capitol Hill,” Jeffe says, and “Pence is trusted by the Republican players at least on Capitol Hill.” In his role as president of the Senate, which is assigned to the vice president under the U.S. constitution, Pence has cast six tie-breaking votes for passage of bills backed by the administration.

Goldstein adds that “members of the leadership in Congress who have some misgivings about the president see Vice President Pence as somebody who comes from their political world and as somebody they are comfortable dealing with.”

As a presidential envoy, whether comforting victims of a Texas hurricane or representing the United States in Argentina or Australia, Pence is carving out his role.

“And he’s trying to walk a fine line between being supportive of the president,” Goldstein says, “trying to placate his constituency of one, and yet at the same time not entirely embrace some of the controversial tweets and other statements that the president makes from time to time.”

It’s not easy task in an age of populism when policy debates take place through social media and the political rules are changing, analyst Jeffe says.

She says Pence, whose roots are in the old politics, has a political future tied to the success of a president who is breaking all the rules. So far, these analysts say, Pence has been walking the fine line as vice president successfully.

Let's block ads! (Why?)

Read More Pence Carving a Role as Presidential Envoy : http://ift.tt/2El92kq

Report: Australian Diplomat's Tip a Factor in FBI's Russia Probe

WASHINGTON — 

An Australian diplomat's tip appears to have helped persuade the FBI to investigate Russian meddling in the U.S. election and possible coordination with the Trump campaign, The New York Times reported Saturday.

Trump campaign adviser George Papadopoulos told the diplomat, Alexander Downer, during a meeting in London in May 2016 that Russia had thousands of emails that would embarrass Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton, the report said. Downer, a former foreign minister, is Australia's top diplomat in Britain.

Australia passed the information on to the FBI after the Democratic emails were leaked, according to the Times, which cited four current and former U.S. and foreign officials with direct knowledge of the Australians' role.

"The hacking and the revelation that a member of the Trump campaign may have had inside information about it were driving factors that led the FBI to open an investigation in July 2016,'' the newspaper said.

White House lawyer Ty Cobb declined to comment, saying in a statement that the administration was continuing to cooperate with the investigation now led by special counsel Robert Mueller "to help complete their inquiry expeditiously.''

Papadopoulos has pleaded guilty of lying to the FBI and is a cooperating witness. Court documents unsealed two months ago show he met in April 2016 with Joseph Mifsud, a professor in London who told him about Russia's cache of emails. This was before the Democratic National Committee became aware of the scope of the intrusion into its email systems by hackers later linked to the Russian government.

The Times said Papadopoulos shared this information with Downer, but it was unclear whether he also shared it with anyone in the Trump campaign.

Let's block ads! (Why?)

Read More Report: Australian Diplomat's Tip a Factor in FBI's Russia Probe : http://ift.tt/2CoUfHC

How US Attorney General Jeff Sessions Has Rolled Back Obama-era Policies

WASHINGTON — 

Every attorney general leaves his imprint on the U.S. Justice Department. Jeff Sessions is no exception.

Since being sworn in as the nation’s 84th attorney general in February, the former Republican senator and federal prosecutor has moved to radically overhaul the Justice Department and its approach to law enforcement.

From scrapping civil rights protections for transgender people to ending leniency in sentencing criminal defendants, Sessions has rolled back a host of policies his two immediate predecessors — Loretta Lynch and Eric Holder, both chosen by former President Barack Obama — enacted to promote civil rights and social justice.

The policy reversals have not been without their critics.

While Sessions and his supporters say the attorney general is restoring the rule of law and ending Obama-era policies that amounted to executive overreach, critics say he’s returning to criminal justice policies that led to mass incarceration and undermined civil rights.

​Blistering criticism

Sessions’ singular success in remolding the Justice Department is widely acknowledged. The irony is that it has come in the face of sometimes blistering personal criticism of the attorney general by his boss, President Donald Trump.

An early and ardent supporter of Trump’s 2016 presidential bid, Sessions was rewarded with one of the most coveted positions in the administration.

But his relationship with Trump soured after Sessions recused himself from the Russia investigation in March, following revelations that Sessions had not disclosed meetings with Russia’s former ambassador to Washington during the presidential campaign.

Trump is said to have become so frustrated with his attorney general over the summer that he said he would not have picked Sessions for the job, had he known Sessions would have recused himself from the Russia probe.

But the attorney general largely shrugged off the criticism, saying at a news conference in July that he was “confident that we can continue to run this office in an effective way,” and later traveling around the country to sell Trump’s tough on crime and immigration policies.

Here is a look at seven major Obama-era policies Sessions has rolled back, or attempted to, since taking office:

​Keeping private prisons

In his first act as attorney general in February, Sessions scrapped an Obama administration plan to phase out the use of private prisons for federal inmates. The 2016 direction to the Bureau of Prisons was sent after a harshly critical report about private prisons by the Justice Department’s inspector general. But Sessions said the Obama policy “impaired the bureau’s ability to meet the future needs of the federal correctional system.”

Dropping transgender protections

Also in February, Sessions directed the Justice Department to withdraw a guidance issued in 2016, requiring public schools to allow transgender students to use bathrooms corresponding to their gender identity.

In October, Sessions rescinded another policy memo issued by the Obama administration that said the 1964 Civil Rights Act’s employment discrimination prohibitions applied to transgender people. Rights group Human Rights Campaign called the move “discriminatory” against the transgender community and a “dangerous change of course.”

​Targeting sanctuary cities

With the Trump administration vowing to crack down on illegal immigration, it has fallen to Sessions to enforce one of the administration’s most controversial policies: cutting off federal funding to so-called sanctuary jurisdictions, cities and counties that limit cooperation with federal immigration authorities.

In April, Sessions sent letters to nine sanctuary jurisdictions requiring proof of compliance. In July, he announced that sanctuary cities would not be eligible for millions of dollars in funds for policing.

Chicago and Philadelphia later sued Sessions and the Justice Department over the sanctuary plan. In November, a federal judge permanently blocked Trump’s executive order on sanctuary cities.

Reviewing consent decrees

In April, Sessions ordered a review of Obama-era reform agreements between the Justice Department and police agencies, saying, “It is not the responsibility of the federal government to manage non-federal law enforcement agencies.”

Known as “consent decrees,” a dozen such court-enforced agreements were struck between the Obama Justice Department and local police departments. Sessions has said the agreements have demoralized police departments, but civil rights advocates say they have helped produce necessary reforms.

Charging and sentencing policy

In a departure from the Obama administration’s policy of leniency in sentencing low-level, nonviolent offenders, Sessions directed federal prosecutors in May to “pursue the most serious, readily provable offense” with the lengthiest sentences in all criminal cases.

The guideline rescinded a 2013 memo by then-Attorney General Eric Holder directing prosecutors to avoid triggering mandatory-minimum sentences for certain nonviolent, low-level drug offenders.

Sessions said the new charging policy “affirms our responsibility to enforce the law, is moral and just, and produces consistency.” But critics, such as former Obama-appointed U.S. Attorney Joyce Vance, have slammed it as a failed “one-size-fits-all” policy that has swelled America’s prison population.

​Affirmative action

In October, the Department of Justice announced it had reopened an investigation into Harvard University’s use of race in its admissions policy, raising fears the administration will target affirmative action policies widely practiced by American universities and colleges.

The Justice Department probe was triggered by a 2015 complaint against Harvard filed by a coalition of 64 Asian-American groups. The Justice Department said the investigation is limited to the complaint against Harvard, but civil rights activists fear the probe is part of a broader effort to undermine affirmative action policies that date back decades and that supporters say have leveled the playing field for otherwise disadvantaged students.

Return to debtors’ prison?

On Dec. 21, Sessions rescinded a 2016 Justice Department letter advising local courts against hitting indigent defendants with stiff fines and fees.

The 2016 letter said the changes were “needed to guarantee equal justice under law to everyone, regardless of their financial circumstances.”

Sessions said he was rescinding the letter and 25 other so-called “guidance documents” because they were “unnecessary, inconsistent with existing law or otherwise improper.” The move provoked a firestorm, leading critics to decry it as a “criminalization of poverty” and a “return to debtors’ prisons.”

Let's block ads! (Why?)

Read More How US Attorney General Jeff Sessions Has Rolled Back Obama-era Policies : http://ift.tt/2DAZHnF

White House, Congress Prepare for Talks on Spending, Immigration

WEST PALM BEACH, FLORIDA / WASHINGTON — 

The White House said on Friday it was set to kick off talks next week with Republican and Democratic congressional leaders on immigration policy, government spending and other issues that need to be wrapped up early in the new year.

The expected flurry of legislative activity comes as Republicans and Democrats begin to set the stage for midterm congressional elections in November. President Donald Trump's Republican Party is eager to maintain control of Congress while Democrats look for openings to wrest seats away in the Senate and the House of Representatives.

On Wednesday, Trump's budget chief Mick Mulvaney and legislative affairs director Marc Short will meet with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and House Speaker Paul Ryan — both Republicans — and their Democratic counterparts, Senator Chuck Schumer and Representative Nancy Pelosi, the White House said.

That will be followed up with a weekend of strategy sessions for Trump, McConnell and Ryan on Jan. 6 and 7 at the Camp David presidential retreat in Maryland, according to the White House.

The Senate returns to work on Jan. 3 and the House on Jan. 8. Congress passed a short-term government funding bill last week before taking its Christmas break, but needs to come to an agreement on defense spending and various domestic programs by Jan. 19, or the government will shut down.

Also on the agenda for lawmakers is disaster aid for people hit by hurricanes in Puerto Rico, Texas and Florida, and by wildfires in California. The House passed an $81 billion package in December, which the Senate did not take up. The White House has asked for a smaller figure, $44 billion.

Immigration

Deadlines also loom for soon-to-expire protections for young adult immigrants who entered the country illegally as children, known as "Dreamers."

In September, Trump ended Democratic former President Barack Obama's Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, which protected Dreamers from deportation and provided work permits, effective in March, giving Congress until then to devise a long-term solution.

Democrats, some Republicans and a number of large companies have pushed for DACA protections to continue. Trump and other Republicans have said that will not happen without Congress approving broader immigration policy changes and tougher border security. Democrats oppose funding for a wall promised by Trump along the U.S.-Mexican border.

"The Democrats have been told, and fully understand, that there can be no DACA without the desperately needed WALL at the Southern Border and an END to the horrible Chain Migration & ridiculous Lottery System of Immigration etc," Trump said in a Twitter post Friday.

Trump wants to overhaul immigration rules for extended families and others seeking to live in the United States.

Republican U.S. Senator Jeff Flake, a frequent critic of the president, said he would work with Trump to protect Dreamers.

"We can fix DACA in a way that beefs up border security, stops chain migration for the DREAMers, and addresses the unfairness of the diversity lottery. If POTUS [Trump] wants to protect these kids, we want to help him keep that promise," Flake wrote on Twitter.

Debt ceiling

Congress in early 2018 also must raise the U.S. debt ceiling to avoid a government default. The U.S. Treasury would exhaust all of its borrowing options and run dry of cash to pay its bills by late March or early April if Congress does not raise the debt ceiling before then, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office.

Trump, who won his first major legislative victory with the passage of a major tax overhaul this month, has also promised a major infrastructure plan.

Let's block ads! (Why?)

Read More White House, Congress Prepare for Talks on Spending, Immigration : http://ift.tt/2lmxmuj

US Military to Allow Transgender Enlistees

WASHINGTON — 

Transgender people will be allowed for the first time to enlist in the U.S. military starting Monday as ordered by federal courts, the Pentagon said on Friday, after President Donald Trump’s administration decided not to appeal rulings that blocked his transgender ban.

Two federal appeals courts, one in Washington and one in Virginia, last week rejected the administration’s request to put on hold orders by lower court judges requiring the military to begin accepting transgender recruits Jan. 1.

A Justice Department official said the administration will not challenge those rulings.

“The Department of Defense has announced that it will be releasing an independent study of these issues in the coming weeks. So rather than litigate this interim appeal before that occurs, the administration has decided to wait for DOD’s study and will continue to defend the president’s lawful authority in District Court in the meantime,” the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

​Pentagon study, not court appeal

In September, the Pentagon said it had created a panel of senior officials to study how to implement a directive by Trump to prohibit transgender individuals from serving. The Defense Department has until Feb. 21 to submit a plan to Trump.

Lawyers representing currently serving transgender service members and aspiring recruits said they had expected the administration to appeal the rulings to the conservative-majority Supreme Court, but were hoping that would not happen.

Pentagon spokeswoman Heather Babb said in a statement: “As mandated by court order, the Department of Defense is prepared to begin accessing transgender applicants for military service Jan. 1. All applicants must meet all accession standards.”

Jennifer Levi, a lawyer with gay, lesbian and transgender advocacy group GLAD, called the decision not to appeal “great news.”

“I’m hoping it means the government has come to see that there is no way to justify a ban and that it’s not good for the military or our country,” Levi said. Both GLAD and the American Civil Liberties Union represent plaintiffs in the lawsuits filed against the administration.

‘Costs and disruption’

In a move that appealed to his hard-line conservative supporters, Trump announced in July that he would prohibit transgender people from serving in the military, reversing Democratic President Barack Obama’s policy of accepting them.

Trump said on Twitter at the time that the military “cannot be burdened with the tremendous medical costs and disruption that transgender in the military would entail.”

Four federal judges — in Baltimore, Washington, D.C., Seattle and Riverside, California — have issued rulings blocking Trump’s ban while legal challenges to the Republican president’s policy proceed. The judges said the ban would likely violate the right under the U.S. Constitution to equal protection under the law.

Pentagon memo

The Pentagon on Dec. 8 issued guidelines to recruitment personnel in order to enlist transgender applicants by Jan. 1.

The memo outlined medical requirements and specified how the applicants’ sex would be identified and even which undergarments they would wear.

The Trump administration previously said in legal papers that the armed forces were not prepared to train thousands of personnel on the medical standards needed to process transgender applicants and might have to accept “some individuals who are not medically fit for service.”

The Obama administration had set a deadline of July 1, 2017, to begin accepting transgender recruits. But Trump’s defense secretary, James Mattis, postponed that date to Jan. 1, 2018, which the president’s ban then put off indefinitely.

Rolling back Obama era

Trump has taken other steps aimed at rolling back transgender rights. In October, his administration said a federal law banning gender-based workplace discrimination does not protect transgender employees, reversing another Obama-era position.

In February, Trump rescinded guidance issued by the Obama administration saying that public schools should allow transgender students to use the restroom that corresponds to their gender identity.

Let's block ads! (Why?)

Read More US Military to Allow Transgender Enlistees  : http://ift.tt/2lsLuBM

Trump Foreign Policy Unconventional, Others Agree With What They Call a New Doctrine

Since taking office, President Donald Trump has broken with previous foreign policy by recognizing Jerusalem as Israel's capital, refusing to certify Iran's compliance with the nuclear deal and taking a more aggressive stance toward North Korea. Views about these departures are mixed -- with some welcoming the forceful projection of American power on the world stage, while others criticizing what they see as a dangerous course for the United States. More from VOA Correspondent Mariama Diallo.

Let's block ads! (Why?)

Read More Trump Foreign Policy Unconventional, Others Agree With What They Call a New Doctrine : http://ift.tt/2CmXOeJ

Trump's Vacation Tweets, Golf Draw Attention

WHITE HOUSE — 

Golf and tweets. Golf and tweets. Repeat.

President Donald Trump has been largely out of sight the last two weeks of the year, ensconced at his Florida golf resort where he has played his favorite game almost daily, out of sight of the cameras (mostly).

But he's not out of mind.

With a regular but limited series of tweets, and an impromptu interview with The New York Times, Trump has kept himself the center of attention, affecting stock prices, triggering a defensive response in Beijing, and touting strong economic figures and a new poll suggesting his approval ratings are improving.

Russia probe

Speaking to a Times reporter at his West Palm Beach resort, Trump said he thought he would be treated fairly by special counsel Robert Mueller, who is investigating Russia's role in the last presidential election.

The newspaper reported Friday that Trump stated 16 times in the 30-minute interview that Mueller's probe had turned up no evidence of collusion between his campaign and Russian operatives trying to influence the outcome of the vote.

On China, hours after tweeting an accusation that Beijing is secretly shipping oil to North Korea, Trump hinted at the possibility of aggressive trade actions against the country.

"If they don't help us with North Korea, then I can do what I've always said I want to do," he told the Times.

Trump's tweet prompted an immediate denial from a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman, who said his country would never allow Chinese citizens and enterprises to engage in activities that violate U.N. Security Council resolutions.

"China is already complaining this morning," said veteran Asia watcher Harry Kazianis, director of defense studies at the Center for the National Interest in Washington.

With Twitter, Kazianis said, Trump is conducting foreign policy from the comfort of his golf club.

"It's old-school strategic signaling. Except this is the 21st-century version and we do it on Twitter rather than putting bombers on paths or opening ICBM doors," Kazianis told VOA. "It makes news every single time Trump sends a tweet."

The power of a Trump tweet was on display Friday when Amazon stock plummeted in early trading after the president suggested that the U.S. Postal Service should charge the online retail giant more for package delivery.

Bloomberg reported that the Postal Service had posted a net loss of $2.1 billion in the third quarter of 2017, and had $15 billion in outstanding debt.

Polling numbers

Trump's holiday Twitter feed also touted a new poll suggesting his approval rating was improving.

The Rasmussen Poll, which is seen as an outlier that regularly shows the president's numbers higher than others, showed him at 46 percent approval among Americans. That would be a significant jump from other polls that show an approval rating in the mid-30s, which is the lowest of any president since polling began.

On the golf course

But what has captivated the press corps following Trump in Florida is not so much what he's tweeting about, but the truth about what he's doing at his golf club.

Wondering how the president is occupying his time has become something of a diversion among bored reporters waiting while Trump is obviously playing golf, even as his staff refuse to confirm his activity.

CNN obtained what it said was "exclusive footage" of Trump on the course with a golf club in his hand, but later reported that its photographic enterprise had been stymied by a large white truck that blocked its vantage point across the street from the club.

Trump did invite reporters onto the golf course Friday to photograph him with Coast Guard members who protect the oceanfront around his Mar-a-Lago resort, which he has dubbed his winter White House, while he vacations there.

Trump's golfing habits have come under scrutiny in light of his complaints about former President Barack Obama playing the sport while serving as commander-in-chief.

According to Politifact's Trump Golf Tracker, Trump's round of golf on Friday was the 85th of his presidency. That compares with 26 for Obama during the same period.

The Wall Street Journal reported this week that Trump had visited one of his company's properties on nearly one-third of the days since he took office on Jan. 20, 2017.

Let's block ads! (Why?)

Read More Trump's Vacation Tweets, Golf Draw Attention : http://ift.tt/2CjvlJ9

Trump Targets Amazon in Call for Postal Service to Hike Prices

U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday targeted online retailer Amazon in a call for the country's postal service to raise prices of shipments in order to recoup costs.

"Why is the United States Post Office, which is losing many billions of dollars a year, while charging Amazon and others so little to deliver their packages, making Amazon richer and the Post Office dumber and poorer? Should be charging MUCH MORE!" Trump wrote in a post on Twitter.

Let's block ads! (Why?)

Read More Trump Targets Amazon in Call for Postal Service to Hike Prices : http://ift.tt/2zLCw7N

Oregon Baker Refused to Make Wedding Cake; Court Rejects Religious Argument

An Oregon state appeals court Thursday let stand $135,000 in damages levied against the owners of a Portland-area bakery for discrimination after they refused on religious grounds to prepare a wedding cake for a local lesbian couple.

A three-judge panel of the Oregon Court of Appeals rejected a petition by Melissa and Aaron Klein, former owners of Sweet Cakes by Melissa, to overturn the ruling by the state’s labor commissioner as a violation of their rights under the U.S. Constitution to freedom of religion and expression.

An attorney for the Kleins, who closed their bakery not long after being ordered to pay the heavy fine, could not immediately be reached for comment Thursday.

“Today’s ruling sends a strong signal that Oregon remains open to all,” Brad Avakian, the state’s labor commissioner, said in a written statement.

“Within Oregon’s public accommodations law is the basic principle of human decency that every person, regardless of their sexual orientation or gender identity, has the freedom to fully participate in society,” Avakian said.

The case stems from Aaron Klein’s refusal to bake a wedding cake for Rachel Bowman-Cryer in January 2013 because she was planning a same-sex wedding with her partner Laurel, which he said violated his religious convictions.

Rachel and Laurel Bowman-Cryer filed a formal complaint with the state labor bureau, which found the bakery had violated anti-discrimination laws and awarded the damages.

The Bowman-Cryers were married in 2014 after a federal judge struck down Oregon’s same-sex marriage ban.

The bakery case is one of many disputes nationwide since the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in June 2015 to legalize same-sex marriage in all 50 states.

Let's block ads! (Why?)

Read More Oregon Baker Refused to Make Wedding Cake; Court Rejects Religious Argument  : http://ift.tt/2DurEgM

Secretary of State: Americans Should Be 'Encouraged' with US Diplomatic Efforts

U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has touted the diplomatic accomplishments of President Donald Trump's administration this year, saying "Americans should be encouraged" by its dealings with the U.S.' "greatest security threat," North Korea, along with China and Russia.

In an Op-Ed published Thursday in The New York Times, Tillerson wrote that Trump "abandoned the failed policy of strategic patience" and adopted a "policy of pressure" toward North Korea "through diplomatic and economic sanctions."

On December 22, the United Nations Security Council imposed new sanctions on North Korea, slashing fuel supplies, tightening shipping restrictions, and appealing for the expulsion of North Korean's working abroad — a significant source of revenue for Pyongyang.

Tillerson also said pressure from the U.S. and its allies "has cut off roughly 90-percent of North Korea's export revenue," much of which he said Pyongyang used to fund the development of illegal weapons.

"We hope that this international isolation will pressure the regime into serious negotiations on the abandonment of its nuclear and ballistic missile programs," Tillerson wrote.

After overcoming technological obstacles this year to develop a modern nuclear weapons program, North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un denounced the new sanctions on Christmas day, saying they are "an act of war" and that relinquishing his country's nuclear weapons was a "pipe dream."

Tillerson said China has imposed some import bans and sanctions against North Korea, "but it could and should do more." He said the U.S. will pursue talks with China on issues like trade imbalances and China's "troubling military activities in the South China Sea. The U.S. will also "carefully consider" how to manage its long-term relationship with China, which Tillerson described as a rising "economic and military power."

Tillerson praised the U.S. role in the recapture of Islamic State territory in Iraq and Syria and the administration's new Afghanistan-focused South Asia strategy. Tilllerson said Afghanistan "cannot become a safe haven for terrorists" and called on Pakistan to fight terrorists "on its own soil."

"We are prepared to partner with Pakistan to defeat terrorists organizations seeking safe havens, but Pakistan must demonstrate its desire to partner with us," he wrote.

The top American diplomat acknowledged the U.S. has a poor relationship with a "resurgent Russia" that has invaded neighboring countries Georgia and Ukraine and "undermined the sovereignty of Western nations by meddling in our election and others."

Shortly after Trump fired FBI Director James Comey, who was leading the probe into Russia, former FBI Director Robert Mueller was appointed special counsel of an investigation into whether any members of Trump's campaign conspired with Russian agents during the campaign.

Earlier this year, the U.S. intelligence community released a report concluding Russia had meddled in the 2016 presidential election, showing a preference for Trump over Hillary Clinton, his Democratic opponent. There are also several congressional probes into the matter. Russia denies meddling in the election, and Trump has denied any collusion with the Russians.

"While we are on guard against Russian aggression, we recognize the need to work with Russia where mutual interests intersect," Tillerson wrote, citing the Syrian civil war where the two countries have supported opposing sides but pushed for peace negotiations.

Tillerson's remarks about Iran were less conciliatory. He said the U.S. has abandoned the "flawed Iran nuclear deal" as the focus of its policy toward the Persian Gulf country, adding, "We are now confronting the totality of Iranian threats."

The assessment of the administration's diplomatic successes this year belies the tension that has existed between Tillerson and Trump. Senior administration officials said last month the White House has developed a plan to push Tillerson out of office. The two men have disagreed on a number of significant issues, including the confrontation with North Korea and the Iran nuclear deal.

Tilllerson reportedly called the president a "moron" and Trump publicly disparaged Tillerson for "wasting his time" by reaching out diplomatically to North Korea.

Let's block ads! (Why?)

Read More Secretary of State: Americans Should Be 'Encouraged' with US Diplomatic Efforts : http://ift.tt/2DsG29n

Trump, in Washington, Stays Close to Home

WASHINGTON — 

After living in Washington for nearly a year, President Donald Trump has yet to enjoy a single non-working meal at a restaurant that doesn’t pay him rent. He hasn’t taken in a performance at the Kennedy Center; hasn’t been to a sporting event; hasn’t toured most of the sights.

It’s one of the peculiarities of the Trump presidency and one of a long list of ways in which he’s changing the office, as well as its relationship with Washington.

“I would say that Trump has been the least present of any of the most recent presidents,” said Phil Mendelson, chairman of the Washington, D.C., City Council and a Democratic member of the council since 1999.

It’s not just restaurants, says Mendelson. Trump has been less engaged on the local charity circuit than other recent presidents, with no stops at local food banks or to help elementary school reading drives. First lady Melania Trump has been venturing out more often, appearing with Jordan’s Queen Rania at a girls’ charter school, attending a holiday toy drive sponsored by the military and visiting with patients and staff at Children’s National hospital.

But the homebody president rarely goes out — and when he does it’s almost always to properties that bear his name.

Trump has spent at least part of more than 100 days of his presidency at properties he owns — taking winter weekends at his private Mar-a-Lago club in Florida and summer weekends in Bedminster, New Jersey, or at his Virginia golf club.

Those weekends that he does spend in Washington, Trump has dined at just one restaurant: BLT Prime in the Trump International Hotel, which opened last year just a few blocks from the White House. Trump’s visits have thrilled the tourists who flock to the hotel, building buzz and earning revenue. But most often, Trump, who is known to prefer well-done steaks with ketchup to snootier fare, chooses to eat in.

“I love the food in the White House. The White House is the greatest restaurant, it’s the most beautiful,” he told the Larry O'Connor radio show last month. “They do such a beautiful job.”

Trump took office as arguably the most prepared of recent presidents for the constraints of living and working in the White House and its Secret Service-enforced security bubble, having spent decades ensconced at Trump Tower in New York.

“The reason my hair looks so neat all the time is because I don’t have to deal with the elements. I live in the building where I work. I take an elevator from my bedroom to my office. The rest of the time, I’m either in my stretch limousine, my private jet, my helicopter, or my private club in Palm Beach Florida,” he once wrote.

Not much has changed — though the house, plane and helicopter are now taxpayer-paid.

Trump’s homebody ways mark a dramatic shift from his predecessor, who relished the renaissance in the D.C. dining scene. The Obamas embraced Washington, sampling its hottest restaurants, from high-end to low brow, and providing coveted buzz to eateries like celebrity chef José Andrés' small plates restaurant Oyamel Cocina Mexicana and Danny Meyer’s Shake Shack.

During the 2014 government shutdown, Obama and Vice President Joe Biden made a run to Taylor Gourmet sandwich shop, which was offering discounts for government workers. And when it was time to signal an attempted reset in relations with Russia, Obama treated Russian President Dmitry Medvedev to a burgers and fries at Ray’s Hell Burger in nearby Arlington, Virginia.

Even before Obama’s inauguration, then-Mayor Adrian Fenty welcomed the soon-to-be president to the city with lunch at the famous Ben’s Chili Bowl.

“It is actually tragic that the current administration hasn’t taken the time yet to go out to the different restaurants to see how vibrant and delicious the current dining scene in D.C. actually is,” said Nycci Safier Nellis, publisher of TheListAreYouOnIt.com, which tracks the local food scene.

Obama also embraced the city in other ways, celebrating Small Business Saturday, for instance, with a trip to Kramerbooks with his daughters. Michelle Obama was often spotted at SoulCycle.

The Trumps have kept a much lower profile, with no known first lady shopping trips or presidential visits to son Barron’s soccer games. Trump did visit the Smithsonian’s new black history museum last February during Black History Month.

Trump recently suggested he might venture out of his comfort zone more often.

“In Washington you do have some great restaurants, and I’m going to start going to ‘em,” he said in the radio interview last month. “I was accused the other day, well, when I leave the White House, which is seldom, I always go to my hotel on Pennsylvania Avenue and they say, ‘He should go to other places.’ And I never thought of it, and I’m going to start doing that. I’m going to go around.”

Jessica Sidman, food editor at Washingtonian magazine, said Trump may face resistance in a diverse and overwhelmingly Democratic city, where he won just 4 percent of the vote.

"I'm sure there are places that would welcome him, but I think there are a lot of places that might be reluctant to serve him, even though restaurants kind of have this idea of hospitality and we welcome everyone,” she said.

“It's good to show respect to your community” by giving them business, she said, “but I’m just not sure to what extent he’s welcome in the community.”

Let's block ads! (Why?)

Read More Trump, in Washington, Stays Close to Home : http://ift.tt/2DlNPFV

Trump, GOP Leaders to Meet at Camp David, Plot Agenda

WEST PALM BEACH, FLORIDA — 

Eager for more legislative achievements before Washington’s focus shifts to the midterm elections, President Donald Trump plans to start the new year by meeting with Republican congressional leaders to plot the 2018 legislative agenda, the White House said.

After returning to Washington from Florida, where he is spending the holidays, Trump will host House Speaker Paul Ryan of Wisconsin and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky at the rustic Camp David presidential retreat in Maryland during the weekend of Jan. 6-7.

Spokesmen for Ryan and McConnell have confirmed they will attend.

The powwow will follow the recent enactment of legislation to cut taxes, beginning next year, for corporations and individuals at an estimated cost of $1.5 trillion added to the national debt over 10 years.

The bill marked the first big legislative achievement for Trump and congressional Republicans, who made cutting taxes a must-do this year after the Senate failed to close the deal on another top GOP promise: to repeal and replace the Obama health care law.

While the tax bill ends the requirement that all Americans buy health insurance or pay a fine, which is a key component of the Affordable Care Act, it leaves intact other features of the health care law. No Democrats voted for the tax bill, which Trump signed during a hastily arranged White House ceremony, without any lawmakers present, before he flew to Florida last Friday.

Lengthy agenda

Trump predicted in a tweet earlier this week that Democrats and Republicans will “eventually come together” to develop a new health care plan. The president is also forecasting unity between the parties on spending to upgrade aging roads, bridges and other transportation. The White House has said Trump will unveil his long-awaited infrastructure plan in January.

Ryan, meanwhile, has talked about overhauling Medicaid and Medicare and other welfare programs, but McConnell has signaled an unwillingness to go that route unless there’s Democratic support for any changes. Trump has also said he wants to pursue “welfare reform” next year because “people are taking advantage of the system.”

Backlog from 2017

Congress, meanwhile, will open the year facing a backlog from 2017.

The list includes agreeing by Jan. 19 on a government funding bill to avert a partial government shutdown and to boost Pentagon spending. Lawmakers also must agree on billions in additional aid to help hurricane victims, lifting the debt ceiling so the United States can pay its bills, extending a children’s health insurance program and drafting protections for immigrants brought to the U.S. illegally as children.

Trump tweeted earlier in the year that he was ending the program for the immigrants. He gave lawmakers until March 5 to come up with a legislative solution, or the individuals will begin to face the risk of being deported.

Much of the work will need to be done before Republicans shift their focus to retaining their House and Senate majorities in midterm elections taking place in November 2018. The GOP’s slim Senate majority will get even slimmer come January, when Democrat Doug Jones of Alabama is sworn in, leaving Republicans with a 51-49 edge in the chamber.

Let's block ads! (Why?)

Read More Trump, GOP Leaders to Meet at Camp David, Plot Agenda : http://ift.tt/2llWLns

Trump's Clinton Tweets Cut Against Comey Firing Explanation

WASHINGTON — 

When President Donald Trump fired James Comey in May, he said he was acting on the recommendation of Justice Department leaders who had faulted the FBI director for publicly releasing "derogatory information" about Hillary Clinton at the conclusion of the email server investigation one year earlier.

Yet with each tweet about the Clinton probe, Trump seems to be further undermining his administration's stated rationale for a termination that's now central to special counsel Robert Mueller's Russia investigation.

The disconnect between Trump's attacks on Comey's handling of the email investigation and the criticism of Comey by his own Justice Department could muddy the narrative about exactly why Comey was fired. This may complicate efforts by the president's legal team to present a coherent narrative as Mueller and his prosecutors examine whether the dismissal could support obstruction of justice allegations.

Email issue

Trump has complained for months about the FBI's decision not to pursue criminal charges against Clinton, his Democratic opponent in the 2016 presidential election, for her use of a personal email server. He has suggested the criminal investigation was rigged in her favor, claiming in one October tweet that Comey "totally protected" her.

In the last few weeks alone, he seized on the revelation of politically charged text messages from an FBI agent who worked on that probe to again deride the investigation and, in a Saturday tweet that appeared to suggest Clinton should have been prosecuted, he referred to "33,000 illegally deleted emails."

Yet those attacks are increasingly hard to square with a Justice Department memo that the White House in May held up as justification for firing Comey. That memo, authored by Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, cites an unusual July 2016 news conference in which Comey described Clinton and her aides as "extremely careless," as well as notification to Congress, days before the election, that the investigation was being revisited because of the sudden discovery of additional emails.

"From the beginning there's always been serious doubt that the memo from the deputy attorney general was the actual reason the president fired the FBI director," said Scott Fredericksen, a Washington criminal defense lawyer and former federal prosecutor. "These tweets," he added, "probably don't help the president in that regard."

A lawyer for Trump did not return a phone message seeking comment.

Mueller's team has been keenly interested for months in the circumstances of Comey's firing, with prosecutors obtaining an initial White House memo, drafted but never released, that purported to lay out a basis for Comey's removal.

Comey criticized

The final memo that the White House released on May 9, signed by Rosenstein, castigated Comey for announcing that criminal charges were not warranted against Clinton even though such determinations are generally left to Justice Department prosecutors. He also faulted Comey for comments made during that news conference, which he said broke with Justice Department protocol by issuing "derogatory information" about someone who was not charged.

Though he did not explicitly say it, Rosenstein's assessment seemed in line with that of Clinton and her supporters — that Comey's statements and actions during the investigation had harmed her election prospects.

"The director laid out his version of the facts for the news media as if it were a closing argument, but without a trial," Rosenstein wrote. "It is a textbook example of what federal prosecutors and agents are taught not to do."

In a single-page letter to Comey released alongside Rosenstein's memo, Trump said he was accepting the Justice Department's recommendation to fire him.

From the start, though, that explanation has been tough to reconcile with Trump's blistering attacks on Clinton, and his constant assertions on the campaign trail and as president that she should have been prosecuted. He returned to that theme days after Mueller revealed a plea deal with Michael Flynn, Trump's former national security adviser, when he tweeted: "Many people in our Country are asking what the 'Justice' Department is going to do about the fact that totally Crooked Hillary, AFTER receiving a subpoena from the United States Congress, deleted and 'acid washed' 33,000 Emails? No justice!"

On Saturday, amid reports that FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe — a frequent Trump target — was retiring soon, the president tweeted, "How can FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, the man in charge, along with leakin' James Comey, of the Phony Hillary Clinton investigation (including her 33,000 illegally deleted emails) be given $700,000 for wife's campaign by Clinton Puppets during investigation?"

Value in silence

"The irony is most politicians would recognize that perpetuating silence post-firing would have been the most effective course," said Jacob Frenkel, a Washington defense lawyer and former prosecutor.

In the event charges are brought or impeachment proceedings are begun, that kind of inconsistent messaging would present "not just entertaining fodder for cross-examination" but also material that could be used to challenge a witness's credibility, Frenkel said.

But by the same token, the evolving messaging could oddly benefit Trump by making it difficult to attach any one motive or reason — such as a desire to shut down the Russia investigation — for Comey's firing.

"Once you start picking on one tweet or one message, then it becomes, `What about this tweet or that message?' You're constantly having competing messages," Frenkel said.

Let's block ads! (Why?)

Read More Trump's Clinton Tweets Cut Against Comey Firing Explanation : http://ift.tt/2pMxYhy

Poll: Obama, Clinton Retain Status as World's Most Admired Man, Woman

Former U.S. President Barack Obama and former Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton remain the world's most admired man and woman among Americans, according to a new Gallup poll.

The poll found Obama and Clinton have retained their most admired status as they have for the past 10 years, but by much narrower margins compared to past yearly surveys.

Seventeen percent of those questioned said Obama was the world's most admired man, compared to 14-percent for President Donald Trump who came in second.

Clinton, also a former Secretary of State, edged out former first lady Michelle Obama 9-percent to 7-percent.

This is the 16th straight year the poll showed Clinton was the most admired woman.

It was the 22nd time Clinton was perceived as such, more than anyone else, with former first lady Eleanor Roosevelt coming in second with 13 wins.

Obama has earned the distinction as the most admired man 10 times, coming in second to 12-time winner, former president Dwight Eisenhower.

Clinton's and Obama's latest standings, however, are not as robust as they were in previous years. Clinton's 9-percent rating is the lowest she has received since 2002, when 7-percent of the respondents gave her another narrow first-place finish. Obama's 17-percent showing is lower than last year's 22-percent mark but more consistent with the support he received in several previous polls.

Rounding out the top five most admired men were Pope Francis (three-percent), Reverend Billy Graham (two-percent) and Senator John McCain (two-percent).

Oprah Winfrey came in third as the most admired woman with four-percent, followed by Senator Elizabeth Warren (three-percent) and German Chancellor Angela Merkel (two-percent).

Let's block ads! (Why?)

Read More Poll: Obama, Clinton Retain Status as World's Most Admired Man, Woman : http://ift.tt/2zDJpYu

Obama Misses 'Fascinating' Work of Presidency, Warns of 'Different Realities' Online

U.S. President Barack Obama told Britain's Prince Harry one danger of the internet is "that people can have entirely different realities" and surround themselves in information that "reinforces their current biases."

Harry interviewed Obama in September for Wednesday's broadcast on BBC Radio.

The former U.S. leader, who left office in January after serving eight years, said it is important that online communities move offline and allow people to get to know each other.

"On the internet everything is amplified, and when you meet people face-to-face it turns out they're complicated," Obama said. "You find areas of common ground because you see that things are not as simple as have been portrayed in whatever chat room you've been in."

He added that in person it is more difficult to be "as obnoxious and cruel" as people can be online.

Obama said he missed the work of the president, "because it was fascinating," but that he had a sense of "serenity" in leaving the office and now has the ability to focus his efforts on long-term problems in a way he could not while in the White House.

"It allows me to focus on how do I transmit whatever knowledge or experience that I've gained to others to help them become more effective and more powerful," he said. "And I'm really obsessed now with training the next generation of leaders to be able to make their mark in the world."

He pointed to the example of recent hurricanes in Texas, Florida and Puerto Rico, saying as president his primary job would have been to make sure the people in those areas got help.

"Today those aren't my direct responsibilities, but I can focus over the next 20 years on making sure we don't have more hurricanes and natural disasters that are accelerated as a consequence of climate change," Obama said.

He also spoke about the importance of empowering young people to make decisions and said there is an "energy and spirit" to the younger generation that cannot be matched by someone his age.

"There is a freshness to what young people perceive as possible," he said.

Obama also talked about leadership, saying that he does not believe someone in a position of power can do their job well if they lack "the capacity to feel deeply about the people they are serving."

"If you don't understand that what you do every day has a profound impact on somebody else, then you shouldn't be there."

Let's block ads! (Why?)

Read More Obama Misses 'Fascinating' Work of Presidency, Warns of 'Different Realities' Online : http://ift.tt/2l6vHsO

US 'Maximum Pressure' N. Korea Policy Yielded Mixed Results in 2017

SEOUL — 

With a tweet in early January saying, "It won't happen!" Donald Trump, who had not yet been inaugurated president of the United States, set upon a confrontational course to stop North Korea from developing a nuclear-armed intercontinental ballistic missile capable of reaching the U.S.

During the presidential campaign, Trump unnerved allies in Asia with his "America First" threats to withdraw U.S. forces from South Korea and Japan unless they significantly increased defense-sharing payments, and his expressed willingness to negotiate with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un over hamburgers.

But after taking office Trump made ending the North Korean nuclear threat a top national security priority, and he embraced a "maximum pressure" strategy of imposing crippling sanctions on the Kim government, backed by the credible threat of military force.

"He has raised all kinds of expectations about what he's going to do about North Korea. And if he doesn't do those things, then it seriously threatens his identity, it undermines him, it undercuts him," said North Korea analyst John Delury with Yonsei University in Seoul.

Japan's support

Meeting with Japanese Prime Minster Shinzo Abe, Trump found strong support for his hard-line North Korea policy from a key Asian ally.

In February, U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis traveled to Tokyo and Seoul to reaffirm the U.S. commitment to maintaining a strong military presence in the region, while downplaying the president's past criticisms of defense costs.

In April, on the same day Trump dined at his Florida Mar-a-Lago resort with Chinese President Xi Jinping, he ordered a unilateral missile strike on Syria for allegedly using chemical weapons against civilians.

Trump's demonstration of military force, his supporters said, sent a message to Xi that if China did not act to curtail North Korean provocations, the U.S. would.

Both Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Vice President Mike Pence also went to the region, warning that the U.S. would not rule out preemptive military action to eliminate the growing North Korean nuclear threat to the U.S. mainland.

However, South Korea, after the impeachment of conservative President Park Geun-hye, elected the liberal Moon Jae-in, who strongly opposes the use of offensive military force on the Korean Peninsula.

"President Moon has been quite clear that he believes that war on the Korean Peninsula should never be considered an option, unless the North Koreans start it first, of course," said David Straub, a North Korea analyst with the Sejong Institute.

Moon, though, has also aligned closely with the U.S. on deterrence and sanctions as his efforts to reduce regional tensions through engagement and dialogue have been rejected by the North.

​Strategic confusion

Proponents of military intervention, like Republican U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, argue that it would be justifiable to use force to prevent a North Korean nuclear attack on the U.S. mainland. But even Mattis acknowledged a military conflict with North Korea would be "tragic on an unbelievable scale" and most likely trigger attacks against South Korea or Japan that could quickly escalate into widespread war.

During the year, Tillerson seemed to soften his hard-line position, moving to support unconditional talks with leaders in Pyongyang and dropping any demand that they first agree to give up their nuclear program.

"We have said, from the diplomatic side, we are ready to talk anytime North Korea would like to talk, and we are ready to have the first meeting without preconditions." Tillerson said in December.

But Trump has repeatedly rebuked his top diplomat, publicly tweeting in October that Tillerson was "wasting his time" trying to restart talks with North Korea.

Tillerson later clarified that North Korea must earn its way to the negotiations table by suspending further missile and nuclear tests.

Trump's critics have dubbed the mixed messages coming from the White House as a policy of "strategic confusion."

Brutal nature

Undeterred by Washington's threats and increasing economic sanctions, Pyongyang continued to test ballistic missiles throughout the year, steadily improving their range and technical capability.

In February, the brutal nature of the repressive regime was again exposed when alleged North Korean agents using poison were charged with assassinating Kim Jong Nam, the half brother of leader Kim Jong Un, at the Kuala Lumpur airport in Malaysia.

And in June, Americans reacted with outrage when North Korea released American student Otto Warmbier in comatose state. Warmbier was arrested in 2016 for allegedly stealing a propaganda poster from his hotel and soon fell into a coma from which he never awoke. He died soon after returning home.

In response, Congress passed a bill banning most U.S. travel to North Korea.

War of words

In August, tensions escalated to the brink of conflict when Trump warned that North Korea would face "fire and fury" if it threatened the U.S. Pyongyang responded by saying it was considering test-firing an ICBM into waters near the U.S. Pacific territory of Guam.

Pyongyang would back down from this threat, but soon launched two long-range missiles over Japan, and in September it conducted its sixth nuclear test.

The U.S. and its allies did not respond with military strikes, but did persuade China and Russia to support stronger international sanctions that banned the North's lucrative coal and mineral exports and cut off one-third of oil imports.

Trump escalated a war of words with Kim during his address to the Untied Nations in September. The president referred to the North Korean leader as a "Rocket Man" on a suicide mission.

Kim responded in a statement calling Trump a "dotard" — an old person, especially one who might be weak or senile — and described his behavior as "mentally deranged."

​Provocation pause

After conducting a successful test in November of a long-range Hwasong-15 missile that has the potential to reach the U.S. mainland, North Korea announced it had reached its goal of developing operational ICBM capability. Some U.S. and South Korean experts said the North was still a year or so away from having an "operational" ICBM armed with a miniaturized nuclear weapon.

Few expect diplomatic breakthroughs anytime soon, but with South Korea hosting the upcoming Winter Olympics, there may be a new opportunity to reduce the potential for conflict in the region. Seoul is encouraging North Korea to participate in the Olympics, and there is talk that the U.S. and South Korea may postpone joint military exercises until after the games. These developments could bring a needed pause to the provocations.

Youmi Kim in Seoul contributed to this report.

Let's block ads! (Why?)

Read More US 'Maximum Pressure' N. Korea Policy Yielded Mixed Results in 2017 : http://ift.tt/2BIPaq1

8 Eastern US States Sue EPA Over Air Pollution

Eight Eastern U.S. states are suing the Environmental Protection Agency, demanding that it order tougher controls on some Midwestern states over air pollution blowing eastward.

New York state Attorney General Eric Schneiderman is leading the lawsuit, saying the Trump administration had failed to impose congressionally mandated anti-pollution standards on parts of the Midwest.

"Millions of New Yorkers are breathing unhealthy air as smog pollution continues to pour in from other states," Schneiderman said.

The other that are part of the lawsuit are Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Vermont. They want the courts to overturn the EPA's decision to exclude nine mostly Midwestern states from what is called the Ozone Transport Region.

States within the region, established under the Clean Air Act, are required to control emissions from coal plants and other sources.

EPA chief Scott Pruitt declined to add those states to the region by an October deadline.

The EPA said it could not comment on outstanding legal matters.

Let's block ads! (Why?)

Read More 8 Eastern US States Sue EPA Over Air Pollution : http://ift.tt/2C9fr1n

US Appeals Court Rejects Challenge to Trump Voter Fraud Panel

A U.S. appeals court in Washington on Tuesday upheld a lower court's decision to allow President Donald Trump's commission investigating voter fraud to request data on voter rolls from U.S. states.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit said the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) watchdog group, which filed the lawsuit, did not have legal standing to seek to force the presidential commission to review privacy concerns before collecting individuals' voter data.

EPIC had argued that under federal law, the commission was required to conduct a privacy-impact assessment before gathering personal data. But the three-judge appeals court panel ruled unanimously that the privacy law at issue was intended to protect individuals, not groups like EPIC.

"EPIC is not a voter," Judge Karen Henderson wrote in the ruling.

Washington-based U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly first denied EPIC's injunction request in July, in part because the collection of data by the commission was not technically an action by a government agency and thus was not bound by laws that govern what such entities can do.

Kollar-Kotelly noted that the commission, headed by Vice President Mike Pence, was an advisory body that lacks legal authority to compel states to hand over the data.

Not thought to be common

Most state officials who oversee elections and election law experts say that voter fraud is rare in the United States.

Trump, a Republican, set up the commission in May after charging, without evidence, that millions of people voted unlawfully in the 2016 presidential election in which he defeated Democratic opponent Hillary Clinton despite losing the popular vote.

The commission's vice chair, Kris Kobach, the Republican secretary of state for Kansas and an advocate of tougher laws on immigration and voter identification, asked states in June to turn over voter information.

The data requested by Kobach included names, the last four digits of Social Security numbers, addresses, birth dates, political affiliation, felony convictions and voting histories.

More than 20 states refused outright and others said they needed to study whether they could provide the data.

Civil rights groups and Democratic lawmakers have said the commission's eventual findings could lead to new ID requirements and other measures making it harder for groups that tend to favor Democratic candidates to cast ballots.

EPIC executive director Marc Rotenberg could not immediately be reached for comment.

Let's block ads! (Why?)

Read More US Appeals Court Rejects Challenge to Trump Voter Fraud Panel : http://ift.tt/2Cck3nK

Activists: Trump’s 'Fake News' Theme Used to Limit Global Press Freedom

WHITE HOUSE — 

With the number of journalists imprisoned worldwide at an all-time high, press freedom groups are drawing a direct line between President Donald Trump’s verbal slugfest with some of America’s most venerable news institutions and the adoption of his “fake news” mantra by autocrats and dictators around the world.

“We’re seeing an unprecedented attack on both the institution of journalism and the media, as well as very personal attacks on individual journalists and individual media outlets,” says Courtney Radsch, advocacy director for the Committee to Protect Journalists. “And what this does is it creates an environment in which journalists operate less safely.”

The CPJ’s 2017 press freedom survey shows 262 journalists are behind bars worldwide, slightly higher than the number a year ago. More than half the total are in Turkey, China, and Egypt.

"We saw the term 'fake news' being used in the Philippines, in Russia, in China, in Egypt to justify their own oppression of the media in attempts to delegitimize journalists” Radsch told VOA. “We’ve also seen China saying, 'Hey the U.S. is finally waking up to what we’ve been saying the whole time about the media being problematic,' and that’s not what we want to see around the world.”

An opinion piece in China’s Communist Party’s People’s Daily newspaper this month said, “If the president of the United States calls leading media outlets a stain on America, then negative news about China and other countries should be taken with a grain of salt, since it is likely that bias and political agendas are distorting the real picture.”

Egyptian scholar Hisham Hellyer, a non-resident fellow at the Atlantic Council in Washington, says fallout from Trump’s “fake news” charges is serious and should not be underestimated.

“When Trump uses his own freedom of expression to denigrate the media’s ability to report the facts, and often puts forward his own ‘fake news’, it has the effect of empowering others who would like to do the same,” Hellyer said.

Trump has hammered at the "fake news" theme in hundreds of Twitter posts, public comments and speeches, singling out media powerhouses like CNN, The Washington Post and The New York Times for special criticism.

He once called CNN, “the enemy of the people.”

The president’s tactics have fueled a polarizing national debate about what Trump defenders call persistent media bias, and critics describe as hard-nosed reporting.

Studies show coverage of Trump has tilted heavily negative. An analysis by the nonprofit Pew Research Center showed reporting about the first months of the Trump presidency was 62 percent negative and 5 percent positive.

Coverage for the same period of President Barack Obama's presidency was 42 percent positive and 20 percent negative, according to Pew. The leader of the Pew Journalism Project cautioned the result is not evidence of media bias.

Trump’s critics see nothing exceptional in those figures given the volume of missteps and misstatements coming from the White House, but the president and his supporters cite them as evidence of the media’s malign intent.

Stung by Trump’s criticisms and polls showing low public trust in the media, CNN and the big newspapers have fought back with ad campaigns and fresh slogans emphasizing their accuracy and objectivity.

But a series of recent high-profile reporting blunders in stories about the White House has damaged the media’s reputation for trustworthiness, and given Trump fresh ammunition.

Earlier this month, CNN erroneously reported that the Trump campaign had been offered the contents of hacked emails from the campaign of his Democratic Party competitor, Hillary Clinton, before they were released by Wikileaks last year. The Washington Post later reported accurately that the offer came days after Wikileaks published the emails.

Now, some of the world’s worst violators of media freedom are using Trump's "fake news" refrain to justify press restrictions.

Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad, asked about an Amnesty International report on systematic killings in Syrian prison, replied, “We’re living in a fake news era, as you know. Everybody knows it.”

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro complained international media are spreading lies about him, saying, “This is what we call fake news, isn’t it?”

Cambodia’s Hun Sen, who regularly quotes Trump’s “fake news” rhetoric, has ordered more than a dozen radio stations to close or stop broadcasting programming from the Voice of America and Radio Free Asia, and shut down a leading independent newspaper.

Libyan media used the term in trying to discredit a CNN report on slavery among migrants, and Russia’s foreign ministry has begun posting stories it considers false on its website covered by the words “FAKE NEWS” in big red letters.

China’s top cyber security official cited "fake news" about a report ranking China last in the world in internet freedom.

Trump has welcomed several known foes of free media to the White House. He hailed Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan as a friend, despite that country’s reputation as the world’s leading jailer of journalists.

With Trump at his side during a recent ASEAN summit, Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte called reporters “spies.”

Thailand’s Prime Minister Prayut Chan-ocha and Malaysia’s Prime Minister Najib Razak have raised the issue of "fake news."

"It's hard enough to be a journalist in dictatorships like Cambodia when the United States is setting a good example," Tom Malinowski, a former U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy and Labor, told VOA.

"Now every dictator who wants to ban media he doesn't like can say, 'Trump does it so why can't I?'" said Malinowski, who served under President Obama.

Let's block ads! (Why?)

Read More Activists: Trump’s 'Fake News' Theme Used to Limit Global Press Freedom : http://ift.tt/2l0jaau

America First? Trump Struggles to Implement Campaign Promises on US Military

Before becoming president, Donald Trump railed against US wars overseas, saying it was better to spend money at home than, in his words, "waste" it overseas. But as VOA's Bill Gallo reports, Trump has at times struggled to carry out what he calls his "America First" approach to the world during his first year as president.

Let's block ads! (Why?)

Read More America First? Trump Struggles to Implement Campaign Promises on US Military : http://ift.tt/2zyHBQN

America First? Trump Struggles to Implement Campaign Promises on Military

WASHINGTON — 

As a presidential candidate, Donald Trump promised a radically different approach to foreign intervention than that of his predecessors.

At campaign events, Trump railed against U.S. military intervention so frequently that it eventually became a part of his stump speech.

“We’ve spent $6 trillion in the Middle East,” Trump repeatedly lamented. “We could have rebuilt our country twice.”

In his first year as president, Pentagon data suggests Trump has struggled to carry out his “America First” approach to the world, at least when it comes to the use of force.

Instead, Trump has sent more U.S. troops to conflict zones in the Middle East and South Asia. He’s dropped more bombs on Iraq, Syria, and Afghanistan. And he’s expanded a global campaign of targeted drone killings.

Add it all up, and it’s hard to see how Trump’s foreign policy is any less interventionist than his predecessors. If anything, Trump’s policies are a little more hawkish than those of Barack Obama, says Christopher Preble, with the CATO Institute.

“He’s largely continued what he's inherited, with some additional increment of the use of force,” says Preble.

Doubling down in Afghanistan

Perhaps no conflict exemplifies Trump’s approach more than Afghanistan, where the U.S. has been fighting Taliban insurgents for 16 years.

Before becoming president, Trump was a regular critic of the war, calling it a waste of lives and money and demanding an immediate withdrawal.

But six months into his presidency, Trump reversed his position, instead deciding to indefinitely extend the U.S. commitment to Afghanistan.

Under Trump’s plan, 3,000 more U.S. troops will be sent to Afghanistan, backed by an expanded U.S.-led bombing campaign.

According to U.S. military figures, the NATO coalition is on pace to triple the number of bombs dropped on Afghanistan in 2017 compared to the previous year.

The bombing could continue to expand in 2018, in part because of the relaxed rules of engagement that allow the U.S. military to go after insurgent targets.

More bombs, more troops

It’s part of a larger pattern of a bigger Pentagon footprint across the Middle East, South Asia and North Africa.

Since Trump took office, there has been a 31 percent increase in the number of U.S. troops and civilians working for the Pentagon in the Middle East and North Africa, according to Pentagon data.

That includes increases not only in well-known conflict areas, such as Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan, but also in Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Bahrain.

The U.S. military also recently acknowledged it has about 2,000 troops in Syria - four times as many as Pentagon officials previously said. According to a recent report, the U.S. forces will stay in Syria indefinitely.

Under Trump, the U.S. is also dropping more bombs.

The international coalition fighting the so-called Islamic State group in Iraq and Syria is on pace to drop 30 percent more bombs in 2017 compared to the previous year, according to official figures, though that campaign appears to be winding down as the Islamist group is forced out of its so-called caliphate.

Drone war expanded

Drone strikes have also continued in non-battlefield settings, including Yemen, Somalia, Pakistan, and Libya - a continuation of President Barack Obama’s global campaign of targeted killings.

"If Obama expanded the U.S. drone program, Trump has expanded it even more, both in terms of geography and frequency,” says Rachel Stohl, who specializes in drones at the Stimson Center, a research group.

In Yemen, U.S. airstrikes have tripled, and in Somalia they have doubled this year compared to last, according to Jessica Purkiss with the Bureau of Investigative Journalism, which tracks U.S. drone and other airstrikes.

"The uptick in strikes in these countries is largely because parts of both these countries were declared areas of active hostilities, which effectively means the U.S. can launch strikes with fewer constraints,” Purkiss says.

The U.S. military could also soon conduct drone strikes in Niger, after the African country last month granted the U.S. permission to conduct armed drone flights.

Not surprising?

Trump's hawkish tendencies aren't surprising to some analysts, such as the CATO Institute's Preble. "The totality of Donald Trump’s statements as a candidate, and even before, did tend to be fairly hawkish," he says.

As a candidate, Trump did, after all, vow to "bomb the s**t" out of Islamic State. He also consistently threatened to "take the oil" as compensation for U.S. military intervention in countries such as Iraq and Libya. And he pledged to make the U.S. military more powerful than ever.

"That’s not exactly an argument for not fighting wars that he didn’t like," concedes Preble.

Trump isn't the only president who has struggled to fulfill his campaign promises on foreign policy. President Obama, for instance, campaigned on bringing U.S. troops home from Iraq. And he did, before eventually sending them back to fight Islamic State.

It's perhaps a reminder that presidential candidates promise a lot when it comes to foreign policy. But they can't always deliver.

Let's block ads! (Why?)

Read More America First? Trump Struggles to Implement Campaign Promises on Military : http://ift.tt/2zxMcTi

2017 Saw Limited Progress on Trump's Legislative Agenda

CAPITOL HILL — 

At the end of President Donald Trump’s first year in office, congressional Republicans head into 2018, a midterm election year, with one major bicameral legislative achievement to tout: an overhaul of the U.S tax code that polled poorly in most opinion surveys.

Even so, Republicans have expressed confidence that Americans will value permanent tax cuts for corporations and temporary ones for wage earners once they go into effect next month.

“Results are going to make this popular,” House Speaker Paul Ryan of Wisconsin said.

“If we can’t sell this to the American people, we ought to go into another line of work,” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky said.

Democrats predicted the tax bill will haunt Republicans in the 2018 elections.

“Our Republican colleagues, with this tax bill, have done us [Democrats] a major favor,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York said. “The American people will have their chance, in 2018, to reject this philosophy and move our country in a dramatically different direction.”

In his first address to Congress in February, Trump laid out an ambitious agenda for majority Republicans to tackle, including tax cuts, health care reform, infrastructure spending, border wall construction, immigration reform, and expanded educational opportunities.

“If you think of legislation, they [Republicans] have much less to show for unified party control,” Brookings Institution political analyst Molly Reynolds said. “They spent about seven months of the year on a failed effort to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act [Obamacare]. They are going to have something to show for themselves on taxes, but that process also didn’t go as smoothly as they would have liked.”

Senate Republicans may have more to show their conservative political base than their House counterparts by virtue of the fact that that the Constitution tasks the Senate with confirming presidential nominations. 2017 saw the Senate confirm a record number of right-leaning Trump nominees at every level of the federal judiciary, most notably Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch.

“This has been a year of extraordinary accomplishment,” McConnell said. “We’ve cemented the Supreme Court right-of-center for a generation.”

What Republicans see as an accomplishment, however, progressives see as motivation to elect left-of-center candidates in November.

“We have seen time and time again that the anti-choice [anti-abortion] GOP [Republican Party] is all too willing to throw women and families under the bus,” NARAL Pro-Choice America, an advocacy group for abortion rights, said in a recent statement. “We’ll keep organizing and mobilizing to hold them accountable in 2018.”

Economic performance is often a key factor in election outcomes. U.S. economic growth accelerated modestly during Trump’s first year in office, and Republicans are predicting even brisker expansion when tax cuts, combined with an aggressive dismantling of federal regulations, take effect.

“America is ready to take off,” McConnell said. “We’ve had two quarters in a row of three percent growth. The stock market is up. Optimism is high. Coupled with this tax reform, America is ready to start performing.”

Some analysts disagree.

“I could see this [Republican tax bill] backfiring,” American University economist Even Kraft said. “I don’t see it stimulating our economy very much in the short term. In the long term, I see it as being quite negative because it hits at a number of things --higher education, health -- that are crucial ultimately to our long term economic growth.”

President Trump has indicated he expects more action from Congress in 2018, tweeting, “Our team will go onto many more VICTORIES!”

But if Trump’s agenda was largely stymied on Capitol Hill in 2017, history suggests 2018 will be no better.

“We rarely expect Congress to get a lot of things done after the middle of an election year,” Reynolds said. “This is shaping up to be a particularly competitive election in 2018 — there just isn’t that much time available to Congress to get a lot done, and members will be even more wary of casting difficult votes that will be used against them in their reelection campaigns in November.”

Let's block ads! (Why?)

Read More 2017 Saw Limited Progress on Trump's Legislative Agenda : http://ift.tt/2DgE5Nb

Trump Immigration Agenda Stalled on Capitol Hill

President Trump and the Republican-controlled Congress began the year with ambitious plans to remake major pieces of the nation’s broken immigration system. One of the president's most high profile campaign promises was to build a wall along the United States’ southern border with Mexico. VOA’s Congressional correspondent Katherine Gypson looks back at challenges the president faced on Capitol Hill building the Wall and carrying out other key pledges.

Let's block ads! (Why?)

Read More Trump Immigration Agenda Stalled on Capitol Hill : http://ift.tt/2lbq9g0

2017 Marked a Sea Change in Attitudes Toward Sexual Misconduct

WASHINGTON — 

Doug Jones was a little speechless at first. Then he thanked the various voters who elected him the first Democratic senator from Alabama in 25 years.

“I have always believed that the people of Alabama have more in common than to divide us.” His stunning victory was a fallout from a barrage of sexual harassment allegations that shook the country in late 2017.

His Republican opponent, Roy Moore, campaigned while denying at least nine allegations of sexual misconduct, some involving women when they were teenagers. Accuser Beverly Young says she was terrified at the time.

“I thought he was going to rape me,” she said.

Despite an endorsement from President Donald Trump, and Moore’s insistence that the “allegations are completely false ... malicious,” Moore lost.

​Opening the floodgates

By the end of 2017, more than 60 prominent men were suspended, fired or forced to resign from their highly visible jobs because of allegations of sexual harassment and even assault against women, some occurring years ago. More than 100 stand accused of sexual harassment or misconduct. The trend began in October when movie mogul Harvey Weinstein, was exposed as an alleged serial predator of young actresses who wanted to be stars.

Louisette Geiss says her heart raced as he told her “he could get me a three-picture deal, but that I had to watch him masturbate.” By December, more than 80 women had accused Weinstein of sexual harassment.

He admitted, “I got to get help, guys,” as he left for an Arizona rehabilitation facility. He stayed for a week. His business, the Weinstein Company, co-founded with his brother, is in jeopardy, plagued by lawsuits from women who claim the company knew about and hid his harassment.

WATCH: Dozens Shamed in Sexual Harassment Charges in 2017

The Weinstein effect

The public accusations against Harvey Weinstein emboldened other women to tell their stories. Suddenly, other high-profile men began to fall in what would be known as the “Weinstein Effect.”

Melissa Silverstein writes the blog “Women and Hollywood.” She says the outpouring of accusations proves that women are “reacting that our rights are being rolled back and we are tired of it.”

The “Weinstein Effect” hit others in Hollywood, including House of Cards star Kevin Spacey, accused of sexual harassment of a teenaged boy. Netflix suspended its filming of the show’s last season, then announced it would resume without Spacey as the main character.

In other media, NBC fired its Today show host of 20 years, Matt Lauer, after accusations of inappropriate sexual behavior on the job. CBS suspended its morning anchor, Charlie Rose, for similar allegations.

Comedian Louis C.K. is accused by five women of sexual misconduct for actions including stripping and masturbating in front of them. Louisiana Celebrity Chef John Besh, who’s known for the country’s southern food trend, stepped down after several dozen women claimed harassment and that his restaurant atmosphere allowed it to thrive.

In music, Russell Simmons, co-founder of the hip-hop music label Def Jam Recordings, and James Levine, the conductor of the Metropolitan Opera, face sexual assault allegations.

​More political fallout

Moore was not the only politician accused of improper behavior. A radio news anchor accused U.S. Senator Al Franken of groping her while she slept on a military plane headed home from a USO tour. Leeann Tweeden posted the photo as part of an essay she wrote about the 2006 incident. Tweeden also accused Franken of forcibly kissing her.

“He just smashed his lips against my face,” she said in the news conference, “and he stuck his tongue in my mouth so fast.”

More complaints would come forward, and Franken announced in December he would step down: “I will be resigning as a member of the United States Senate.” Franken’s last day in office will be Jan. 2.

In late December, a group of Democratic senators used Franken’s resignation as a reason to demand President Donald Trump resign. They cited at least 15 women who have accused the president of improper conduct. Trump was elected U.S. president more than a year ago, despite the public accusations.

​#MeToo rally, Time award

The shift in attitudes against sexual harassment triggered a social media campaign. #MeToo became the rallying cry for women worldwide. Women posted the hashtag on Twitter and Facebook to acknowledge publicly their experiences and to demonstrate the extent of the problem.

Time magazine named “The Silence Breakers” as its “Person of the Year” for 2017. The issue is dedicated to those who have accused powerful figures of sexual misconduct, calling them the “voices that launched a movement.”

A Time magazine survey shows that 82 percent think women are more likely to speak out about harassment since the Weinstein allegations.

By the end of 2017, the movement changed the nation’s mores, as men and women better understood the definition of sexual harassment and no longer ignored it.

Let's block ads! (Why?)

Read More 2017 Marked a Sea Change in Attitudes Toward Sexual Misconduct : http://ift.tt/2D9Rl60

Dozens Shamed in Sexual Harassment Charges in 2017

Widespread allegations of sexual harassment rocked many American institutions in 2017, including Congress, the media and the film industry. By the end of the year, numerous prominent men were suspended, fired or forced to resign from their highly visible jobs because of allegations of sexual harassment and even assault against women that happened in many cases years ago. VOA's Carolyn Presutti explains the change in social attitudes.

Let's block ads! (Why?)

Read More Dozens Shamed in Sexual Harassment Charges in 2017 : http://ift.tt/2zsqjV8