Tag Archives: Donald Trump

Turkey ready to retaliate against any threats, Erdogan warns

Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan delivers a statement to reporters alongside U.S President Donald Trump after their meeting at the White House in Washington, U.S. May 16, 2017. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque

By Humeyra Pamuk and Daren Butler

ISTANBUL (Reuters) – Turkey is ready to retaliate if it faces a threat from the Syrian Kurdish YPG militia and will not shirk from launching a military campaign if need be, President Tayyip Erdogan said on Thursday.

In his first public address since returning from a visit with U.S. President Donald Trump, Erdogan said he told the United States that Ankara would “exercise its rights under the rules of engagement”, without consulting anyone, if it felt it needed to.

Turkey regards the YPG as an extension of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which is deemed a terrorist organization by the United States, Turkey and the European Union. Washington sees the YPG as distinct from the PKK and as a valuable partner in the fight against Islamic State in Syria.

“We are facing a picture where terrorist organizations are constantly supported, strengthened and are confronting us. Turkey is not a country that will consent to such treatment,” Erdogan said in a speech to business leaders in Istanbul.

“With the Euphrates Shield operation we have carried out the first step to foil this plot. After this, we will not hesitate to carry out similar operations whenever we see necessary.”

Ankara launched its “Euphrates Shield” operation inside Syria last year, backing Syrian rebels with tanks, air strikes and special forces to sweep Islamic State from its southern border – and stop the advance of the YPG.

“If these terrorist organizations constitute a threat toward our country, we would do what is necessary by exercising our rights under the rules of engagement. We are telling you this now in advance,” Erdogan said.

“When we take this step, we don’t speak or consult with anyone as we don’t have any time to waste. We would just take the step.”

ENVOY IN FOCUS

Erdogan said he told the United States that Turkey could not be part of the operation to retake the Syrian city of Raqqa from Islamic State because of the participation of the YPG.

His comments came hours after Ankara said the United States should dismiss its special envoy in the battle against Islamic State, citing his support for the Kurdish militia.

“Brett McGurk, the USA’s special envoy in the fight against Daesh (Islamic State), is definitely and clearly giving support to the PKK and YPG. It would be beneficial if this person is changed,” Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu told NTV television.

Cavusoglu said Trump had understood Turkey’s position, and did not challenge Erdogan when the Turkish president set out his possible response to the YPG.

Differences over Syria policy have caused friction with Washington, a NATO ally of Turkey’s. U.S. officials said this month that the White House had approved supplying arms to the YPG, a decision that caused alarm in Ankara.

Last month, Turkish warplanes bombed Kurdish fighters in Iraq’s Sinjar region and YPG militia in Syria. Washington voiced concern over the air strikes and said they harmed the coalition’s fight against Islamic State.

Adding to the tension, on Thursday U.S. Senator John McCain called for the expulsion of Turkey’s U.S. ambassador after violence erupted between protesters and Turkish security personnel during Erdogan’s visit.

“We should throw their ambassador the hell out of the United States of America … This kind of thing cannot go unresponded to diplomatically,” McCain, the head of the Senate Armed Services Committee, told MSNBC in an interview on Thursday, adding that legal action could also be pursued.

Turkey blamed the violence outside its ambassador’s residence on demonstrators linked to the PKK, but Washington’s police chief called it a “brutal attack” on peaceful protesters.

Police said 11 people were injured, including a Washington police officer, and two people were arrested for assault.

(Writing by David Dolan and Dominic Evans; Editing by Ralph Boulton, Larry King)

For Trump’s defenders, White House turmoil is politics as usual

FILE PHOTO: Supporters of President Donald Trump gather for a "People 4 Trump" rally at Neshaminy State Park in Bensalem, Pennsylvania, U.S. March 4, 2017. REUTERS/Mark Makela

By John Whitesides

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – In Washington, the chatter about a deepening, Watergate-style crisis has engulfed the White House – and those conversations are echoed in big cities across the country and in a succession of headlines that seem to suggest almost certain doom for the young Trump administration.

But for many Americans, including President Donald Trump’s staunchest supporters, the “crisis in Washington” is not about possible missteps by Trump or questions over whether his campaign colluded with Russia. For them, it’s the latest egregious example of mainstream media bias and of Washington insiders desperate to preserve their status taking revenge on the New York celebrity businessman.

In such an intensely polarized political environment that distrust of mainstream media will make it less likely that Trump supporters – and the Republican officeholders who rely on their votes – will abandon the president any time soon.

“The more negativity, the more we’re for him. It’s backfiring on them,” Arizona resident Nadia Larsen said of media reports about possible collusion with Russia or Trump’s conversations with then-FBI Director James Comey.

Reports from the Washington Post and New York Times that Trump shared classified information with Russia’s foreign minister and pressured Comey to end an inquiry into former national security adviser Michael Flynn have been met with skepticism by Larsen and many other Trump supporters.

More credible, they say, is news from prominent conservative media outlets, from the Trump-friendly airwaves of Fox News to websites such as Breitbart. Those outlets have cast the allegations as an ideological attack by Obama administration holdovers or the revenge of the “deep state,” a term used by the far right to refer to what they see as a deeply entrenched bureaucracy opposed to Trump.

“The only news I watch is Fox, but the only news I watch and believe is whatever comes out of the president’s mouth and whatever he tweets,” said Larsen, an Israeli-born immigrant who has lived in Tucson, Arizona, for 25 years.

Several Trump supporters decried what they described as baseless news from anonymous sources and said they have not seen any concrete evidence to support the allegations against Trump.

“This is what I expected,” said Jeff Klusmeier, an insurance agent in Louisville, Kentucky. “I expected the media to attack Trump. I expected the Democrats to attack him and call for impeachment. So it’s par for the course for me.”

Conservative media outlets have developed their own theories about the recent spate of negative headlines. The Breitbart News Network, once headed by Trump chief strategist Stephen Bannon, reported that some of the recent accusations were driven by associates of Comey, who was fired by Trump last week, in a story headlined “Comey Strikes Back.”

Among the headlines on the Drudge Report, a popular conservative news aggregator, were “Media Reach Peak Meltdown” and “Sabotage in DC.”

“The anti-Trump press believes it smells blood in the water,” said Fox News commentator Sean Hannity, a staunch Trump supporter who accused the mainstream media of “hyperventilating breathlessness.”

Hannity tweeted on Wednesday that five groups were trying to destroy Trump: the media, Democrats, deep state/intelligence operatives, establishment Republicans and “never Trumpers.”

‘WITCH HUNT’

“This effort, this plan, this desire to upend and stop the Trump presidency got going probably on election night and certainly within 24 hours. And now we’re seeing it manifest itself,” radio talk-show host Rush Limbaugh said.

On Wednesday, the Justice Department appointed former FBI head Robert Mueller as a special counsel to investigate possible ties between Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign and Russia.

Trump has fed the theory that the media is out to get him, saying “no politician in history” has been treated more unfairly. On Thursday he tweeted that the probe of Russian collusion was “the single greatest witch hunt” in U.S. history.

“The overwhelming majority of conservatives and Republicans believe that whatever you may think of Donald Trump, this is clearly being driven by many quarters of the media that chose sides in the election and were very upfront about it and haven’t changed,” Republican consultant Keith Appell told Reuters.

Trump’s approval ratings have been low for a new president, remaining mired in the high 30s to low 40s. But 77 percent of Republicans approve of Trump’s performance, according to the most recent Reuters/Ipsos survey, a figure that has stayed relatively steady since his inauguration.

Bradd Bostick, a Reynoldsburg, Ohio, resident who started a Bikers for Trump group after the president’s inauguration in January, said he was not concerned about the recent controversies because “most of us do not believe anything we hear in the mainstream media.”

“The media thinks it’s about Trump, and it’s not,” said Steve Deace, an Iowa-based commentator for Conservative Review and a former talk-radio host who has been critical of Trump. “It’s not about Trump’s credibility, it’s about the media’s credibility.”

(Additional reporting by Steve Bittenbinder in Kentucky, Kim Palmer in Ohio, Michelle McManimon in Arizona and Kelly Arnold in Kansas; Editing by Jason Szep and Ross Colvin)

Trump faces diplomatic hurdles during 28 hours in the Holy Land

American and Israeli flags flutter in the wind atop the roof of the King David Hotel, in preparation for the upcoming visit of President Trump to Israel, in Jerusalem. REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun

By Luke Baker

JERUSALEM (Reuters) – U.S. presidential trips are an opportunity to project power and burnish statesmanship. But they come with diplomatic dangers and potential pitfalls, too. For Donald Trump, several of those await in Jerusalem and Bethlehem next week.

A nine-day tour taking in Saudi Arabia, Israel, the Palestinian territories, the Vatican and NATO would be a tall order for any president. But for Trump, under siege at home over questions about his administration’s links to Russia and his firing of FBI chief James Comey, it is a particularly demanding itinerary, especially for a first overseas venture.

During his campaign, Trump promised to be Israel’s “best friend” if elected, and signaled that it was okay for the Israeli government to go on building settlements on occupied land since he didn’t regard it as an obstacle to peace.

Since taking office, however, Trump has shifted tack, urging Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to “hold back” on settlements, and praising Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas at a White House meeting this month, part of an effort to bring the sides together and launch another attempt at Middle East peace.

It looks unlikely Trump will manage to get Netanyahu and Abbas to shake hands during his 28-hour visit to the Holy Land, and the prospects of him setting a timetable for a resumption of peace talks also look dim. But that doesn’t mean other diplomatic traps aren’t lying in wait.

Perhaps the most sensitive is what Trump ends up saying — or not saying — about a promise he made during the election campaign to move the U.S. embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

No country in the world has its embassy to Israel in Jerusalem since the status of the city remains disputed in the eyes of the international community. While Israelis call Jerusalem their “indivisible capital”, Palestinians want the capital of any future state in the east of the city.

Only once Jerusalem’s final status is agreed via direct negotiations between the Israelis and Palestinians are foreign countries likely to move their embassies to the city.

In the meantime, Trump has appointed as his envoy to Israel David Friedman, a devout Jew who insists the embassy must be moved and plans to work out of Jerusalem some days of the week.

CAREFUL STEPS

When Friedman arrived in Israel this week, his first act was to visit Jerusalem’s Western Wall, the holiest place where Jews are permitted to pray, a symbolic departure from usual protocol.

Trump intends to visit the Western Wall too, something past presidents have not done because of the political sensitivities.

The Wall stands in the Old City in the east of Jerusalem, which Israel captured during the 1967 Middle East war. Officially, the United Nations, the United States and others consider the Old City and East Jerusalem occupied territory and do not recognize Israel’s claim to sovereignty over it.

As a result, the U.S. State Department turned down a request for Netanyahu to accompany Trump and his family when they visit the site on Monday. Instead, the president will be accompanied by the rabbi of the Western Wall.

“This is the most appropriate way to show the proper deference to such a significant holy site,” a State Department official said.

Yet in an interview with Israel Hayom, a pro-Netanyahu paper, Trump said his plans “could still change” and suggested he might ask Netanyahu to join him, a last-minute move that would please Netanyahu but anger the Palestinians.

On Tuesday, Trump is scheduled to visit Abbas for an hour in Bethlehem, the birthplace of Jesus, which lies a few kilometers south of Jerusalem in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

To get there, the president’s convoy will have to pass through Israel’s high-security checkpoint and towering concrete barriers that cut the West Bank off from Jerusalem.

Both Palestinians and Israelis will be on alert to see what language Trump uses when he meets Abbas. While the president hasn’t clearly backed a two-state solution — Israel and a Palestinian state — he is expected to voice support for Palestinian “self-determination”, a phrase that nods in the direction of an independent Palestinian state.

After negotiating that diplomatic minefield, Trump is scheduled to visit Yad Vashem, Israel’s Holocaust Memorial. He has set aside 15 minutes for the visit, unlike previous presidents who spent an hour or more at the site.

(Editing by Catherine Evans)

U.S. immigration arrests up nearly 40 percent under Trump

President Donald Trump gestures as he addresses the graduating class of the U.S. Coast Guard Academy during commencement ceremonies in New London, Connecticut, U.S. May 17, 2017. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque

By Mica Rosenberg

NEW YORK (Reuters) – U.S. arrests of suspected illegal immigrants rose by nearly 40 percent in the first 100 days of Donald Trump’s presidency, following executive orders that broadened the scope of who could be targeted for immigration violations, according to government data released on Wednesday.

The acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Thomas Homan said that arrests by his agency jumped to 41,318 between January 22 of this year and the end of April, up from 30,028 arrests in roughly the same period last year.

Of those arrested almost two-thirds had criminal convictions. But there was also a significant jump – of more than 150 percent – in the number of immigrants not convicted of further crimes arrested by ICE: 10,800 since the beginning of the year compared to 4,200 non-criminal arrests in the same period in 2016.

That increase is a result of recent guidance given by Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly to implement Trump’s executive orders on interior immigration enforcement and border security signed on Jan. 25, just days after the Republican president took office.

“Those that enter the country illegally, they do violate the law, that is a criminal act,” Homan said on the call, while emphasizing that immigrants who pose a threat to national security or have criminal records are still a priority for the agency.

He said ICE will continue to target people who have been issued a final order of removal by an immigration judge even if they have not committed another crime.

“When a federal judge makes a decision and issues an order that order needs to mean something,” Homan said. “If we don’t take action on those orders, then we are just spinning our wheels.”

While President Barack Obama was also criticized for deporting a large number of immigrants, most of them were recent border crossers apprehended entering the country illegally.

Deportations under Trump have actually fallen by 12 percent compared to the same period under Obama, Homan said, as more people arrested in the interior typically have more complicated cases that can get slowed down in the backlogged immigration court system.

The number of people caught crossing the border with Mexico is down significantly since the begin of the year, according to data from U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

Immigration advocates and some cities with large immigrant populations have raised concerns about the stepped up enforcement in the interior of the country.

On Wednesday, state attorneys general from New York, California, Oregon, Rhode Island, Washington state and Washington D.C., issued a report laying out why they have chosen to limit local law enforcement cooperation with federal immigration agents.

A section of one of the president’s executive orders aimed to cut off federal funding to so-called “sanctuary cities,” was been blocked by a federal judge in California.

(Reporting by Mica Rosenberg and Julia Edwards Ainsely; Editing by Alistair Bell)

Trump willing to try engagement with North Korea, on conditions: Seoul

U.S. President Donald Trump gestures as he walks on the South Lawn of the White House upon his return to Washington, U.S., May 17, 2017. REUTERS/Yuri Gripas

By Christine Kim

SEOUL (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump told South Korea’s presidential envoy that Washington was willing to try to resolve the North Korean nuclear crisis through engagement, but under the right conditions, South Korea’s foreign ministry said on Thursday.

Trump has said “a major, major conflict” with North Korea is possible and all options are on the table but that he wanted to resolve the crisis diplomatically, possibly through the extended use of economic sanctions.

South Korean President Moon Jae-in, who took office last week, has campaigned on a more moderate approach toward the North but he has said it must change its attitude of insisting on arms development before dialogue can be possible.

Moon’s envoy to Washington, South Korean media mogul Hong Seok-hyun, said Trump spoke of being willing to use engagement to ensure peace, Hong said in comments carried by television.

“The fact that Trump said he will not have talks for the sake of talks reiterated our joint stance that we are open to dialogue but the right situation must be formed,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Cho June-hyuck told a regular briefing.

South Korea and the United States agreed during a visit to Seoul by Trump’s national security advisers this week to formulate a “bold and pragmatic” joint approach, Cho added.

The North has vowed to develop a missile mounted with a nuclear warhead that can strike the mainland United States, saying the program is necessary to counter U.S. aggression.

The United States, which has 28,500 troops in South Korea to guard against the North Korean threat, has called on China to do more to rein in its neighbor.

China for its part has been infuriated by the U.S. deployment of an advanced Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) anti-missile system in South Korea, saying it was a threat to its security and would do nothing to ease tension with Pyongyang.

South Korea has complained that some of is companies doing business in China have faced discrimination in retaliation for the system’s deployment.

North Korea conducted its latest ballistic missile test on Sunday in defiance of U.N. Security Council resolutions, saying it was a test of its capability to carry a “large-size heavy nuclear warhead”.

But a senior North Korean diplomat has said Pyongyang is also open to having talks with Washington under the right conditions.

Moon’s envoy to China, former prime minister Lee Hae-chan, arrived there on Thursday with a letter from Moon to Chinese President Xi Jinping.

Before leaving, Lee said a summit between Xi and Moon could happen as soon as July, on the sidelines of a Group of 20 meeting in Germany. A separate summit could also be held the following month, Lee said.

Speaking to Lee, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said there had been some “undeserved setbacks” in relations this year, in apparent reference to THAAD.

“We hope the new government will correct the problems that we have encountered and take effective measures and positions as soon as possible to remove the obstacles that have been placed on the road to good relations between our two countries,” Wang said in comments in front of reporters.

“This is the desire of our two peoples but also our governments,” Wang added. “We believe South Korea will bring clear measures to improve relations.”

China’s Foreign Ministry, in a later statement on its website, said Wang “fully explained” China’s position on THAAD and asked South Korea to handle China’s reasonable concerns appropriately.

“China is willing to make efforts with all sides, including South Korea, to take even more practical efforts and uphold resolving the nuclear issue on the peninsula via dialogue,” the ministry cited Wang as saying.

Moon has sent envoys to the United States, China, Japan and the European Union this week in what the government calls “pre-emptive diplomacy”. His envoy for Russia will leave next week.

(Additional reporting by Ben Blanchard in BEIJING; Editing by Nick Macfie, Robert Birsel)

Turkey wants U.S. envoy on Islamic State removed over Kurdish policy

Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan delivers a statement to reporters alongside U.S President Donald Trump after their meeting at the White House in Washington, U.S. May 16, 2017. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque

By Daren Butler and Humeyra Pamuk

ISTANBUL (Reuters) – Turkey said on Thursday the U.S. special envoy in the battle against Islamic State should be removed because he supported Kurdish militants, and warned that Ankara would act unilaterally if it faced attack from the Syrian Kurdish YPG militia.

The comments, which followed a White House meeting on Tuesday between President Tayyip Erdogan and U.S. President Donald Trump, reflected Turkish anger at Trump’s decision to arm YPG fighters who are part of a force aiming to recapture the Islamic State-held Syrian city of Raqqa.

Ankara regards the YPG militia as an extension of Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militants fighting a decades-old insurgency in southeast Turkey, while Washington sees the YPG as its most reliable ally for the Raqqa campaign.

Turkey has long complained that U.S. policy against Islamic State in Syria has favored the YPG over Arab rebel forces, a policy that Turkish officials believe is driven partly by Washington’s envoy to the international coalition against the jihadist group.

“Brett McGurk, the USA’s special envoy in the fight against Daesh (Islamic State), is definitely and clearly giving support to the PKK and YPG. It would be beneficial if this person is changed,” Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu told NTV television.

The United States and the European Union, along with Turkey, designate the PKK a terrorist organization.

Erdogan, speaking to reporters at the Turkish embassy in Washington after the talks with Trump, said he told the U.S. president that Turkey would not hesitate to strike if it faced any sort of attack from the YPG, Turkish media reported.

“We clearly told them this: if there is any sort of attack from the YPG and PYD against Turkey, we will implement the rules of engagement without asking anyone,” Sabah newspaper cited him as saying. The PYD is the YPG’s political arm.

Erdogan did not specify what measures he might order, but said Turkey had shown its fighting capabilities when Turkish forces and Syrian rebels seized territory in northern Syria last year, pushing back Islamic State fighters and prompting a limited withdrawal of the YPG militia.

“Indeed we did this in Rai, Jarablus, al-Bab. Turkey showed what it can do,” Erdogan said. “We will not give terrorist groups breathing space domestically or abroad.”

TENSIONS WITH ALLIES

Cavusoglu said Trump had understood Turkey’s position, and did not challenge Erdogan when the Turkish president set out his possible response to the YPG.

Last month, Turkish warplanes bombed Kurdish fighters in Iraq’s Sinjar region and YPG militia in Syria, drawing rebuke from Washington which voiced concern over the air strikes and said they harmed the coalition’s fight against Islamic State.

Erdogan said that the United States had made its decision on conducting the Raqqa operation – despite Ankara’s opposition – and that Turkey could not participate given the YPG involvement.

“We told them … we do not regard your cooperation with a terrorist group in Raqqa as healthy,” he was cited as saying.

But he said he expected a role for Turkey in Syria, and repeated Turkey’s assertion that once Raqqa was retaken from Islamic State, Kurdish forces could not be left in control of an Arab city. “I believe they will knock on our door on the subject of Syria,” he said.

The tensions with Washington over the YPG come as Turkey’s relations with the European Union, and Germany in particular, have also deteriorated.

Turkey has prevented German parliamentarians visiting its Incirlik airbase, where 250 German troops are based as part of a mission which includes German surveillance planes supporting the campaign against Islamic State in Syria and Iraq.

Defence Minister Ursula von der Leyen said on Wednesday the German government had been evaluating possible alternatives to Incirlik and was considering moving the troops to Jordan.

(Additional reporting by David Dolan; Editing by Dominic Evans and Ralph Boulton)

Trump visit seen as long shot to revive Israeli-Palestinian peacemaking

A labourer stands on a crane as he hangs an American flag to a street post, in preparation for the upcoming visit of U.S. President Donald Trump to Israel, in Jerusalem May 18, 2017. REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun

By Matt Spetalnick and Jeffrey Heller

WASHINGTON/JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Just four months after taking office, Donald Trump will make the earliest foray into Israeli-Palestinian peacemaking by any U.S. president next week. But with mounting obstacles at home and abroad, he faces long odds of succeeding where more experienced predecessors have failed.

Even as last-minute changes are being made to Trump’s ambitious Middle East itinerary, the trip has been complicated by Israeli concerns about his sharing of sensitive intelligence with Russia that may have compromised an Israeli agent, and by his decision to hold off on a campaign promise to move the U.S. embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

Adding to those issues, disarray in the White House over Trump’s firing of FBI director James Comey and swirling controversy over his aides’ contacts with Russia appear to have distracted from efforts to prepare the new president for what could be the most complex leg of his first international tour.

Trump has boasted that with his negotiating skills he can bring Israelis and Palestinians together to resolve one of the world’s most intractable conflicts and do “the ultimate deal”.

But officials on both sides see scant prospects for any major breakthrough in long-stalled negotiations during his 24-hour visit on Monday and Tuesday.

Even if Trump’s on-the-ground engagement may be premature, some experts say he can be expected to press Israeli and Palestinian leaders for conciliatory words if not gestures – and the two sides may struggle to accommodate him.

“The only variable that has changed is President Trump, and the fact that President Trump wants to do a deal,” said Robert Danin, a former adviser to the Middle East “Quartet” of international peace backers and now a senior analyst at the Council on Foreign Relations think tank.

“Given the president’s proclivities, no one wants to get on his bad side,” he said.

The visit will be a significant foreign policy test for Trump, who has yet to demonstrate a firm grasp of the nuances of Middle East diplomacy. Top advisers he has tasked with nuts-and-bolts negotiations, led by his son-in-law Jared Kushner, are also lacking experience.

The two leaders most needed to rejuvenate the peace process, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, have shown little inclination toward significant concessions – though experts say they have no choice but to cooperate with Trump.

White House aides insist Trump is getting up-to-speed on the issues and that the time could be right for his “disruptive” approach to challenge failed policies of the past.

Israeli officials appear unconvinced. Asked if he understood what Trump’s Middle East policy was, one senior official replied: “I’m not entirely sure they know what it is.”

NO PEACE PLAN

Flying in directly from his first stop in Saudi Arabia, Trump is unlikely to lay out Middle East peace proposals, not least because, as aides acknowledge, his administration has yet to craft a strategy.

There are also no plans for Trump – who will see Netanyahu in Jerusalem and Abbas in Bethlehem in the occupied West Bank – to bring the two together, one senior U.S. official said. “We don’t think it’s the right time just yet,” the aide said.

The last round of peace talks collapsed in 2014, a key stumbling block being Israel’s settlement-building on occupied land that Palestinians want for a state.

While Israelis and Palestinians alike are uncertain what Trump will ask of them, experts believe he will be looking to coax them to make an explicit commitment to return to the table without pre-conditions, start work on a timetable for talks and consider mutual “confidence-building” steps.

Israeli officials have been especially unnerved by Trump. They did not expect any real pressure on the Palestinian issue after campaign rhetoric that promised a more pro-Israel approach than his predecessor Barack Obama, who had an acrimonious relationship with Netanyahu.

The Israeli leader, whose far-right coalition partners oppose the creation of a Palestinian state, has told his ministers he is waiting to hear more from Trump before making any proposals of his own.

Amid speculation that Washington could push for a regional peace conference, Netanyahu has conferred with advisers on what he would have to offer if he wants to draw in Saudi Arabia and Gulf states in a bid for broader Arab-Israeli rapprochement, Israeli officials said.

Trump, who has hosted Netanyahu and Abbas separately at the White House, caught the Israeli leader off guard in February when he urged him to “hold back on settlements for a bit”.

In another jolt to Netanyahu and his allies, senior administration officials said on Wednesday that Trump had ruled out any immediate relocation of the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem, a campaign promise that had pleased Israelis but if implemented would upend decades of U.S. policy and make it all but impossible for the Palestinians to re-enter talks.

Trump remains committed to an embassy move and could reaffirm that without specifying a timeframe, one official said. Israel claims all of Jerusalem as its capital, a position not recognized internationally. Palestinians want East Jerusalem, captured by Israel in the 1967 Middle East war, as the capital of their future state, along with Gaza and the West Bank.

PALESTINIANS COOPERATIVE BUT WARY

While welcoming Trump’s efforts and committing themselves to work with him, some Palestinian officials remain wary that he has yet to publicly back a two-state solution, the longtime bedrock of U.S. and international policy.

Trump said in February he was not necessarily wedded to that idea, saying he was happy with any deal that “both parties like”.

Hanan Ashrawi, a senior official in the Palestine Liberation Organization, said Palestinians were taking Trump’s efforts with “a very strong dose of healthy skepticism”.

U.S. officials said the administration is also seeking to enlist Israel’s Sunni Arab neighbors, who share Israeli concerns about Shi’ite Iran, in a broader regional peace process.

Some Gulf Arab diplomats have floated the notion of making a positive gesture toward Israel, possibly a limited upgrading of diplomatic and economic ties, in exchange for up-front concessions to the Palestinians.

Dennis Ross, a veteran former Middle East negotiator who has been consulted by Trump’s aides, said the president must avoid raising hopes for a quick resolution of the conflict that has eluded successive U.S. administrations.

“The president may be right, this is the ultimate deal,” he said, “but it’s definitely not just around the corner.”

(Additional reporting by Steve Holland and Jeff Mason in Washington, Nidal al-Mughrabi in Gaza and Rinat Harash in Jerusalem; editing by Luke Baker and Mark Trevelyan)

Vladimir Putin says can prove Trump did not pass Russia secrets

FILE PHOTO: Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks during a news conference at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, January 17, 2017. REUTERS/Sergei Ilnitsky/Pool/File Photo

SOCHI, Russia (Reuters) – Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday that U.S. President Donald Trump had not passed on any secrets to Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov during a meeting in Washington last week and that he could prove it.

Speaking at a news conference alongside Italian Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni in the Black Sea resort of Sochi, Putin quipped that Lavrov was remiss for not passing on what he made clear he believed were non-existent secrets.

“I spoke to him (Lavrov) today,” said Putin with a smile. “I’ll be forced to issue him with a reprimand because he did not share these secrets with us. Not with me, nor with representatives of Russia’s intelligence services. It was very bad of him.”

Putin, who said Moscow rated Lavrov’s meeting with Trump “highly,” said Russia was ready to hand a transcript of Trump’s meeting with Lavrov over to U.S. lawmakers if that would help reassure them.

A Kremlin aide, Yuri Ushakov, later told reporters that Moscow had in its possession a written record of the conversation, not an audio recording.

Complaining about what he said were signs of “political schizophrenia” in the United States, Putin said Trump was not being allowed to do his job properly.

“It’s hard to imagine what else can these people who generate such nonsense and rubbish can dream up next,” said Putin.

“What surprises me is that they are shaking up the domestic political situation using anti-Russian slogans. Either they don’t understand the damage they’re doing to their own country, in which case they are simply stupid, or they understand everything, in which case they are dangerous and corrupt.”

Two U.S. officials said on Monday that Trump had disclosed highly classified information to Lavrov about a planned Islamic State operation, plunging the White House into another controversy just months into Trump’s short tenure in office.

Russia has repeatedly said that anti-Russian politicians in the United States are using groundless fears of closer ties with Moscow to sabotage any rapprochement and damage Trump in the process.

(Reporting by Denis Pinchuk/Jack Stubbs/Maria Tsvetkova; Writing by Andrew Osborn; Editing by Christian Lowe)

U.S., Turkish leaders put best face on ties amid tensions

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan, accompanied by his wife Emine Erdogan, disembarks from a plane upon his arrival in Washington, U.S. May 15, 2017. Kayhan Ozer/Presidential Palace/Handout via REUTERS

By Ayesha Rascoe

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan told U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday his country would not accept Syrian Kurdish fighters in the region but stopped short of directly criticizing a U.S. decision to arm them.

At a White House meeting, Trump lauded Erdogan as an important ally in the “fight against terrorism” and did not mention Erdogan’s domestic crackdown after last year’s failed coup attempt.

“We’ve had a great relationship and we will make it even better,” Trump said in their joint appearance.

Erdogan said his visit would “mark a historical turn of tide” and hailed “outstanding relations” between the nations.

It was an especially positive tone considering the tensions over Washington’s decision to arm the Syrian Kurdish YPG militia that Ankara regards as an extension of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK).

Fighting erupted among protesters outside the Turkish ambassador’s residence, resulting in multiple injuries and two arrests – one for aggravated assault and one for assault on a police officer, a city police spokesman said.

The spokesman, officer Hugh Carew, said the origin of the melee was still under investigation. A local NBC television affiliate reported Erdogan was inside the building at the time.

The city fire department reported nine wounded were taken to a local hospital.

U.S. officials on May 9 disclosed Trump’s approval of plans to supply the YPG as it advances toward the Islamic State stronghold of Raqqa in Syria.

Turkey has been a partner in the U.S.-led coalition against Islamic State forces. The U.S. alliance with Turkey has proven pivotal in the battle against Islamic State in Syria, providing the coalition with access to Turkey’s Incirlik air base to wage strikes against the militants.

Erdogan had pledged to use the White House meeting to try to get Trump to change course on the YPG. Ankara regards the YPG as an extension of the PKK, which has fought an insurgency in southeastern Turkey since 1984 and is considered a terrorist group by the United States, Turkey and Europe.

“We support Turkey in the … fight against terror and terror groups like ISIS and the PKK, and ensure they have no safe quarter, the terror groups,” Trump said, using an acronym for Islamic State. “We also appreciate Turkey’s leadership in seeking an end to the horrific killing in Syria.”

The YPG, or People’s Protection Units, effectively serves as the military of the autonomous Kurdish-led regions that emerged in northern Syria with the retreat of state authority in 2011 that accompanied the outbreak of civil war.

The United States sees the YPG as distinct from the PKK and as a valuable partner in the fight against Islamic State.

The administration of Trump’s predecessor, Barack Obama, had criticized Erdogan’s crackdown on the Turkish press and academia after the failed coup in July 2016. Tens of thousands of Turkish citizens have since been detained and some Erdogan supporters sought to blame the United States for the coup attempt.

On Tuesday, Trump made no mention of Erdogan’s record on dissent and free speech.

Erdogan’s visit was further complicated by Turkey’s calls for the United States to extradite Turkish cleric Fethullah Gulen, who has lived in self-imposed exile in Pennsylvania. Erdogan blames Gulen supporters for the attempted coup. Gulen has denied involvement.

Erdogan’s spokesman, Ibrahim Kalin, said in a statement the two leaders discussed “possible steps against FETO,” referring to what Ankara calls the “Gulenist Terror Organization,” a term it uses to describe Gulen’s network. Kalin did not specify exactly what steps they discussed.

Turkey also has raised concerns about a U.S. criminal case against Reza Zarrab, a dual Turkish-Iranian national, arrested last year and charged with helping Iran process millions of dollar in transactions that violated U.S. sanctions against Tehran.

(Reporting by Ayesha Rascoe; Additional reporting by Tulay Karadeniz and Ece Toksabay in Ankara; Editing by Will Dunham and Howard Goller)

Following advice, potential FBI chiefs steer clear of job under Trump

FILE PHOTO: People protest against President Donald Trump's firing of FBI Director James Comey, on Trump's star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in Los Angeles, California, U.S. May 12, 2017. REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson

By Julia Edwards Ainsley

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The Trump administration’s search for a new FBI director hit roadblocks on Tuesday when two high-profile potential candidates, a moderate judge and a conservative senator, signaled they did not want the job.

Advisers to Judge Merrick Garland and U.S. Senator John Cornyn of Texas told Reuters they discouraged them from leading the Federal Bureau of Investigation, cautioning that they would be leaving important, secure jobs for one fraught with politics and controversy.

The advisers, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said the new FBI director would have little job security and heightened scrutiny by political observers following President Donald Trump’s abrupt firing of James Comey on May 9.

Garland and Cornyn distancing themselves from the selection process just three days before Trump has said he may make a decision, points to the difficulties the White House has in filling the FBI post amid turmoil in the administration.

Trump’s firing of Comey, the man in charge of an investigation into possible collusion between 2016 election campaign associates and the Russian government, outraged many lawmakers, including some Republicans.

Garland, the chief judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, “loves his job and is not interested in leaving the judiciary,” said one source familiar with the judge’s thinking.

Cornyn said in a statement that he had informed the White House that “the best way I can serve is continuing to fight for a conservative agenda in the U.S. Senate.”

White House spokesman Sean Spicer told reporters on Tuesday that an announcement on FBI director was still possible before Trump leaves on his first foreign trip on Friday. He said the U.S. Department of Justice was still interviewing candidates.

Several Republican senators had promoted Garland even though they had refused to give him a hearing when Republican Trump’s predecessor President Barack Obama, a Democrat, nominated Garland last year for a then-vacant seat on the U.S. Supreme Court. The Republicans’ reasoning appeared to be that Garland would be accepted by Democrats and help restore faith in the FBI as a nonpartisan agency.

In an interview on Bloomberg Television, Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell referred to Garland, a former federal prosecutor, as “an apolitical professional.”

A second Garland acquaintance who spoke on the condition of anonymity said Garland sought advice from those who told him he would be leaving his life-long position on the federal bench to take a job that could be terminated by Trump overnight.

A Republican Senate aide said Cornyn’s staff also worried that the third-term Texas Senator could cut his- and their own- careers short by going to the FBI.

An adviser to another candidate on the White House short-list, former New York City Police Commissioner Ray Kelly, 75, said Kelly is also being persuaded to step out of the running.

Kelly has not said that he would not consider the job, but so far he has not been interviewed.

Republican Representative Trey Gowdy, a former federal prosecutor whose name had been floated, said on Monday he was not interested in the director position.

The difficulty in filling key administration jobs is not just limited to the FBI director post.

Trump’s habits of contradicting his top aides, demanding personal loyalty and punishing officials who contradict him in public has discouraged a number of experienced people from pursuing jobs, said three people who declined to discuss possible positions with administration officials.

“It’s becoming increasingly difficult to attract good people to work in this administration,” said one senior official. “In other cases, veteran people with expertise are leaving or seeking posts overseas and away from this White House.”

(Reporting by Julia Edwards Ainsley, additional reporting by Lawrence Hurley, Mark Hosenball, Richard Cowan and Steve Holland; editing by Grant McCool)