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Democrats set to grill Trump’s Supreme Court nominee

U.S. Supreme Court nominee judge Neil Gorsuch is sworn in to testify at his Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., March 20, 2017. REUTERS/James Lawler Duggan

By Lawrence Hurley and Andrew Chung

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch faces a grueling day of questioning from Democrats on Tuesday on how he might rule on contentious social issues like abortion and whether he is sufficiently independent from the man who picked him, President Donald Trump.

With the ideological balance of the Supreme Court at stake, the Senate Judiciary Committee will hold the second day of its confirmation hearing for Gorsuch, a conservative federal appeals court judge from Colorado. Republicans, who control Congress, have praised Gorsuch, 49, as highly qualified for a lifetime appointment as a justice.

Gorsuch appeared genial and composed on Monday in delivering his opening statement, but Tuesday’s questioning by committee members of both parties could cause more drama. Despite slim chances of blocking his nomination in the Republican-led Senate, Democrats have raised questions about Gorsuch’s suitability for the job.

In his opening statement to the panel on Monday, his first public remarks since Trump nominated him on Jan. 31, Gorsuch defended his judicial record, emphasizing the need for “neutral and independent judges to apply the law.”

Democrats outlined their lines of attack in their opening statements on Monday, with some senators saying they would press him on whether he is independent enough from Trump, who has condemned federal judges who have put on hold his two executive orders to ban the entry into the United States of people from several Muslim-majority countries.

Gorsuch will also face questioning over cases he has handled on the appeals court in which corporate interests won out over individual workers.

Dianne Feinstein, the senior Democrat on the committee, said she wanted assurances that Gorsuch would not seek to overturn the Supreme Court’s landmark 1973 case Roe v. Wade, which legalized abortion in the United States. She and other Democrats are also expected to question Gorsuch on whether he would support gun restrictions, campaign finance laws and environmental regulations.

Like past Supreme Court nominees, Gorsuch will face the task of giving little away about how he might rule in future cases while endeavoring to engage with senators.

Chuck Grassley, the Iowa Republican chairing the Senate panel, said the committee is likely to vote on the nomination on April 3, with the full Senate vote likely soon after. The hearing could last four days.

If Gorsuch is confirmed by the Senate, as expected, he would restore a narrow 5-4 conservative court majority. The seat has been vacant for 13 months, since the death of conservative justice Antonin Scalia.

The court’s ideological leaning could help determine the outcome of cases involving the death penalty, abortion, gun control, environmental regulations, transgender rights, voting rights, immigration, religious liberty, presidential powers and more.

Republicans hold 52 of the Senate’s 100 seats. Under present rules, Gorsuch would need 60 votes to secure confirmation. If Gorsuch cannot muster 60, Republicans could change the rules to allow confirmation by a simple majority.

Click http://tmsnrt.rs/2nANgEj for graphic on Confirming Gorsuch

(Reporting by Lawrence Hurley; Editing by Will Dunham)

Chilean president says Trump concerned about Venezuelan crisis

Chile's President Michelle Bachelet speaks during a news conference alongside Argentine President Mauricio Macri at the Olivos presidential residence in Buenos Aires, Argentina, December 16, 2016. REUTERS/Marcos Brindicci

SANTIAGO (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump expressed concern about the political and humanitarian situation in Venezuela in a call on Sunday with Chilean President Michelle Bachelet, the Chilean president told reporters on Monday.

Bachelet said she talked with Trump about the actions regional leaders were taking with regard to Venezuela, which has been wracked by an economic crisis in the last three years and is facing external pressure to make political reforms.

“(President Trump) presented to me his worries about the situation in Venezuela,” Bachelet told reporters at the La Moneda presidential palace in Chile’s capital, Santiago.

“I told him about the actions (Chile’s) foreign ministry is carrying out together with other foreign ministries, and we are staying in contact to see how we can help Venezuela have a peaceful exit from its domestic situation.”

Venezuelans are suffering from severe shortages of basic goods, including food.

The government of Nicolas Maduro blames private businesses for sabotaging the economy with price speculation and routinely denounces opposition activists as coup-plotters, intent on bringing down socialism in the country.

Opposition leaders say the Maduro government has undermined democracy by canceling a key referendum and delaying local elections, among other measures.

Last week, Luis Almagro, secretary general of the Organization of American States, said Venezuela should be suspended from the organization if it does not hold general elections as soon as possible.

Relations between Venezuela and the United States have been rocky since former socialist president Hugo Chavez rose to power in 1999. The South American country has repeatedly criticized the United States for interfering in its domestic affairs.

The U.S. blacklisted Venezuela’s vice president as a drug trafficker in February, and Trump later that month called for the release of jailed opposition leader Leopoldo Lopez.

(Reporting by Fabian Cambero and Gram Slattery, Editing by Rosalba O’Brien and Jeffrey Benkoe)

Exclusive: Tillerson plans to skip NATO meeting, visit Russia in April – sources

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson speaks in Washington. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque

By Arshad Mohammed and John Walcott

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson plans to skip a meeting with NATO foreign ministers next month in order to stay home for a visit by China’s president and will go to Russia later in April, U.S. officials said on Monday, disclosing an itinerary that allies may see as giving Moscow priority over them.

Tillerson intends to miss what would have been his first meeting of the 28 NATO allies on April 5-6 in Brussels so that he can attend President Donald Trump’s expected April 6-7 talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, four current and former U.S. officials said.

Skipping the NATO meeting and visiting Moscow could risk feeding a perception that Trump may be putting U.S. dealings with big powers first, while leaving waiting those smaller nations that depend on Washington for security, two former U.S. officials said.

Trump has often praised Russian President Vladimir Putin, and Tillerson worked with Russia’s government for years as a top executive at Exxon Mobil Corp, and has questioned the wisdom of sanctions against Russia that he said could harm U.S. businesses.

A State Department spokeswoman said Tillerson would meet on Wednesday with foreign ministers from 26 of the 27 other NATO countries — all but Croatia — at a gathering of the coalition working to defeat the Islamic State militant group.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg was due to have arrived in Washington on Monday for a three-day visit that was to include talks with U.S. Defense Secretary James Mattis and to take part in the counter-Islamic State meetings.

The State Department spokeswoman said Tillerson would not have a separate, NATO-focused meeting the 26 foreign ministers in Washington but rather that they would meet in the counter-Islamic State talks.

“After these consultations and meetings, in April he will travel to a meeting of the G7 (Group of Seven) in Italy and then on to meetings in Russia,” she added, saying U.S. Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs Tom Shannon would represent the United States at the NATO foreign ministers meeting.

‘GRAVE ERROR’

Representative Eliot Engel, the senior Democrat on the U.S. House of Representatives foreign affairs committee, said that Tillerson was making a mistake by skipping the Brussels talks.

“Donald Trump’s Administration is making a grave error that will shake the confidence of America’s most important alliance and feed the concern that this Administration simply too cozy with (Russian President) Vladimir Putin,” Engel said in a written statement.

“I cannot fathom why the Administration would pursue this course except to signal a change in American foreign policy that draws our country away from western democracy’s most important institutions and aligns the United States more closely with the autocratic regime in the Kremlin,” he added.

A former U.S. official echoed the view.

“It feeds this narrative that somehow the Trump administration is playing footsie with Russia,” said the former U.S. official on condition of anonymity.

“You don’t want to do your early business with the world’s great autocrats. You want to start with the great democracies, and NATO is the security instrument of the transatlantic group of great democracies,” he added.

Any Russian visit by a senior Trump administration official may be carefully scrutinized after the director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation on Monday publicly confirmed his agency was investigating any collusion between the Russian government and Trump’s 2016 presidential election campaign.

Trump has already worried NATO allies by referring to the Western security alliance as “obsolete” and by pressing other members to meet their commitments to spend at least 2 percent of gross domestic product on defense.

Last week, he dismayed British officials by shrugging off a media report, forcefully denied by Britain, that the administration of former President Barack Obama tapped his phones during the 2016 White House race with the aid of Britain’s GCHQ spy agency.

A former U.S. official and a former NATO diplomat, both speaking on condition of anonymity, said the alliance offered to change the meeting dates so Tillerson could attend it and the Xi Jinping talks but the State Department had rebuffed the idea.

The former diplomat said it was vital to present a united front toward Moscow. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization was created in 1949 to serve as a bulwark against the Soviet Union.

“Given the challenge that Russia poses, not just to the United States but to Europe, it’s critical to engage on the basis of a united front if at all possible,” the diplomat said.

(Additional Reporting by Jonathan Landay; Writing by Arshad Mohammed; Editing by Lisa Shumaker & Simon Cameron-Moore)

Trump’s son Eric and his wife expect first child in September

FILE PHOTO: Donald Trump's son Eric Trump and his wife Lara Yunaska watch the proceedings during the third day of the Republican National Convention in Cleveland, Ohio, U.S., July 20, 2016. REUTERS/Carlo Allegri/File Photo

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Eric Trump, the 33-year-old middle son of U.S. President Donald Trump, said on Monday that his wife Lara was expecting to give birth to their first child in September.

“We are adding a boy to #TeamTrump,” Trump wrote on Twitter. “It’s been an amazing year. We are blessed!”

Eric Trump and his wife, formerly Lara Yunaska, married in November 2014 at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida after dating for six years. Lara is also 33 years old, according to People magazine.

The baby boy, the president’s ninth grandchild, is due in September.

The couple told People they were still deciding on a name for their son.

“We really loved the name Charlie, but we’d already named our dog that, so it’s out,” Eric Trump said.

Eric is the third child born to Donald Trump and his first wife, the former model Ivana Trump.

A resident of New York City, Eric serves as a trustee of the Trump Organization along with his brother, Donald Trump Jr.

The president congratulated his son and daughter-in-law on the pregnancy following the announcement.

“Congratulations Eric & Lara. Very proud and happy for the two of you!,” he wrote on Twitter.

(Reporting by Laila Kearney; Editing by Andrew Hay)

U.S. restricts electronics from 10 airports, mainly in Middle East

A passenger walks to his gate at Cairo International Airport. REUTERS/Amr Abdallah Dalsh

By David Shepardson

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The Trump administration on Tuesday imposed restrictions on carry-on electronic devices on planes coming to the United States from 10 airports in Muslim-majority countries in the Middle East and North Africa in response to unspecified terrorism threats.

The Department of Homeland Security said passengers traveling from those airports could not bring devices larger than a cellphone, such as tablets, portable DVD players, laptops and cameras, into the main cabin. Instead, they must be in checked baggage.

The new restrictions were prompted by reports that militant groups want to smuggle explosive devices in electronic gadgets, officials told reporters on a conference call on Monday.

They did not provide further details on the threat.

The airports are in Cairo; Istanbul; Kuwait City; Doha, Qatar; Casablanca, Morocco; Amman, Jordan; Riyadh and Jeddah, Saudi Arabia; and Dubai and Abu Dhabi in United Arab Emirates.

Officials said the decision had nothing to do with President Donald Trump’s efforts to impose a travel ban on six majority-Muslim nations. A DHS spokeswoman said the government “did not target specific nations. We relied upon evaluated intelligence to determine which airports were affected.”

On March 6, Trump signed a revised executive order barring citizens from Iran, Libya, Syria, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen from traveling to the United States for 90 days. Two federal judges have halted parts of the ban, saying it discriminates against Muslims. Trump has vowed to appeal up to the Supreme Court if necessary.

The airports affected by the electronics rules are served by nine airlines that fly directly from those cities to the United States about 50 times a day, senior government officials said.

The carriers – Royal Jordanian Airlines, Egypt Air, Turkish Airlines, Saudi Arabian Airlines, Kuwait Airways [KA.UL], Royal Air Maroc, Qatar Airways, Emirates and Etihad Airways – have until Friday to comply with the new policy, which took effect early on Tuesday and will be in place indefinitely.

However, an Emirates spokeswoman who confirmed the Dubai-based airline was affected by the restrictions said the new security directive would last until Oct. 14.

The policy does not affect any American carriers because none fly directly to the United States from the airports, officials said.

Officials did not explain why the restrictions only apply to travelers arriving in the United States and not for those same flights when they leave the United States.

The rules do apply to U.S. citizens traveling on those flights, but not to crew members on those foreign carriers. Homeland Security will allow passengers to use larger approved medical devices.

The agency said the procedures would “remain in place until the threat changes” and did not rule out expanding them to other airports.

DHS said in a statement it “seeks to balance risk with impacts to the traveling public and has determined that cellphones and smartphones will be allowed in accessible property at this time.”

The government said it is “concerned about terrorists’ ongoing interest in targeting commercial aviation, including transportation hubs over the past two years.”

Reuters reported Monday that the move had been under consideration since the U.S. government learned of a threat several weeks ago.

U.S. officials have told Reuters the information gleaned from a U.S. commando raid in January in Yemen that targeted al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula included bombmaking techniques.

AQAP, based in Yemen, has plotted to down U.S. airliners and claimed responsibility for 2015 attack on the office of Charlie Hebdo magazine in Paris.

The group claimed responsibility for a Dec. 25, 2009, failed attempt by a Nigerian Islamist to down an airliner over Detroit. The device, hidden in the underwear of the man, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, failed to detonate.

In 2010, security officials in Britain and Dubai intercepted parcel bombs sent from Yemen to the United States.

The Homeland Security Department stepped up security of U.S.-bound flights in July 2014, requiring tougher screening of mobile phones and other electronic devices and requiring them to be powered up before passengers could board flights to the United States.

(Reporting by David Shepardson; Additional reporting by Yara Bayoumy, Mark Hosenball and Phil Stewart in Washington; Alexander Cornwell in Dubai and Victoria Bryan in Berlin; Editing by Lisa Shumaker and Lisa Von Ahn)

Fed on track to raise U.S. rates twice more this year

A police officer keeps watch in front of the U.S. Federal Reserve building in Washington, DC,

NEW YORK (Reuters) – The Federal Reserve is on track to raise interest rates twice more this year after a policy tightening last week, and it could be more or less aggressive depending on inflation and fiscal policies from the Trump administration, a Fed rate-setter said on Monday.

The public comments from Chicago Fed President Charles Evans were among the first since the U.S. central bank lifted its policy rate a notch last week, as expected. It also forecast roughly two more moves in 2017 in a nod to low unemployment and some inflation pressures.

“Three is entirely possible,” Evans, speaking on Fox Business Network TV, said of hikes in 2017. “As I gain more confidence in the outlook I could support three total this year. If inflation began to pick up, that would certainly solidify (that expectation). It could be three, it could be two, it could be four if things really pick up.”

Asked about U.S. President Donald Trump’s promise to boost the economy to a 4 percent growth rate, from about 2 percent in the last few years, Evans said: “Four percent would be really an outsized number.”

While that level of growth could be reached “in any given year,” he said it was hard to imagine given the economy is already doing well, the labor market is “very strong,” and sectors like automobile sales are at all-time highs.

Evans, who is a voter on the Fed’s policy-setting committee this year and supported last week’s move, also echoed a comment from Fed Chair Janet Yellen on Wednesday that suggested the central bank could try to push inflation, now at 1.7 percent, above a 2-percent target.

“There is room to get inflation up to 2 percent and in fact going beyond 2 percent a little bit to make sure we get there, and that it’s a symmetric inflation objective, so that’s ok,” Evans said.

(Reporting by Jonathan Spicer; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)

U.S. appeals to higher court over ruling against Trump’s revised travel ban

Demonstrators rally against the Trump administration's new ban against travelers from six Muslim-majority nations, outside of the White House. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst

By Mica Rosenberg

NEW YORK (Reuters) – The U.S. government took the legal battle over President Donald Trump’s travel ban to a higher court on Friday, saying it would appeal against a federal judge’s decision that struck down parts of the ban on the day it was set to go into effect.

The Department of Justice said in a court filing it would appeal against a ruling by U.S. District Judge Theodore Chuang in Maryland to the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Virginia.

On Thursday, Chuang issued an emergency halt to the portion of Trump’s March 6 executive order temporarily banning the entry of travelers from six Muslim-majority countries. He left in place the section of the order that barred the entry of refugees to the United States for four months.

Another federal judge in Hawaii struck down both sections of the ban in a broader court ruling that prevented Trump’s order from moving forward.

In Washington state, where the ban is also being challenged, U.S. District Court Judge James Robart put a stay on proceedings for as long as the Hawaii court’s nationwide temporary restraining order remained in place, to “conserve resources” and avoid inconsistent and duplicate rulings.

The decisions came in response to lawsuits brought by states’ attorneys general in Hawaii and refugee resettlement agencies in Maryland who were represented by the American Civil Liberties Union and the National Immigration Law Center.

Detractors argue the ban discriminated against Muslims in violation of the U.S. Constitution’s guarantee of religious freedom. Trump says the measure is necessary for national security to protect the country from terrorist attacks.

White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer told a media briefing the government would “vigorously defend this executive order” and appeal against the “flawed rulings.”

The Department of Justice filed a motion late on Friday night seeking clarification of Hawaii’s ruling before appealing to the 9th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals in San Francisco.

The 9th Circuit court last month upheld a decision by Judge Robart that halted an original, more sweeping travel ban signed by the President on Jan. 27 in response to a lawsuit filed by Washington state.

The new executive order was reissued with the intention of overcoming the legal concerns.

Trump has vowed to take the fight all the way to U.S. Supreme Court.

The 4th Circuit is known as a more conservative court compared to the 9th Circuit, said Buzz Frahn, an attorney at Simpson Thacher & Bartlett who has been tracking the litigation nationwide.

“The government is probably thinking that the 4th Circuit … would lend a friendlier ear to its arguments,” he said.

Judges have said they were willing to look behind the text of the order, which does not mention Islam, to probe the motivation for enacting the ban, Frahn said. Trump promised during the election campaign to ban Muslims from entering the United States.

The U.S. Supreme Court is currently split 4-4 between liberals and conservatives, with Trump’s pick for the high court – appeals court judge Neil Gorsuch – still awaiting confirmation.

Hans von Spakovsky, from the Washington D.C.-based Heritage Foundation, said the Department of Justice might want to time their appeals to reach the Supreme Court after Gorsuch is confirmed. He said the court would be likely to hear the case.

“They will take it because of its national importance,” Spakovsky said.

(Reporting by Mica Rosenberg in New York; Additional reporting by Kristina Cooke in San Francisco; Editing by Sue Horton, Mary Milliken and Paul Tait)

White House intruder on grounds 16 minutes before arrest: Secret Service

Flowers protrude from the snow as a woman stops to gaze out at the White House from Lafayette Park in Washington, U.S., March 14, 2017. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A man who scaled the White House fence last week was on the property’s grounds for 16 minutes before he was detained, the U.S. Secret Service said in a statement on Friday.

Jonathan Tran, 26, faces a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison for entering the grounds without permission.

He hopped a 5-foot fence near the U.S. Treasury Department, which is located next to the White House, then climbed an 8-foot vehicle gate and a shorter fence near the southeast corner of the East Wing of the White House grounds before he was caught, the Secret Service said.

“The Secret Service can confirm that at no time did the individual gain entry into the White House,” the statement said.

Tran, from Milpitas, California, set off several alarms after jumping the fence but was able to avoid other sensors before he was discovered just steps from the main building, CNN reported on Friday.

The network also reported that Tran was spotted “looming around” Washington’s Pennsylvania Avenue, where the White House is located, nearly six hours before his arrest.

The incident prompted Jason Chaffetz, chairman of the House of Representatives oversight committee, to request that Secret Service Acting Director William Callahan provide a briefing on Monday. In a letter to Callahan on Friday, Chaffetz referred to allegations that Tran moved undetected around the grounds “for a considerable amount of time.”

“The Committee has longstanding concerns regarding repeated security incidents at USSS-protected facilities,” Chaffetz wrote. He noted that a 2015 committee report on the Secret Service found 143 breaches and attempted breaches over a 10-year period.

“The moment somebody jumps over the fence they have to be taken down,” Chaffetz later told CNN. “This one scares me probably more than any because of the length of time, the proximity to the president, getting right up close to the White House and going so long without being detected. It makes no sense. I don’t know what in the world they’re doing but it is a total and complete embarrassment.”

President Donald Trump was inside the residence at the time of the security breach late on March 10.

The Secret Service said it was taking additional steps to prevent security lapses.

Tran told federal agents that he was a friend of the president and had an appointment, according to court documents. He was carrying two cans of mace, a U.S. passport, a computer and one of Trump’s books, authorities said.

Trump commended the Secret Service for doing a “fantastic job” apprehending Tran.

Tran was released with no bail on Monday and returned to California, where he must submit to GPS monitoring until his next hearing in Washington.

The intrusion was the latest in a series of breaches at the White House in recent years. Security has been boosted, including the installation in 2015 of sharp spikes on top of the black iron fence that circles the 18-acre (7-hectare) property.

(Reporting by Emily Stephenson in Washington and Joseph Ax in New York; Editing by Frances Kerry and Richard Chang)

Secret Service says laptop stolen from agent’s car in New York

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. Secret Service said on Friday a laptop was stolen from an agent’s car in New York City but that such agency-issued computers contain multiple layers of security and are not permitted to contain classified information.

The agency said in a statement that it was withholding additional comment while an investigation continues.

ABC News, citing law enforcement sources, said the laptop contained floor plans for Trump Tower, details on the criminal investigation of Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server and other national security information.

The New York Daily News, citing police sources, said authorities had been searching for the laptop since it was stolen on Thursday morning from the agent’s vehicle in the New York City borough of Brooklyn.

Some items stolen with the laptop, including coins and a black bag with the Secret Service insignia on it, were later recovered, the newspaper reported.

CBS News, also citing law enforcement sources, said that some of the documents on the computer included important files on Pope Francis.

The agent also told investigators that while nothing about the White House or foreign leaders is stored on the laptop, the information there could compromise national security, the Daily News reported.

“There’s data on there that’s highly sensitive,” a police source told the newspaper, adding: “They’re scrambling like mad.”

Separately CNN, citing an unnamed U.S. Secret Service source, reported on Friday that a California man who scaled the White House fence last week was on the property’s south grounds for at least 15 minutes before he was captured.

(Reporting by Eric Walsh; Editing by Tom Brown)

Trump, Germany’s Merkel to hold first face-to-face meeting at White House

German Chancellor Angela Merkel gives a statement at the Chancellery in Berlin. REUTERS/Fabrizio Bensch

By Jeff Mason and Andreas Rinke

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Donald Trump welcomes German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Friday for a White House meeting that could help determine the future of the transatlantic alliance and shape the working relationship between two of the world’s most powerful leaders.

The new U.S. president and the long-serving stateswoman, whose country is Europe’s largest economy, will discuss funding for NATO and relations with Russia in their first meeting since Trump took office in January.

The meeting is consequential for both sides.

Merkel, who officials say has prepared carefully for the encounter, is likely to press Trump for assurances of support for a strong European Union and a commitment to fight climate change.

Trump, who as a presidential candidate criticized Merkel for allowing hundreds of thousands of refugees into Germany, will seek her support for his demand that North Atlantic Treaty Organization nations pay more for their defense needs.

Relationship building will be a less overt but important agenda item. Merkel had close relations with Trump’s Democratic and Republican predecessors, Barack Obama and George W. Bush, and she is likely to seek a strong working relationship with Trump despite major policy differences and wariness in Germany about the former New York businessman.

“Those who know the chancellor know that she has a knack for winning over people in personal discussions. I am sure that Donald Trump will not be immune,” said Juergen Hardt, a conservative lawmaker who helps coordinate transatlantic relations for the German government.

Trump is eager to see follow-through on his demand that European countries shoulder more of the burden of paying for the NATO alliance, which he has criticized.

He will also seek counsel from Merkel on how to deal with Russian President Vladimir Putin, a leader Merkel has dealt with extensively and whom Trump, to the consternation of Republican and Democratic lawmakers, has praised.

“The president will be very interested in hearing the chancellor’s views on her experience interacting with Putin,” a senior administration official told reporters.

CLIMATE ACCORD

A U.S. official said the Trump administration’s position on U.S. participation in the Paris agreement to curb climate change would likely come up in the Merkel meeting and be further clarified in the weeks and months ahead. Merkel is a strong supporter of international efforts to fight global warming.

Trump has called climate change a hoax and vowed during his campaign to “cancel” the Paris agreement within 100 days, saying it would be too costly for the U.S. economy.

Since being elected, he has been mostly quiet on the issue. In a New York Times interview in November, he said he would keep an open mind about the Paris deal.

Merkel is also likely to press Trump about U.S. support for European security, despite assurances from Vice President Mike Pence about that issue on his recent trip to Europe.

“There is still lingering doubt about … how the U.S. sees European security, and whether the U.S. sees its security and Europe’s security as intrinsically linked and inseparable,” Jeffrey Rathke, a senior fellow at the Center for Strategic & International Studies, told reporters.

(Additional reporting by Noah Barkin; Editing by Peter Cooney)

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