Just days before the Trump administration’s tariffs on Chinese steel and aluminum imports are set to go into effect, trade analysts are watching for ripple effects across the automotive, manufacturing and technology sectors. VOA’s Elizabeth Cherneff has more from Washington.
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Month: June 2018
NBC: North Korea Ramping Up Nuclear Program, US Believes
U.S. intelligence agencies believe North Korea has increased production of fuel for nuclear weapons at multiple secret sites in recent months and may try to hide these while seeking concessions in nuclear talks with the United States, NBC News quoted U.S. officials as saying.
In a report Friday, the network said what it described as the latest U.S. intelligence assessment appeared to go counter to sentiments expressed by President Donald Trump, who tweeted after an unprecedented June 12 summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un that “there is no longer a nuclear threat from North Korea.”
NBC quoted five unidentified U.S. officials as saying that in recent months North Korea had stepped up production of enriched uranium for nuclear weapons, even as it engaged in diplomacy with the United States.
The network cited U.S. officials as saying that the intelligence assessment concludes that North Korea has more than one secret nuclear site in addition to its known nuclear fuel production facility at Yongbyon.
“There is absolutely unequivocal evidence that they are trying to deceive the U.S.,” NBC quoted one official as saying.
Work to deceive US
The CIA declined to comment on the NBC report. The State Department said it could not confirm it and did not comment on matters of intelligence. The White House did not respond to a request for comment.
The NBC report raises further questions about North Korea’s readiness to enter serious negotiations about giving up a weapons program that now threatens the United States, in spite of Trump’s enthusiastic portrayal of the summit outcome.
NBC quoted one senior U.S. intelligence official as saying that North Korea’s decision ahead of the summit to suspend nuclear and missile tests was unexpected and the fact that the two sides were talking was a positive step.
However, he added: “Work is ongoing to deceive us on the number of facilities, the number of weapons, the number of missiles. … We are watching closely.”
Two bombshells in report
Jeffrey Lewis, director of the East Asia Nonproliferation Program at California’s Middlebury Institute of International Studies, said there were two “bombshells” in the NBC report.
He said it had long been understood that North Korea had at least one undeclared facility to enrich nuclear fuel aside from Yongbyon.
“This assessment says there is more than one secret site. That means there are at least three, if not more sites,” he said. Lewis said the report also implied that U.S. intelligence had reporting to suggest North Korea did not intend to disclose one or more of the enrichment sites.
“Together, these two things would imply that North Korea intended to disclose some sites as part of the denuclearization process, while retaining others,” he said.
North Korea agreed at the summit to “work toward denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula,” but the joint statement signed by Kim and Trump gave no details on how or when Pyongyang might surrender its nuclear weapons.
Ahead of the summit, North Korea rejected unilaterally abandoning an arsenal it has called an essential deterrent against U.S. aggression.
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said last week he would likely go back to North Korea before long to try to flesh out commitments made at the Trump-Kim meeting.
On Thursday, the Financial Times quoted U.S. officials as saying that Pompeo plans to travel to North Korea next week, but the State Department has declined to confirm this.
Bruce Klingner, a former CIA Korea expert now at the conservative Heritage Foundation think tank, said the NBC report showed Trump’s statement that North Korea was no longer a nuclear threat was “absurd” and that detailed work on a verification regime was required.
Trump said last week North Korea was blowing up four of its big test sites and that a process of “total denuclearization … has already started,” but officials said there had been no such evidence since the summit.
This week, Washington-based North Korean monitoring project 38 North said recent satellite imagery showed North Korea had made rapid improvements to facilities at Yongbyon since May 6, but it could not say if such work had continued after June 12.
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NBC: North Korea Ramping Up Nuclear Program, US Believes
U.S. intelligence agencies believe North Korea has increased production of fuel for nuclear weapons at multiple secret sites in recent months and may try to hide these while seeking concessions in nuclear talks with the United States, NBC News quoted U.S. officials as saying.
In a report Friday, the network said what it described as the latest U.S. intelligence assessment appeared to go counter to sentiments expressed by President Donald Trump, who tweeted after an unprecedented June 12 summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un that “there is no longer a nuclear threat from North Korea.”
NBC quoted five unidentified U.S. officials as saying that in recent months North Korea had stepped up production of enriched uranium for nuclear weapons, even as it engaged in diplomacy with the United States.
The network cited U.S. officials as saying that the intelligence assessment concludes that North Korea has more than one secret nuclear site in addition to its known nuclear fuel production facility at Yongbyon.
“There is absolutely unequivocal evidence that they are trying to deceive the U.S.,” NBC quoted one official as saying.
Work to deceive US
The CIA declined to comment on the NBC report. The State Department said it could not confirm it and did not comment on matters of intelligence. The White House did not respond to a request for comment.
The NBC report raises further questions about North Korea’s readiness to enter serious negotiations about giving up a weapons program that now threatens the United States, in spite of Trump’s enthusiastic portrayal of the summit outcome.
NBC quoted one senior U.S. intelligence official as saying that North Korea’s decision ahead of the summit to suspend nuclear and missile tests was unexpected and the fact that the two sides were talking was a positive step.
However, he added: “Work is ongoing to deceive us on the number of facilities, the number of weapons, the number of missiles. … We are watching closely.”
Two bombshells in report
Jeffrey Lewis, director of the East Asia Nonproliferation Program at California’s Middlebury Institute of International Studies, said there were two “bombshells” in the NBC report.
He said it had long been understood that North Korea had at least one undeclared facility to enrich nuclear fuel aside from Yongbyon.
“This assessment says there is more than one secret site. That means there are at least three, if not more sites,” he said. Lewis said the report also implied that U.S. intelligence had reporting to suggest North Korea did not intend to disclose one or more of the enrichment sites.
“Together, these two things would imply that North Korea intended to disclose some sites as part of the denuclearization process, while retaining others,” he said.
North Korea agreed at the summit to “work toward denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula,” but the joint statement signed by Kim and Trump gave no details on how or when Pyongyang might surrender its nuclear weapons.
Ahead of the summit, North Korea rejected unilaterally abandoning an arsenal it has called an essential deterrent against U.S. aggression.
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said last week he would likely go back to North Korea before long to try to flesh out commitments made at the Trump-Kim meeting.
On Thursday, the Financial Times quoted U.S. officials as saying that Pompeo plans to travel to North Korea next week, but the State Department has declined to confirm this.
Bruce Klingner, a former CIA Korea expert now at the conservative Heritage Foundation think tank, said the NBC report showed Trump’s statement that North Korea was no longer a nuclear threat was “absurd” and that detailed work on a verification regime was required.
Trump said last week North Korea was blowing up four of its big test sites and that a process of “total denuclearization … has already started,” but officials said there had been no such evidence since the summit.
This week, Washington-based North Korean monitoring project 38 North said recent satellite imagery showed North Korea had made rapid improvements to facilities at Yongbyon since May 6, but it could not say if such work had continued after June 12.
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6 Dead in Islamist Raid on Base in Mali
Islamist militants armed with rockets and explosives raided the headquarters of an African military task force in central Mali, leaving at least six people
dead on Friday, a spokesman for the force said.
Assailants driving a vehicle rigged with bombs attacked the compound in the town of Sevare as some exchanged gunfire with Malian troops and fought to get in, officials said.
Pictures from the scene showed the charred remains of a vehicle, a crater and the battered walls of the buildings, which are used by G5 Sahel, a regional force created last year to root out jihadists in West Africa’s semi-arid Sahel region.
A spokesman for the G5 force — which is made up of soldiers from Mali, Niger, Burkina Faso, Chad and Mauritania — said two soldiers and four assailants died in the attack.
“The attackers fired rockets at the headquarters and some of them infiltrated the compound. There was an exchange of fire,” defense ministry spokesman Boubacar Diallo told Reuters.
A U.N. source in Sevare, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that the compound was hit by a car bomb. Gunfire died down by midafternoon, the source added.
Claim by al-Qaida
Extremism watchdog SITE, which monitors militant activity globally, said al-Qaida’s branch in Mali had reportedly claimed responsibility for the attack and described it as a suicide bombing.
The attack came a month before Mali’s presidential election.
Violence by Islamist militants has proliferated in the sparsely populated Sahel in recent years, with groups linked to al-Qaida and Islamic State using central and northern Mali as a launchpad for attacks across the region.
Western powers, including France and the United States, have provided significant funding to the G5 in a bid to beat back the jihadists. But the force has been slow to get off the ground, hobbled by delays disbursing the money and coordinating among the five countries.
The French defense ministry said in a report on Thursday that around 15 assailants were killed when a detachment of its forces, alongside Malian commandos, clashed with a group of around 20 militants on June 22.
It said the clash, which required helicopter support, led to the seizure or destruction of many materials, including two pickups and six motorcycles, munitions, and heavy and light weapons.
A separate U.N. peacekeeping mission in Mali, MINUSMA, declined to comment on the attack on the G5 compound.
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6 Dead in Islamist Raid on Base in Mali
Islamist militants armed with rockets and explosives raided the headquarters of an African military task force in central Mali, leaving at least six people
dead on Friday, a spokesman for the force said.
Assailants driving a vehicle rigged with bombs attacked the compound in the town of Sevare as some exchanged gunfire with Malian troops and fought to get in, officials said.
Pictures from the scene showed the charred remains of a vehicle, a crater and the battered walls of the buildings, which are used by G5 Sahel, a regional force created last year to root out jihadists in West Africa’s semi-arid Sahel region.
A spokesman for the G5 force — which is made up of soldiers from Mali, Niger, Burkina Faso, Chad and Mauritania — said two soldiers and four assailants died in the attack.
“The attackers fired rockets at the headquarters and some of them infiltrated the compound. There was an exchange of fire,” defense ministry spokesman Boubacar Diallo told Reuters.
A U.N. source in Sevare, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that the compound was hit by a car bomb. Gunfire died down by midafternoon, the source added.
Claim by al-Qaida
Extremism watchdog SITE, which monitors militant activity globally, said al-Qaida’s branch in Mali had reportedly claimed responsibility for the attack and described it as a suicide bombing.
The attack came a month before Mali’s presidential election.
Violence by Islamist militants has proliferated in the sparsely populated Sahel in recent years, with groups linked to al-Qaida and Islamic State using central and northern Mali as a launchpad for attacks across the region.
Western powers, including France and the United States, have provided significant funding to the G5 in a bid to beat back the jihadists. But the force has been slow to get off the ground, hobbled by delays disbursing the money and coordinating among the five countries.
The French defense ministry said in a report on Thursday that around 15 assailants were killed when a detachment of its forces, alongside Malian commandos, clashed with a group of around 20 militants on June 22.
It said the clash, which required helicopter support, led to the seizure or destruction of many materials, including two pickups and six motorcycles, munitions, and heavy and light weapons.
A separate U.N. peacekeeping mission in Mali, MINUSMA, declined to comment on the attack on the G5 compound.
…
Gambia’s Barrow Reshuffles Cabinet
Gambian President Adama Barrow shuffled his government Friday, moving the leader of his ruling party from the foreign ministry to the position of vice
president, according to a statement.
Gambia has seen a spate of protests in recent days as the country struggles to reduce debt and drive out corruption since Barrow defeated long-term incumbent Yahya Jammeh in an election in December 2016.
New Vice President Ousainu Darboe, leader of the United Democratic Party, swapped jobs with Fatoumata Jallow Tambajang, who was appointed foreign minister.
A spokeswoman for the president said Barrow did not give reasons for the reshuffle, which saw about a dozen ministers change jobs and a couple dismissed.
Since taking office over a year ago, Barrow’s government has faced headwinds after inheriting a country with empty coffers and heavy debts. The debt stock of the tiny west African nation was about 130 percent of gross domestic product at the end of last year.
The reshuffle came a few days after Gambia’s head of police resigned following the death of three protesters during clashes with the police on June 18.
Separately, human rights activists and artists took to the streets on June 24 under an umbrella organization called “Enough Is Enough” to protest what they said was a culture of increasing corruption and impunity in the country.
…
Gambia’s Barrow Reshuffles Cabinet
Gambian President Adama Barrow shuffled his government Friday, moving the leader of his ruling party from the foreign ministry to the position of vice
president, according to a statement.
Gambia has seen a spate of protests in recent days as the country struggles to reduce debt and drive out corruption since Barrow defeated long-term incumbent Yahya Jammeh in an election in December 2016.
New Vice President Ousainu Darboe, leader of the United Democratic Party, swapped jobs with Fatoumata Jallow Tambajang, who was appointed foreign minister.
A spokeswoman for the president said Barrow did not give reasons for the reshuffle, which saw about a dozen ministers change jobs and a couple dismissed.
Since taking office over a year ago, Barrow’s government has faced headwinds after inheriting a country with empty coffers and heavy debts. The debt stock of the tiny west African nation was about 130 percent of gross domestic product at the end of last year.
The reshuffle came a few days after Gambia’s head of police resigned following the death of three protesters during clashes with the police on June 18.
Separately, human rights activists and artists took to the streets on June 24 under an umbrella organization called “Enough Is Enough” to protest what they said was a culture of increasing corruption and impunity in the country.
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Thai Prime Minister Visits Site of Cave Rescue Attempt
Nearly a week has gone by since a group of boys and their soccer coach, who had gone exploring in a sprawling cave complex in northern Thailand, were last heard from, but their families received words of encouragement Friday from the country’s prime minister.
Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha visited the boys’ families, who have been staying near the Tham Luang cave complex during the rescue attempt. The cave complex runs 10 kilometers under a mountain in Chiang Rai province, which borders Laos and Myanmar.
“There has to be faith. Faith makes everything a success,” Prayuth said to families standing outside the cave Friday. “Faith in the actions of officials. Faith in our children who are strong and vigorous. Everything will go back to normal.”
He added that he considers the boys “my own children, too,” before leading a group meditation.
A week ago, the 12 boys, ranging in age from 11 to 16, and their 25-year-old soccer coach entered the cave after a Saturday afternoon game. It was the last time the group has been heard from.
Rainstorms and mountain runoffs have hampered rescue efforts since. On Friday, floodwaters reached the mouth of the cave, despite rescuers’ attempts for the past several days to drain it with high-voltage pumps.
Media initially reported that a man had been electrocuted Friday, but medical workers and Chiang Rai provincial Governor Narongsak Osatanakorn quickly denied those reports, saying a rescue worker had simply fainted.
International help has also reached the site, with the U.S. Pacific Command on-site, exploring all possible options for the quickest extraction of those trapped.
“The rain is unpredictable but you also have the human element. Twenty-four-hour operations. It’s amazing to see the Thai authorities coming together and all the volunteers here supporting the rescue operation,” said U.S. Air Force Captain Jessica Tait, public affairs officer for the 353rd Special Operations Group.
The relief aid being delivered to the site near the cave has grown with each day, as volunteers cook meals and offer supplies to growing crowds.
Panya Kong Jaidee, a volunteer cook, said, “I want to give energy and support for the rescue teams that are going inside the caves since I can’t go in and help them myself.”
Local teacher Cherchoo Poompanya, who taught six of the students, said, “At school, we are letting the students meditate and pray and giving each other support for the missing students.”
Steve Sandford in Chiang Rai province, Thailand, contributed to this report.
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Thai Prime Minister Visits Site of Cave Rescue Attempt
Nearly a week has gone by since a group of boys and their soccer coach, who had gone exploring in a sprawling cave complex in northern Thailand, were last heard from, but their families received words of encouragement Friday from the country’s prime minister.
Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha visited the boys’ families, who have been staying near the Tham Luang cave complex during the rescue attempt. The cave complex runs 10 kilometers under a mountain in Chiang Rai province, which borders Laos and Myanmar.
“There has to be faith. Faith makes everything a success,” Prayuth said to families standing outside the cave Friday. “Faith in the actions of officials. Faith in our children who are strong and vigorous. Everything will go back to normal.”
He added that he considers the boys “my own children, too,” before leading a group meditation.
A week ago, the 12 boys, ranging in age from 11 to 16, and their 25-year-old soccer coach entered the cave after a Saturday afternoon game. It was the last time the group has been heard from.
Rainstorms and mountain runoffs have hampered rescue efforts since. On Friday, floodwaters reached the mouth of the cave, despite rescuers’ attempts for the past several days to drain it with high-voltage pumps.
Media initially reported that a man had been electrocuted Friday, but medical workers and Chiang Rai provincial Governor Narongsak Osatanakorn quickly denied those reports, saying a rescue worker had simply fainted.
International help has also reached the site, with the U.S. Pacific Command on-site, exploring all possible options for the quickest extraction of those trapped.
“The rain is unpredictable but you also have the human element. Twenty-four-hour operations. It’s amazing to see the Thai authorities coming together and all the volunteers here supporting the rescue operation,” said U.S. Air Force Captain Jessica Tait, public affairs officer for the 353rd Special Operations Group.
The relief aid being delivered to the site near the cave has grown with each day, as volunteers cook meals and offer supplies to growing crowds.
Panya Kong Jaidee, a volunteer cook, said, “I want to give energy and support for the rescue teams that are going inside the caves since I can’t go in and help them myself.”
Local teacher Cherchoo Poompanya, who taught six of the students, said, “At school, we are letting the students meditate and pray and giving each other support for the missing students.”
Steve Sandford in Chiang Rai province, Thailand, contributed to this report.
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Testimony: Manafort Aide Gave FBI Access to Locker
A personal assistant to Paul Manafort granted the FBI access to a storage locker, allowing the government to secure evidence that President Donald Trump’s former campaign manager is trying to suppress, according to testimony on Friday in a federal court hearing in Virginia.
FBI special agent Jeff Pfeiffer made the disclosure at a hearing to consider whether evidence from the locker and a separate search of Manafort’s home, both in the Washington, D.C., suburb of Alexandria, could be used in a Manafort trial set for July.
Manafort’s lawyers have sought to suppress the searches as part of a broader attempt to discredit the investigation of Special Counsel Robert Mueller, who is probing whether Trump’s campaign worked with Russia to sway the election. Manafort, who is now in jail, has been charged mainly for financial crimes not related to the campaign.
Pfeiffer testified that the FBI initially learned about the storage locker from reporters for the Associated Press who met with FBI and Justice Department officials in April 2017 to discuss their reporting on Manafort’s business activities.
Lauren Easton, director of media relations at the Associated Press, confirmed that the agency’s journalists met with Justice Department officials “in an effort to get information on stories they were reporting, as reporters do.” She said they asked the officials about a locker but never identified its location.
Pfeiffer said that Manafort’s personal assistant, Alex Trusko, had signed papers leasing the storage unit so had the authority to let the FBI view inside the locker on May 26, 2017 without a search warrant.
Pfeiffer said the FBI did not look at the contents of boxes in the locker until getting a search warrant on May 27, 2017.
Manafort’s lawyers have argued that Trusko was not authorized to open the locker for the FBI because Manafort effectively controlled the unit.
Friday’s hearing came three days after Judge T.S. Ellis denied Manafort’s motion to dismiss the case outright in the U.S. District of the Eastern District of Virginia. The judge rejected Manafort’s argument that Mueller lacked authority to prosecute him.
Trump denies any collusion with Russian meddling in the election, and the president has repeatedly called the probe a politically motivated witch hunt.
Ellis adjourned Friday’s hearing without ruling on any of the motions but suggested that he was leaning towards rejecting one made by Manafort’s lawyers to hold a hearing to look into alleged leaks from the grand jury that indicted Manafort.
Kevin Downing, one of Manafort’s attorneys, said he did not believe his client could get a fair trial because the media had “satiated” the public with lies and biased reports about Manafort’s alleged wrongdoing. He said the situation may lead Manafort’s team to apply for a change of venue.
“I’m not going to have a hearing on the leaks,” Ellis said in a testy exchange with Downing, urging him to file a brief to show why one was warranted. “You used the word satiated many times. Prove it. Show it.”
The case before Ellis is one of two involving Manafort, who has pleaded not guilty to charges including conspiring to launder money, bank and tax fraud and failing to register as a foreign agent for a pro-Russia Ukrainian political party.
The case in Virginia is scheduled to start in July while the other case in Washington begins in September.
Manafort was jailed earlier this month after Mueller filed fresh charges against him over alleged witness tampering while he was under house arrest. He waived his right to attend Friday’s hearing and did not appear.
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Testimony: Manafort Aide Gave FBI Access to Locker
A personal assistant to Paul Manafort granted the FBI access to a storage locker, allowing the government to secure evidence that President Donald Trump’s former campaign manager is trying to suppress, according to testimony on Friday in a federal court hearing in Virginia.
FBI special agent Jeff Pfeiffer made the disclosure at a hearing to consider whether evidence from the locker and a separate search of Manafort’s home, both in the Washington, D.C., suburb of Alexandria, could be used in a Manafort trial set for July.
Manafort’s lawyers have sought to suppress the searches as part of a broader attempt to discredit the investigation of Special Counsel Robert Mueller, who is probing whether Trump’s campaign worked with Russia to sway the election. Manafort, who is now in jail, has been charged mainly for financial crimes not related to the campaign.
Pfeiffer testified that the FBI initially learned about the storage locker from reporters for the Associated Press who met with FBI and Justice Department officials in April 2017 to discuss their reporting on Manafort’s business activities.
Lauren Easton, director of media relations at the Associated Press, confirmed that the agency’s journalists met with Justice Department officials “in an effort to get information on stories they were reporting, as reporters do.” She said they asked the officials about a locker but never identified its location.
Pfeiffer said that Manafort’s personal assistant, Alex Trusko, had signed papers leasing the storage unit so had the authority to let the FBI view inside the locker on May 26, 2017 without a search warrant.
Pfeiffer said the FBI did not look at the contents of boxes in the locker until getting a search warrant on May 27, 2017.
Manafort’s lawyers have argued that Trusko was not authorized to open the locker for the FBI because Manafort effectively controlled the unit.
Friday’s hearing came three days after Judge T.S. Ellis denied Manafort’s motion to dismiss the case outright in the U.S. District of the Eastern District of Virginia. The judge rejected Manafort’s argument that Mueller lacked authority to prosecute him.
Trump denies any collusion with Russian meddling in the election, and the president has repeatedly called the probe a politically motivated witch hunt.
Ellis adjourned Friday’s hearing without ruling on any of the motions but suggested that he was leaning towards rejecting one made by Manafort’s lawyers to hold a hearing to look into alleged leaks from the grand jury that indicted Manafort.
Kevin Downing, one of Manafort’s attorneys, said he did not believe his client could get a fair trial because the media had “satiated” the public with lies and biased reports about Manafort’s alleged wrongdoing. He said the situation may lead Manafort’s team to apply for a change of venue.
“I’m not going to have a hearing on the leaks,” Ellis said in a testy exchange with Downing, urging him to file a brief to show why one was warranted. “You used the word satiated many times. Prove it. Show it.”
The case before Ellis is one of two involving Manafort, who has pleaded not guilty to charges including conspiring to launder money, bank and tax fraud and failing to register as a foreign agent for a pro-Russia Ukrainian political party.
The case in Virginia is scheduled to start in July while the other case in Washington begins in September.
Manafort was jailed earlier this month after Mueller filed fresh charges against him over alleged witness tampering while he was under house arrest. He waived his right to attend Friday’s hearing and did not appear.
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Trump Discusses Supreme Court Vacancy, Chief of Staff
U.S. President Donald Trump addressed the coming U.S. Supreme Court vacancy, his chief of staff, the upcoming summit with Russia, tariffs and NATO on Friday while aboard Air Force One en route from Washington to his private golf club in New Jersey.
Trump said he plans to announce his nominee for the high court on July 9 and that he has identified five finalists, including two women.
He also said he may interview two contenders for the nomination this weekend.
He said he will not ask candidates whether they would overturn a 1973 ruling in the Roe v. Wade case, which established a woman’s right to an abortion, nor would he discuss gay rights with them.
The president’s nominee must win confirmation by the Senate.
Republicans control the chamber but only by a slim majority, making the views of moderates, including some Democrats, important.
Trump met Thursday with senators from both parties at the White House to discuss the court vacancy created by the retirement of Anthony Kennedy, which was announced Wednesday.
Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell said on Friday he hoped the confirmation process would be done “in time for the new justice to begin the fall term of the Supreme Court … the first Monday in October.”
Chief of staff
Trump said he is not looking for a new chief of staff to replace John Kelly, but at some point “things happen.”
Kelly, a retired general, is nearing a year in the job and could be leaving soon, a source familiar with the situation said Thursday.
Among possible choices for Trump are Mick Mulvaney, who is the White House budget director and a former member of the U.S. House of Representatives, and Nick Ayers, who is Vice President Mike Pence’s chief of staff, the source said.
Trump has occasionally chafed at the restrictions Kelly has placed on who gets access to see him and has wondered aloud whether he needs someone with more political experience for the job as congressional elections approach, two sources said.
But he frequently praises Kelly publicly and has expressed admiration of him.
Kelly was picked as chief of staff last summer to bring order to the West Wing in place of Reince Priebus, the former chairman of the Republican National Committee who presided over the chaotic early months of the Trump presidency.
Russia summit
Trump said he would raise the issue of alleged Russian meddling in U.S. elections during his planned meeting with President Vladimir Putin in Helsinki next month.
He also said he would discuss the conflicts in Syria and Ukraine and other international issues during the July 16 summit.
“I’ll talk to him about everything,” Trump said.
“We’re going to talk about Ukraine, we’re going to be talking about Syria. We’ll be talking about elections … we don’t want anybody tampering with elections.”
Russia has denied U.S. intelligence agencies’ assessment that Moscow sought to interfere with the 2016 U.S. election to boost Trump’s prospects of becoming president.
After Trump and Putin met briefly in Vietnam in November 2017, Trump was criticized in the United States for saying he believed Putin when he denied Russian meddling.
Trump denies wrongdoing and calls an investigation into possible collusion between his presidential campaign and Russia a “witch hunt.”
Russia’s 2014 annexation of Crimea from Ukraine, the sanctions imposed on Russia by the United States in response, and Russia’s military intervention in the war in Syria to support President Bashar al-Assad are major causes of strain in the two countries’ relations.
Asked if the United States would recognize Crimea as part of Russia, Trump said: “We’re going to have to see.”
He gave a similar answer when he was asked if he would lift the sanctions on Russia. “We’ll see what Russia does,” Trump said.
Tariffs
Trump said his administration’s investigation into whether to increase tariffs on cars from the European Union and other trading partners would be completed in three to four weeks.
He also said the United States has been treated very badly by the World Trade Organization, but he is not considering withdrawing from it at this point.
Asked when the probe would be concluded, he said: “Very soon. It’ll be done in three, four weeks.”
Trump ordered the “Section 232” national security probe into autos on May 23, and his unusually fast timeline calls for it to be possibly completed in just over two months. Similar national security probes ordered last year that led to import tariffs of 25 percent steel and 10 percent on aluminum took about 10 months to complete.
NATO
Trump said that Germany and other European nations need to spend more on NATO, reiterating a complaint that U.S. allies are not pulling their weight on defense spending.
“Germany has to spend more money. Spain, France. It’s not fair what they’ve done to the United States,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One.
…
Trump Discusses Supreme Court Vacancy, Chief of Staff
U.S. President Donald Trump addressed the coming U.S. Supreme Court vacancy, his chief of staff, the upcoming summit with Russia, tariffs and NATO on Friday while aboard Air Force One en route from Washington to his private golf club in New Jersey.
Trump said he plans to announce his nominee for the high court on July 9 and that he has identified five finalists, including two women.
He also said he may interview two contenders for the nomination this weekend.
He said he will not ask candidates whether they would overturn a 1973 ruling in the Roe v. Wade case, which established a woman’s right to an abortion, nor would he discuss gay rights with them.
The president’s nominee must win confirmation by the Senate.
Republicans control the chamber but only by a slim majority, making the views of moderates, including some Democrats, important.
Trump met Thursday with senators from both parties at the White House to discuss the court vacancy created by the retirement of Anthony Kennedy, which was announced Wednesday.
Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell said on Friday he hoped the confirmation process would be done “in time for the new justice to begin the fall term of the Supreme Court … the first Monday in October.”
Chief of staff
Trump said he is not looking for a new chief of staff to replace John Kelly, but at some point “things happen.”
Kelly, a retired general, is nearing a year in the job and could be leaving soon, a source familiar with the situation said Thursday.
Among possible choices for Trump are Mick Mulvaney, who is the White House budget director and a former member of the U.S. House of Representatives, and Nick Ayers, who is Vice President Mike Pence’s chief of staff, the source said.
Trump has occasionally chafed at the restrictions Kelly has placed on who gets access to see him and has wondered aloud whether he needs someone with more political experience for the job as congressional elections approach, two sources said.
But he frequently praises Kelly publicly and has expressed admiration of him.
Kelly was picked as chief of staff last summer to bring order to the West Wing in place of Reince Priebus, the former chairman of the Republican National Committee who presided over the chaotic early months of the Trump presidency.
Russia summit
Trump said he would raise the issue of alleged Russian meddling in U.S. elections during his planned meeting with President Vladimir Putin in Helsinki next month.
He also said he would discuss the conflicts in Syria and Ukraine and other international issues during the July 16 summit.
“I’ll talk to him about everything,” Trump said.
“We’re going to talk about Ukraine, we’re going to be talking about Syria. We’ll be talking about elections … we don’t want anybody tampering with elections.”
Russia has denied U.S. intelligence agencies’ assessment that Moscow sought to interfere with the 2016 U.S. election to boost Trump’s prospects of becoming president.
After Trump and Putin met briefly in Vietnam in November 2017, Trump was criticized in the United States for saying he believed Putin when he denied Russian meddling.
Trump denies wrongdoing and calls an investigation into possible collusion between his presidential campaign and Russia a “witch hunt.”
Russia’s 2014 annexation of Crimea from Ukraine, the sanctions imposed on Russia by the United States in response, and Russia’s military intervention in the war in Syria to support President Bashar al-Assad are major causes of strain in the two countries’ relations.
Asked if the United States would recognize Crimea as part of Russia, Trump said: “We’re going to have to see.”
He gave a similar answer when he was asked if he would lift the sanctions on Russia. “We’ll see what Russia does,” Trump said.
Tariffs
Trump said his administration’s investigation into whether to increase tariffs on cars from the European Union and other trading partners would be completed in three to four weeks.
He also said the United States has been treated very badly by the World Trade Organization, but he is not considering withdrawing from it at this point.
Asked when the probe would be concluded, he said: “Very soon. It’ll be done in three, four weeks.”
Trump ordered the “Section 232” national security probe into autos on May 23, and his unusually fast timeline calls for it to be possibly completed in just over two months. Similar national security probes ordered last year that led to import tariffs of 25 percent steel and 10 percent on aluminum took about 10 months to complete.
NATO
Trump said that Germany and other European nations need to spend more on NATO, reiterating a complaint that U.S. allies are not pulling their weight on defense spending.
“Germany has to spend more money. Spain, France. It’s not fair what they’ve done to the United States,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One.
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US Deports 84 Somalis to Home Country
Somali officials say the United States has deported 84 Somalis, including four women, back to their home country.
Two planes carrying the Somalis arrived at Mogadishu’s Aden Adde International Airport on Friday.
A spokesman for Somalia’s Security Ministry, Abdulaziz Ali Ibrahim, told VOA’s Somali service the deportees had “been taken to the headquarters of the Somali National Intelligence and Security Agency for further questioning.”
He said the detainees would be released after the security agencies complete their questions and paperwork. It was not clear whether all the deportees would be freed.
Ibrahim said if the returnees wanted to stay in Mogadishu, they would be able to do so, and if they wanted to return to other parts of Somalia, the government would help them with their travels.
Ibrahim did not say why the Somalis were deported, but U.S. and Somali officials have previously said that Somalis returned from the United States either had their asylum applications rejected or committed crimes.
Around 275 Somalis were deported from the United States last year.
A Somali who was deported in May last year, Samir Abdirahman Arab, told VOA’s Somali service that he was deported because his asylum case failed after he entered the country through Mexico.
“The judge ordered our deportation and has issued the removal order,” he said.
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US Deports 84 Somalis to Home Country
Somali officials say the United States has deported 84 Somalis, including four women, back to their home country.
Two planes carrying the Somalis arrived at Mogadishu’s Aden Adde International Airport on Friday.
A spokesman for Somalia’s Security Ministry, Abdulaziz Ali Ibrahim, told VOA’s Somali service the deportees had “been taken to the headquarters of the Somali National Intelligence and Security Agency for further questioning.”
He said the detainees would be released after the security agencies complete their questions and paperwork. It was not clear whether all the deportees would be freed.
Ibrahim said if the returnees wanted to stay in Mogadishu, they would be able to do so, and if they wanted to return to other parts of Somalia, the government would help them with their travels.
Ibrahim did not say why the Somalis were deported, but U.S. and Somali officials have previously said that Somalis returned from the United States either had their asylum applications rejected or committed crimes.
Around 275 Somalis were deported from the United States last year.
A Somali who was deported in May last year, Samir Abdirahman Arab, told VOA’s Somali service that he was deported because his asylum case failed after he entered the country through Mexico.
“The judge ordered our deportation and has issued the removal order,” he said.
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China Working to Improve India’s Ties With Pakistan
China has acknowledged it is trying to persuade India to improve ties with neighboring Pakistan and jointly combat regional terrorism instead of fighting with each other.
The deputy chief of the Chinese Embassy in Islamabad, Lijian Zhao, made the remark Friday while addressing a rare, wide-ranging news conference in the Pakistani capital.
“The Pakistan-India relationship is now at a new low. China has been trying to work with India to ask them to improve relationship with Pakistan. This is in the interest of both countries,” Zhao said.
The Chinese diplomat added that both countries needed to work together for the economic betterment of their people rather than wasting resources developing conventional and nuclear weapons.
He said Beijing’s recent decision to work with New Delhi to jointly identify and implement an economic project in Afghanistan was also part of Chinese diplomatic efforts to ease regional tensions and promote economic cooperation.
Zhao tried to allay Pakistani concerns about Indian involvement in Afghanistan.
“Pakistan is very much sensitive to any role given to India in Afghanistan. We are trying to work only on some projects, like training of their [Afghan] civil servants, some very small projects. It is just some baby steps, and you don’t need to worry about that,” noted the Chinese diplomat.
Islamabad alleges that New Delhi is using its growing influence, particularly in the Afghan security establishment, to destabilize Pakistan by supporting cross-border terrorist attacks, charges that Afghan and Indian officials deny.
Chinese President Xi Jinping, in a meeting with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi this month in Qingdao, agreed that they would jointly work on identifying a specific project initially in the area of capacity building in Afghanistan.
The agreement came on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit on June 9. Pakistan and India simultaneously joined the China-led grouping in 2017, a move analysts said could help reduce tension between the rival nations and promote regional economic cooperation.
China-Pakistan corridor deal
Zhao also addressed reported concerns and allegations that billions of dollars of unprecedented Chinese investment in Pakistan in the last four years was pushing the cash-strapped nation into a “China debt trap.”
Zhao blamed “fake economists” for spreading what he said was “totally baseless propaganda” against the bilateral economic cooperation and China’s global Belt and Road Initiative in general.
The joint project, known as the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, or CPEC, has already brought $19 billion in Chinese investment to Pakistan, where it is being used to build roads, ports, power plants and special economic zones.
Chinese envoy Zhao said that 22 out of 43 “early harvest” projects under CPEC had been or were being completed.
He explained that of the total $19 billion China had invested so far, $13 billion was in direct foreign investment in the energy sector and it had already added more than 11,000 megawatts of electricity to the national grid, helping Pakistan overcome its critical power shortages.
“The Pakistani government is not borrowing a single dollar to complete these projects. … So there is no responsibility on the Pakistani government to return the so-called debt or the commercial loans. So if somebody claims that CPEC is a debt trap, remember to call them fake economists,” Zhao said.
The money for those projects, he said, is being borrowed from mostly Chinese commercial banks, and the investors are either individual Pakistani or Chinese companies or private joint ventures.
The rest of the $6 billion has been given to Pakistan as a “soft loan” with 2 percent interest, and the government will end up returning around $7.4 billion over 20 years, said the Chinese diplomat. More than 70,000 Pakistanis are working on the projects.
The total Chinese investment under CPEC over the next 15 years is estimated to be more than $60 billion, and it is expected to create 500,000 to 800,000 jobs in Pakistan.
The massive project aims to ultimately connect landlocked western China to the Chinese-operated southern Pakistani port of Gwadar on the Arabian Sea, enabling Beijing to conduct its international trade through a much shorter and secure route.
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