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  • Trump turns back on a future with Cuba

    Trump turns back on a future with Cuba

    By Jesse Jackson

    In his perverse fixation on overturning all things Barack Obama, President Donald Trump now turns his attention to Cuba, the island located 90 miles off our shore. Reports are that the president plans to travel to Florida to announce that he will reverse Obama’s opening to Cuba, reinstate restrictions on the right of U.S. citizens to travel to Cuba and curtail business opportunities that Obama had opened up by executive order.

    This is, in a word, ridiculous. The United States maintained an economic embargo on Cuba for more than 50 years. It plotted repeatedly to assassinate Fidel Castro and to overthrow his regime. It painted Cuba as a terrorist nation for its support of Nelson Mandela in the fight against apartheid. For more than five decades, a succession of U.S. presidents — cowed by the right-wing Cuban community in Florida — enforced an economic embargo even though the policy increasingly isolated the U.S. from its neighbors in the hemisphere and its allies across the world. When Obama finally went forward with a limited opening, he was doing more to end the isolation of the U.S. than of Cuba.

    Now Castro, the leader of Cuba’s revolution, is dead. His brother Raul has announced he will leave office next year. The Soviet Union is no more; the Cold War is over. A new generation is coming to power in Cuba and a new generation of Cuban-Americans is rising in Florida. The vast majority of Americans and the vast majority of Cuban-Americans support free travel to Cubans.

    So why would Trump want to revive the failed policies of the past? The reasons range from the petty to the perverse. Trump’s hatred of Obama is apparent. From Obamacare to climate policy to Cuba, he seems intent on overturning whatever Obama did — no matter how great the cost to the American people.

    In the campaign, Trump pledged in Florida to overturn Obama’s opening. Right-wing Cuban-American legislators — Republican Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida, Democratic Sen. Bob Menendez of New Jersey and Republican Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart of Florida — have lobbied Trump hard to revive the travel ban and embargo. According to the New York Times, Diaz-Balart exacted a promise from Trump as a price for his vote in favor of Trumpcare. He signed off on depriving 23 million Americans of health care coverage in order to tighten the screws on Cuba.

    Obama’s policy of engagement, however halting, has already shown results. Engage Cuba, a U.S. business lobby group, published an economic impact analysis on the costs of reversing Obama’s policy. It put the cost at as much as $3.5 billion in lost revenues and 10,000 jobs lost in the travel industry over the next four years. Commercial contracts that will create $1.1 billion worth of U.S. exports to Cuba in the next five years would be broken, costing more than 1,000 jobs a year.

    Once more the right of Americans to travel would be sacrificed, in the name of what? Petulance? Perversity? Undying hatred? The Trump administration has made it clear that in its America First foreign policy, America’s economic and security concerns will not be sacrificed in the name of human rights. But it rationalizes its reversion in Cuba on the grounds of defending human rights and spreading democracy. This is at best what former Obama adviser Ben Rhodes called a “tragic irony,” given the Trump administration’s “complete lack of concern for human rights around the world.”

    Surely, after more than five decades we have learned that Cubans, proud of their revolution and their independence, will resist economic or military coercion. One would think that Trump, who trumpets his business background, would understand that open relations with Cuba — trade, travel, human and cultural exchange — will have far more impact in generating pressure for change than a reversion to the failed embargo.

    Under Castro, Cuban education and health care became the envy of Latin America. An educated generation now rises to power yearning for more. The U.S. should engage them, not seek to isolate them.

  • U.S. appeals court rules against Trump travel ban

    A U.S. Appeals Court on Monday upheld a lower court ruling that blocks President Donald Trump’s executive order banning travellers from six Muslim-majority countries.

    The U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in Seattle was the second appeals court to uphold an earlier court’s move to put the executive order on hold while challenges against its constitutionality move forward.

    The Trump administration had appealed to the court over the earlier ruling by a federal judge in Hawaii.

    The court had halted implementation of the entire executive order, which also sought to block issuances of new refugee admissions from around the world for 120 days.

    A separate decision on the order in the Fourth Circuit has already been appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court.

  • Qatar row: Trump claims credit for isolation

    Qatar row: Trump claims credit for isolation

    United States President Donald Trump has claimed credit for the pressure being placed on Qatar by Gulf neighbours who accuse it of supporting terrorism in the region.

    He said his recent visit to Saudi Arabia was “already paying off” and the development might mark the “beginning of the end to the horror of terrorism”.

    Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, the UAE, Yemen, Libya’s eastern-based government and the Maldives have all cut diplomatic and other ties with Qatar.

    Qatar strongly denies the allegations.

    Mr Trump’s recent speech in the capital Riyadh, in which he blamed Iran for instability in the Middle East and urged Muslim countries to take the lead in combating radicalisation, is seen as likely to have emboldened Gulf allies to act against Qatar.

    “During my recent trip to the Middle East I stated that there can no longer be funding of Radical Ideology. Leaders pointed to Qatar – look!” Mr Trump tweeted on Tuesday.

    He later tweeted: “So good to see the Saudi Arabia visit with the King and 50 countries already paying off. They said they would take a hard line on funding… extremism, and all reference was pointing to Qatar. Perhaps this will be the beginning of the end to the horror of terrorism!”

    Qatar is home to the biggest US military air base in the Middle East, with about 8,000 personnel based at al-Udeid.

    The official statement from White House spokesman Sean Spicer said the US was in communication with all parties “to resolve issues and restore co-operation”.

    “The US still wants to see this issue de-escalated and resolved immediately, in keeping with the principles that the president laid out in terms of defeating terror financing and extremism,” he said.

    In the same week as Mr Trump’s Riyadh speech, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and the UAE blocked Qatari news sites, including Al Jazeera.

    On Monday, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, and the UAE gave Qatari nationals two weeks to leave, banned their own citizens from travelling to Qatar, and cut all transport links.

    Saudi Arabian Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir said on Tuesday that the economic measures should persuade Qatar to change its policies and behave “like a normal country”.

    Speaking in Paris, he called on Qatar’s rulers to end their support for the Muslim Brotherhood, the Palestinian militant group Hamas and what he called “hostile media”.

    “We believe that common sense and logic and will convince Qatar to take the right steps,” he said.

    The emir of Kuwait – one of the Gulf countries not involved in the dispute – travelled to Saudi Arabia on Tuesday in an attempt to mediate. He later left after a “brotherly visit” but there was no word on the outcome of the talks.

    Qatari Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed Bin Abdulrahman al-Thani told Al Jazeera that his country would not retaliate but was unhappy with regional rivals “trying to impose their will on Qatar or intervene in its internal affairs”.

    He told the BBC that Qatar was well prepared to withstand a “blockade”, but also complained that the people of Qatar were the victims of “collective punishment” by other countries.

    The foreign minister said his government had told President Trump during his Middle-East trip that there was no evidence that Qatar was supporting radical Islamists, adding that the claims were based on “fabricated evidence and lies”.

  • London attacks: U.S. adopts extra security measures

    President Donald Trump has called for vigilance and what he termed “extra level of safety” following the multiple terrorist attacks in London on Saturday night.

    Trump was briefed of the incident by the National Security Adviser, Herbert McMaster, according to the White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer.

    The terror incidents reportedly left unconfirmed number of people dead and injured after van ploughs into pedestrians on London Bridge and Borough Market.

    A third incident at Vauxhall, was, however said to be an isolated attack unconnected with the two other terror attacks.

    Trump tweeted shortly after the attacks: “We need to be smart, vigilant and tough.

    “We need the courts to give us back our rights.

    “We need the Travel Ban as an extra level of safety!

    “Whatever the United States can do to help out in London and the U. K., we will be there – WE ARE WITH YOU. GOD BLESS!”

    The New York Police Department (NYPD) Counter-terrorism bureau said it was “deploying officers to heavily-travelled pedestrian locations across the city”.

    NYPD spokesman Peter Donald said: “We’re monitoring the situation in London and we’re in touch with British authorities”.

    NYPD said on its Twitter handle on that: “There are no specific, credible threats to NYC.

    “Go about your Sat. night, NYPD cops are protecting you. Our prayers are with all in London”.

    The U.S. Department of State also said: “We stand ready to provide all possible consular assistance should we become aware of any affected U.S. citizen.

    “We strongly encourage U.S. citizens in the United Kingdom to directly contact concerned family members in the United States to advise them of  your safety”.

    British Prime Minister Theresa May had earlier confirmed the attack as potential acts of terrorism.

    “Following updates from police and security officials, I can confirm that the terrible incident in London is being treated as a potential act of terrorism.

    “This is a fast moving investigation. I want to express my huge gratitude to the police and emergency services who are on the scene.

    “Our thoughts are with all those who are caught up in this tragic event”.

     

    NAN

  • Trump withdraws U.S. from Paris Climate Accord

    President Donald Trump has withdrawn the country from the historic Paris Climate Accord dealing with greenhouse gas emissions mitigation, adaptation and finance starting in 2020.

    Trump, in a nationwide broadcast on Thursday, said U.S. would either seek re-negotiation or remain withdrawn from the agreement that went into effect on Nov. 4, 2016.

    Trump had promised to make his decision known this week on the Paris Climate Agreement, which as at May 2017, 195 members of UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, had signed and 147 had ratified.

    “The United State under Trump will continue to be the cleanest and the most environment-friendly country on the planet.

    “To fulfil my solemn duty to protect America and its citizens, the United States will withdraw from the Paris Climate Accord but begin negotiations to re-enter our way into Paris Accord.

    “Or in really entirely new transaction or terms that are fair to the United States, its businesses, its workers, its people and its tax payers.

    “So, we are getting out but we will start to negotiate and we would see if we could make a deal that is fair and if we can, that’s great and if can’t, that’s fine.

    “As President, I can put no other consideration before the wellbeing of the American citizens. The Paris Climate Accord is simply the latest example of Washington entering into an agreement that disadvantages the United States.

    “For the exclusive benefits of other countries, leaving American workers, who I love, and tax payers to observe the cost in terms of job loss, low wages, shattered factories and vastly diminish economic production.

    “Thus, as of today, the United States would cease all implementation of the non-binding Paris Accord and the draconian financial and economic burdens the agreement imposes on our country.

    “This includes ending the implementation of the nationally determined contributions and very importantly, the Green Climate Fund, which is costing the United States a vast fortune.”

    According to him, compliant with the terms of the Paris Accord and the onerous energy restriction that is placed on the U.S. could cost America as much as 2.7 million job loss by 2025.

    Trump explained that he would immediately work with democratic governments to immediately get together and re-negotiate the Paris deal. But until we do that, America remains out of the agreement.

    “We will remain the leader of the world. The U.S. remains the cleanest country in the world, but we will not remain in the agreement at the expense of our citizens and our country.”

    He said the agreement was unfair to the U.S., adding it sought to cripple the U.S. and empower China, India and other developed countries, and called for a deal that is equitable.

    Trump pointed out that with the current agreement, China and India could continue to increase their pollution for a decade or two without penalty while the U.S. could not.

  • Trump goes hard on immigrants, approves tougher visa vetting, social media checks

    President Donald Trump has approved the use of new questionnaires for U.S. visa applicants worldwide that asks for social media handles for the last five years and biographical information dating back to the last 15 years.

    The new questions, part of an effort to tighten vetting of would-be visitors to the U.S., was approved on May 23 by the Office of Management and Budget in spite of criticism from a range of education officials and academic groups during a public comment period.

    Critics argued that the new questions would be overly burdensome, lead to long delays in processing and discourage international students and scientists from coming to the U.S.

    Under the new procedures, consular officials can request all prior passport numbers, five years’ worth of social media handles, email addresses and phone numbers and 15 years of biographical information including addresses, employment and travel history.

    Officials will request the additional information when they determine “that such information is required to confirm identity or conduct more rigorous national security vetting,” a State Department official said on Wednesday.

    The State Department said earlier the tighter vetting would apply to visa applicants “who have been determined to warrant additional scrutiny in connection with terrorism or other national security-related visa ineligibilities.”

    President Donald Trump has vowed to increase national security and border protections, proposing to give more money to the military and make Mexico pay to build a wall along the southern U.S. border.

    He has tried to implement a temporary travel ban on people from six Muslim-majority nations that a U.S. appeals court refused to reinstate, calling it discriminatory and setting the stage for a showdown in the Supreme Court.

    The Office of Management and Budget granted emergency approval for the new questions for six months, rather than the usual three years.

    While the new questions are voluntary, the form says failure to provide the information may delay or prevent the processing of an individual visa application.

    Immigration lawyers and advocates say the request for 15 years of detailed biographical information, as well as the expectation that applicants remember all their social media handles, is likely to catch applicants who make innocent mistakes or do not remember all the information requested.

    The new questions grant “arbitrary power” to consular officials to determine who gets a visa with no effective check on their decisions, said Babak Yousefzadeh, a San Francisco-based attorney and president of the Iranian American Bar Association.

    Yousefzadeh said: “The U.S. has one of the most stringent visa application processes in the world.

    “The need for tightening the application process further is really unknown and unclear.”

     

     

    (Reuters/NAN)

  • Trump pleased with results of 1st overseas trip

    U.S. President Donald Trump has expressed satisfaction at the results of his first overseas trip, the U.S. Department of State, has said.

    Trump told service members at Naval Air Station Sigonella, Italy, that they are the greatest force for peace and justice the world has ever seen, the U.S. Department of State, said.

    Trump spoke to service members and their families at the end of his first overseas trip as president, and he detailed the trip to them, according to the Department.

    “Our travels took us to some of the holiest sites in the three Abrahamic religions, and to gatherings of both America’s oldest and newest friends.

    “We traveled the world to strengthen longstanding alliances, and to form a new partnership among nations devoted to the task of eradicating the terrorism that plagues our planet,” Trump said.

    The President said he was more confident than ever that the will existed for nations to work together against the terrorists that launched recent attacks in Manchester, England, and in Egypt.

    “Together, civilized nations will crush the terrorists, block their funding, strip them of their territory, and drive them out of this Earth,” Trump told the service members.

    Trump’s first stop on the trip was in Saudi Arabia, where he spoke at a summit of the leaders of more than 50 Muslim and Arab nations.

    His second stop was in Israel and Palestine, where he met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

    The U.S. leader said he believes both Netanyahu and Abbas sincerely wanted peace in the troubled region.

    The president then stopped in Rome and met with Pope Francis: “It was truly an honour to meet the Pope and to pray for peace on those hallowed grounds,” he said.

    Trump then moved on to Brussels for a NATO summit, saying he got a commitment from allies to increase their defense spending, and the alliance itself committed to joining the coalition against terror.

    Finally, he attended the G-7 Summit in Taormina, Italy. “I called for much greater security and cooperation on matters of both terrorism and immigration migration to protect our citizens,” he said.

    “The president believes he has ‘paved the way for a new era of cooperation among the nations of the world to defeat the common enemy of terrorism and provide our children with a much more hopeful future’.”

    “And American service members provide much of the security and strength that will be needed against the terrorists.

    “I want you to know that you have a commander in chief who will never, ever forget,” he said. “Never, ever”.

    “My pledge to you is that we will always protect those who protect us. You are protecting us, and we will always remember that, and we will always, always protect you,” Trump, who returned to Washington DC at 9 p.m. Saturday, said.

  • Trump declares war on terrorism ‘a battle between good and evil’

    U.S. President Donald Trump said the war on terrorism is not a fight between faiths but “a battle between good and evil.”

    “This is not a battle between different faiths, different sects, or different civilizations,” Trump told leaders of Arab and Muslim-dominated countries during a high-stakes speech on Sunday at a summit in Riyadh.

    “This is a battle between barbaric criminals who seek to obliterate human life, and decent people of all religions who seek to protect it. This is a battle between good and evil,” he said.

    Trump also told Muslim leaders gathered in the Saudi capital that he was “not here to lecture” others about their faith and lifestyle.

    Instead, the US seeks “to offer partnership – based on shared interests and values – to pursue a better future for us all.”

    The Arab Islamic American Summit in Riyadh is the highlight of Trump’s two-day visit to Saudi Arabia, the birthplace of Islam and the first stop on Trump’s inaugural multi-nation tour as president.

    NAN reports that the U.S. and Gulf Arab countries agreed on Sunday to coordinate their efforts against the financing of terrorist groups.

  • Trump ‘shared classified information with Russia’

    Trump ‘shared classified information with Russia’

    President Donald Trump revealed highly classified information about so-called Islamic State (IS) to Russia’s foreign minister, US media report.

    The information, related to the use of laptops on aircraft, came from a partner of the US which had not given permission for it to be shared with Russia, says the Washington Post.

    Mr Trump received Sergei Lavrov in the Oval Office last week.

    National Security Adviser HR McMaster dismissed the reporting as “false”.

    The Trump campaign’s alleged links to Moscow have dogged his presidency and are part of several investigations.
    But the president has dismissed such allegations as “fake news”.

    During the election campaign, Mr Trump repeatedly criticised his Democratic opponent, Hillary Clinton, for how she handled sensitive material.

    A knife in the back? Analysis by Anthony Zurcher, BBC News, Washington

    The fallout from this story could be enormous and not just because there is a boundless trove of Republican quotes over the past year – directed at Mrs Clinton – about the utmost importance of protecting top-secret information.
    There is the Russian connection, of course.

    The FBI is currently investigating the Trump campaign for possible ties to Russian interests. Meetings with Russian Ambassador Sergei Kislyak featured prominently in the firing of National Security Advisor Michael Flynn and the recusal of Attorney General Jeff Sessions on Russian investigation matters.

    Then there is the question of whether US allies will be more reluctant to share sensitive intelligence information with the US, lest the president put sources at risk.

    This will only stoke accusations by Trump critics that the president is undisciplined and inexperienced in the delicacies of foreign policy, where his shoot-from-the hip style presents an ongoing danger.

    Finally, it is worth remembering the simmering feud Mr Trump has had with the US intelligence community.

    It took less than a week for this highly embarrassing story to leak. If the revelation was a knife twisted in the president’s back, it is not hard to suspect where it came from.

     

    Culled from BBC

  • Trump fires FBI Director, John Comey

    President Donald Trump of the United States of America, USA, has dismissed the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) James Comey.

    Trump, in a letter to Comey, said he appreciated the sacked FBI chief “for informing me on three different occasions that I am not under investigation.

    Trump’s letter reads: “Dear Director Comey: I have the recently attached letters from the Attorney General and Deputy Attorney General of the United States recommending your dismissal as the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

    “I have accepted their recommendation and you are hereby terminated and removed from office effective immediately.

    “While I greatly appreciate you informing me, on three separate occasions, that I am not under investigation, I nevertheless concur with the judgment of the Department of Justice that you are not able to effectively lead the bureau.

    “It is essential that we find new leadership for the FBI that restores public trust and confidence in its vital law enforcement mission.

    “I wish you the best of luck in your future endeavours,” Trump said in a letter dated Tuesday to Comey.

    The President also, in a statement issued by White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer, said Comey’s sack was with immediate effect.

    “Today, President Donald J. Trump informed FBI Director James Comey that he has been terminated and removed from office.

    “President Trump acted based on the clear recommendations of both Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein and Attorney General Jeff Sessions.

    “The FBI is one of our Nation’s most cherished and respected institutions and today will mark a new beginning for our crown jewel of law enforcement.”

    President Trump said a search for a new permanent FBI Director will begin immediately.

    Comey has come under fire from Democrats since Oct. 28, 2016, when he sent a letter reviewing the emails of then Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton, two weeks before the presidential election.

    The Democrats have also continued to criticise Comey for not indicting Trump over his possible links to Russia.

    Trump’s Republicans on the other hand, criticised him for not carrying out criminal prosecution against Clinton.

    Comey appeared on Monday before the Senate Committee investigating the alleged Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.

     

     

     

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