Category Archives: Trump administration

Kurdish fighters leave Syrian border town, giving Turkey control

Posted on by

Evacuation part of US-brokered ceasefire, as Nancy Pelosi leads congressional visit to region

Kurdish officials say their fighters have evacuated Ras al-Ayn, giving Turkey and its allies control of one of the border cities that has borne the brunt of fighting since Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw US troops from north-eastern Syria.

The Turkish defence ministry said a convoy of 86 vehicles left the city on Sunday afternoon carrying fighters from the Kurdish-dominated Syrian Democratic Front (SDF) and wounded civilians south to cities beyond the 20-mile buffer zone that Turkey is seeking to clear along its border with Syria.

Continue reading...

Obrador and Trump speak in aftermath of shootout over El Chapo’s son

Posted on by

Mexico’s foreign minister said on Saturday that the president, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, and Donald Trump had agreed to take swift action to stem the flow of illegal weapons from the US into Mexico.

Related: 'We do not want war': Mexico president defends release of El Chapo’s son

Continue reading...

Erdoğan says Trump’s letter showed lack of respect – live

Posted on by

Turkish president said he would respond to Trump’s letter telling him not to be a ‘tough guy’ or fool ‘when the time comes’

Jane Fonda is holding another protest in Washington as part of her “Fire Drill Fridays” campaign, which is meant to bring more attention to the climate crisis. Watch the Guardian’s live feed below.

Today is a quieter day in the impeachment inquiry, with no closed-door interviews scheduled on Capitol Hill.

The schedule will pick up again starting Tuesday, with acting US ambassador to Ukraine Bill Taylor speaking to the House committees leading the investigation.

Next week’s impeachment depositions, per official working on inquiry:

Tuesday: Amb William Taylor

Wednesday: Amb Philip Reeker + OMB Associate Director for Nat’l Security Michael Duffey

Thursday: Deputy Assistant Sec of Defense Laura Cooper + Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman

Continue reading...

‘He earned his spurs from a doctor’: Gen James Mattis mocks Donald Trump – video

Posted on by

The ex-defence secretary is laughing off an insult hurled at him by the US president. Speaking at a New York charity event a day after Trump demeaned him as ‘the world’s most overrated general’, Mattis joked that he took it as a compliment. ‘I’m honoured to be considered that by Donald Trump because he also called Meryl Streep an overrated actress,’ he said. ‘So I guess I’m the Meryl Streep of generals’

Continue reading...

Trump’s Turkey deal hands power to Ankara and leaves Syrian Kurds for dead

Posted on by

Trump hails ceasefire and ‘safe zone’ on Turkey-Syria border as ‘great day for civilisation’ but few believe it

The deal agreed between the US and Turkey immediately achieved the priority objective of vice-president Mike Pence’s peace mission to Ankara: Donald Trump was able to claim victory on Twitter.

The president had unwittingly alienated most of his own party over his acceptance of the Turkish invasion of north-eastern Syria, and was already in the midst of an impeachment battle.

Continue reading...

Pence and Erdoğan agree on ceasefire plan but Kurds reject ‘occupation’

Posted on by
  • Mike Pence strikes deal with Turkish president in Ankara
  • Agreement appears to cement key Turkish objectives

The Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, has agreed with the US vice-president, Mike Pence, to suspend Ankara’s operation on Kurdish-led forces in north-east Syria for the next five days in order to allow Kurdish troops to withdraw, potentially halting the latest bloodshed in Syria’s long war.

Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) fighters would pull back from Turkey’s proposed 20-mile (32km) deep “safe zone” on its border, Pence told reporters in Ankara on Thursday evening after hours of meetings with Turkish officials.

Continue reading...

Trump ordered diplomats to work with Giuliani on Ukraine, Sondland testifies

Posted on by

Meanwhile, White House chief of staff undercuts Trump’s denials of quid pro quo: ‘We do that all the time. Get over it’

Donald Trump instructed US diplomats to go through his personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, to make the Ukrainian president’s access to the White House dependent on launching investigations into Trump’s political opponents, the US ambassador to the EU has testified.

In his opening statement to Congress on Thursday, Gordon Sondland, a wealthy hotelier and Trump donor, sought to distance himself from the president, saying he had been “disappointed” Trump had chosen to conduct an important strategic relationship through his lawyer.

Continue reading...

Trump’s bizarre, threatening letter to Erdoğan: ‘Don’t be a fool’

Posted on by

President vows to destroy Turkish economy if Syria invasion is not resolved humanely, but brash language and diplomatic missteps draw confusion

Donald Trump warned his counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdoğan “don’t be a fool” and said history risked branding him a “devil” in an extraordinary letter sent the day Turkey launched its incursion into north-eastern Syria.

The letter, first obtained by a Fox Business reporter, was shorn of diplomatic niceties and began with an outright threat.

Continue reading...

‘A very serious meltdown’: top Democrats react to Trump meeting – video

Posted on by

Nancy Pelosi said senior lawmakers witnessed Trump having a 'meltdown' after nearly two-thirds of the House GOP caucus voted to condemn his decision to withdraw US troops from northern Syria. Leaving a White House meeting on the situation in Syria, Senator Chuck Schumer said that Trump was disrespectful to Pelosi, calling her a 'third-rate politician', and alleged Trump had no plan on how to contain Isis now

Continue reading...

Trump-Ukraine: John Bolton ‘sounded alarm about Giuliani’s actions’

Posted on by

The former US national security adviser, John Bolton, was reportedly so alarmed at a back-channel effort to pressure Ukraine to investigate Donald Trump’s political rivals that he told a senior aide to report it to White House lawyers.

The revelation of Bolton’s involvement in the effort to block a shadow foreign policy aimed at Trump’s political benefit emerged from congressional testimony given by his former aide, Fiona Hill, the former top Russia expert in the White House.

Continue reading...

Trump asks Turkey for ceasefire and orders sanctions as violence escalates

Posted on by
  • President freezes negotiations on $100bn trade deal
  • Trump vows to ‘swiftly destroy Turkey’s economy’

Donald Trump spoke directly to the Turkish president, Tayyip Erdoğan, on Monday to demand an immediate ceasefire in Syria while announcing a series of punishments for Ankara that critics saw as an attempt to save face.

The US president’s conversation with Erdoğan was revealed by the vice-president, Mike Pence, who said he would soon be travelling to the Middle East. “The United States of America did not give a green light for Turkey to invade Syria,” Pence insisted to reporters at the White House.

Continue reading...

Trump impeachment: Esper indicates Pentagon will cooperate with inquiry

Posted on by

Donald Trump’s secretary of defense said on Sunday the Pentagon would cooperate with the House’s impeachment inquiry, while cautioning that Trump may try to restrict his disclosure of information.

Related: Trump calls Rudy Giuliani a 'great guy' as impeachment pressure mounts

Continue reading...

James Mattis says Trump’s troop pullout has led to ‘disarray’ in Syria

Posted on by
  • Ex-defense secretary calls resurgence of Isis ‘a given’
  • Withdrawal will ‘have an impact’ on Kurds’ ability to fight Isis

The former defense secretary James Mattis has said Donald Trump’s abrupt withdrawal of US troops from the Syria-Turkey border has led to “disarray” in the war-torn territory, increasing the chances of a resurgence of Islamic State militants.

Related: Betrayal on the border: Kurds fear future as Turkish assault intensifies

Continue reading...

Trump led ‘concerted campaign’ to oust me, former Ukraine envoy tells Congress

Posted on by

The former US ambassador to Ukraine, whose abrupt departure has become a focus of impeachment proceedings against Donald Trump, has told congressional investigators that the president personally pressured the state department to recall her as part of a “concerted campaign” against her.

At a closed-door hearing on Capital Hill, Marie Yovanovitch delivered a stinging denunciation of diplomacy under the Trump administration, saying the state department was being “attacked and hollowed out from within”.

Continue reading...

Syria: Erdoğan’s eyes more likely to be on Putin than Trump

Posted on by

Russia and Iran have troops in Syria and will see opportunities amid chaos of US impulsiveness

Donald Trump’s decision to give the green light – now seemingly turning amber – for Turkey to enter northern Syria has produced a torrent of criticism from European capitals to Washington Republicans, all pointing out that Ankara’s move will revive Islamic State, cause untold civilian deaths and land the US with an indelible reputation across the Middle East as an unreliable ally.

But the west has been losing traction in Syria over the past two years, and it may be the reaction of Russia and Iran, who have forces on the ground in Syria, that will most concern the Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. Their reaction may also reveal more about the long-term future of Syria’s eight-year civil war.

Continue reading...

White House refuses to comply with impeachment inquiry

Posted on by

Eight-page letter to Democratic leaders sets stage for constitutional crisis, as legislative and executive branches clash

Donald Trump pushed the United States towards a constitutional crisis on Tuesday when his legal counsel said the White House would refuse to cooperate with Congress’s impeachment inquiry.

“Given that your inquiry lacks any legitimate constitutional foundation, any pretense of fairness, or even the most elementary due process protections, the Executive Branch cannot be expected to participate in it,” the counsel Pat Cipollone said in a letter to Democratic leaders in the House of Representatives.

Continue reading...

White House says it will not comply with impeachment inquiry – as it happened

Posted on by

Eight-page letter to House Democratic leaders claims investigation is effort to overturn 2016 election

Here’s a recap of today:

Secretary of state Mike Pompeo has announced visa restrictions on Chinese officials suspected of being involved in “a highly repressive campaign against Uighurs, ethnic Kazakhs, Kyrgyz, and other members of Muslim minority groups in the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region (Xinjiang).”

Earlier today, the US commerce department issued a list of 28 state security bureaus and tech companies in China that it said are being used to suppress muslims and other ethnic minorities.

Related: US restricts visas for Chinese officials over internment of Muslim minorities

Continue reading...

Trump threatens to ‘decimate’ Turkey’s economy if it injures US troops – video

Posted on by

Donald Trump warned Turkey that there would be ‘big trouble’ if American troops in Syria are injured, as Turkish forces push into Kurdish lands across north-eastern Syria. On Monday the White House gave the green light to a Turkish offensive into Syria, moving US forces out of the area in an abrupt foreign policy change that will in effect abandon the Kurds, Washington’s longtime military partner

Continue reading...