Category Archives: US foreign policy

How will South Korea’s new president engage with Trump’s White House?

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Lee Jae-myung must tackle US leader’s trade war as he attempts to revive Asia’s fourth biggest economy

Two years ago, the then South Korean president, Yoon Suk Yeol, serenaded Joe Biden in the White House with a rendition of American Pie. The foundations of Washington’s ties with Seoul, one of its most important allies in the Asia-Pacific, appeared as firm as Yoon’s more-than-passable crooning.

As he prepares to replace the now-disgraced Yoon, South Korea’s new leader, Lee Jae-myung, will have to strike a very different note with Biden’s successor in the White House.

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Gaza food hub stops operations for second day as access routes remain ‘combat zones’

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Extended closure said to be for maintenance and follows deaths of at least 27 people killed by Israeli troops near distribution site

A US-backed group operating food distribution sites in Gaza has announced that its operations would be suspended for a second day on Thursday, due to “maintenance and repair work”, as the Israeli army warned that roads leading to distribution centres were considered “combat zones”.

After Israeli troops opened fire on a crowd of Palestinians, killing at least 27 and injuring hundreds, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) pressed Israel to improve civilian safety beyond the perimeter of its distribution sites.

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Gaza Humanitarian Foundation names US evangelical leader as new chair

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Johnnie Moore, also an adviser to Trump, named as US- and Israeli-backed initiative tries to recover from resignations

An evangelical leader and adviser to Donald Trump on interfaith issues has been appointed the new head of the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) as the controversial US- and Israeli-backed initiative attempts to recover from top-level resignations during a tumultuous rollout last week.

Johnnie Moore, a member of the US Commission on International Religious Freedom and founder of the boutique advisory firm Kairos Company, was appointed the new head of the GHF after Jake Wood, a former marine, resigned, saying that he could not guarantee the GHF’s independence from Israeli interests.

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Hamas suggests changes in response to Gaza ceasefire proposal

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Israel and US envoy reject group’s proposal to free 10 living hostages and 18 bodies in exchange for release of Palestinian prisoners

Hamas said on Saturday that it had submitted its response containing some amendments to a proposal presented by Donald Trump’s Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, to mediators, the most concrete sign of progress towards a ceasefire since March.

The Palestinian group said in a statement that under the deal, it will release 10 living hostages and 18 bodies in return for Israel’s release of Palestinian prisoners – a change to the US’s latest proposal that will make it more difficult for Israel to resume fighting if talks on a permanent ceasefire are not completed by the end of the truce.

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Trump says he warned Israel against attack on Iran as nuclear deal ‘very close’

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US president claims he told Tel Aviv he thought agreement on Tehran’s nuclear programme could come within weeks

Donald Trump has claimed he warned Israel against attacking Iran because he believed he was very close to a deal on Tehran’s nuclear programme in which US inspectors will be given unparalleled access to sites to ensure the country is not planning to build a nuclear bomb.

At a White House press conference on Wednesday, the US president confirmed he held talks last week with Israel and told them it was “not appropriate” to attack Tehran because he believed he could reach a deal within weeks.

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Trump warns Putin he is ‘playing with fire’ after Russian attack on Ukraine

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US president launches fresh criticism of Russian counterpart and suggests US sanctions could be increased

Donald Trump has warned Vladimir Putin that he is “playing with fire”, launching a fresh broadside at his Russian counterpart over stalled Ukraine peace efforts.

Trump’s latest comments came after he called the Kremlin leader “CRAZY” over the weekend following a mass Russian air attack on Kyiv, and warned that Moscow risked new sanctions.

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Israeli-backed logistics group says Gaza operations have begun after its director resigned

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Gaza Humanitarian Foundation says truckloads of food have been delivered amid uncertainty about group’s effectiveness

A US-backed foundation tasked with supplying aid to Gaza said it had begun operations on Monday, delivering truckloads of food to designated distribution sites a day after its executive director resigned because the operation could not fulfil its mission in a way that adhered to “humanitarian principles”.

The aid plan, which has been endorsed by Israel but rejected by the UN, unfolded amid uncertainty about whether any assistance had actually reached civilians.

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Any trade deal with US must be based on ‘respect not threats’, says EU commissioner

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Maroš Šefčovič’s remarks come after pace of talks prompted Trump to propose 50% tariff on goods from bloc

The European Union’s trade chief has struck a defiant tone after Donald Trump threatened to place a 50% tariff on all goods from the bloc, saying any potential trade deal between Brussels and Washington must be based on “respect not threats”.

The US president made his announcement after voicing frustration with the pace of progress on a trade agreement with the EU. The new rates would come into effect from 1 June.

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Trump’s Russia sanctions refusal leaves Europe with few options but to wait

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Frustration is growing amid increasing signs US could wash its hands of Ukraine, but some observers counsel patience

Gen Keith Kellogg, Donald Trump’s somewhat estranged special envoy on Ukraine, is said by some US diplomats to like to joke that the president did indeed say he would solve the Ukraine crisis in 24 hours, he just never specified which 24 hours.

Dark humour may be all that is left to Europeans as they absorb not just Trump’s refusal to impose the promised “bone-crushing sanctions” over Russia’s rejection of a 30-day ceasefire but also the increasing signs that the administration will wash its hands of Ukraine and instead focus on forging a new economic partnership with Russia.

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Iran-US nuclear talks end with no agreement but ‘possibility of progress’

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There were fears latest meeting could collapse but both sides appear willing for more talks on uranium enrichment

Talks between Iran and the US on whether Iran will be allowed to continue to enrich uranium inside the country have ended without an agreement, but apparently without the feared breakdown.

The indirect talks between the two sides were mediated by Oman and held in Rome.

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European unity against Putin in peril if Trump moves to ease sanctions

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EU’s hopes of US increasing pressure on Kremlin have been dashed, and Hungary could yet make situation worse

European leaders – who have promised to impose “massive” new sanctions on Russia after Vladimir Putin’s rejection of a ceasefire in Ukraine – face the prospect of having to introduce their planned expansion of economic restrictions on the Russian war economy without the United States.

European hopes that Donald Trump might increase the pressure on the Kremlin were dashed after the US president’s two-hour inconclusive phone call with Putin on Monday. Trump did not follow through on previous threats to introduce “large-scale” sanctions on Russia if there was no ceasefire, but instead extolled the prospect of restarting trade with Moscow.

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European unity against Putin in peril if Trump moves to ease sanctions

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EU’s hopes of US increasing pressure on Kremlin have been dashed, and Hungary could yet make situation worse

European leaders – who have promised to impose “massive” new sanctions on Russia after Vladimir Putin’s rejection of a ceasefire in Ukraine – face the prospect of having to introduce their planned expansion of economic restrictions on the Russian war economy without the United States.

European hopes that Donald Trump might increase the pressure on the Kremlin were dashed after the US president’s two-hour inconclusive phone call with Putin on Monday. Trump did not follow through on previous threats to introduce “large-scale” sanctions on Russia if there was no ceasefire, but instead extolled the prospect of restarting trade with Moscow.

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Rubio clashes with Democrats over decision to admit white South Africans

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Tim Kaine condemns secretary of state for admitting Afrikaners while cancelling refugee schemes for others

Marco Rubio, the secretary of state, has defended the Trump administration’s controversial decision to admit 59 Afrikaners from South Africa as refugees after Tim Kaine, a Democratic senator from Virginia, claimed they were getting preferential treatment because they were white.

Kaine, Hillary Clinton’s former running mate, challenged Rubio to justify prioritising the Afrikaners while cancelling long-standing refugee programmes for other groups that have been more documented as victims of conflict or persecution.

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Trump and Putin hold phone call but Kremlin refuses Ukraine ceasefire

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Trump describes call as ‘excellent,’ despite Putin’s lack of support for ceasefire that US said was primary objective

Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump have held a rare phone call, which the US leader described as “excellent”, but the Kremlin refused to agree to a ceasefire in the war with Ukraine, despite pressure from Washington and European allies.

Speaking to reporters in Sochi after the two-hour conversation on Monday, Putin described the call as “very meaningful and frank” and said he was prepared to work with Ukraine on drafting a memorandum for future peace talks.

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US supreme court allows Trump to revoke protected status for Venezuelans

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Justices grant homeland security request to end temporary protected status while appeal proceeds in lower court

Donald Trump’s administration can end legal protections that have shielded about 350,000 Venezuelans from potential deportation, the supreme court ruled on Monday.

America’s highest court granted a request by Kristi Noem, the homeland security secretary, to revoke temporary protected status (TPS) for the Venezuelans while an appeal proceeds in a lower court.

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‘Very disturbing’: Trump receipt of overseas gifts unprecedented, experts warn

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White House remakes foreign policy under pay-for-access code that critics say could violate US constitution

Former White House lawyers, diplomatic protocol officers and foreign affairs experts have told the Guardian that Donald Trump’s receipt of overseas gifts and targeted investments are “unprecedented”, as the White House remakes US foreign policy under a pay-for-access code that eclipses past administrations with characteristic Trumpian excess.

The openness to foreign largesse was on full display this week as the US president was feted in the Gulf states during his first major diplomatic trip abroad this term, inking deals he claimed were worth trillions of dollars and pumping local leaders for investments as he says he remakes US foreign policy to prioritise “America first” – putting aside concerns of human rights or international law for the bottom line of American businesses and taxpayers.

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Week of geopolitical poker over Ukraine ends with no endgame in sight

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Path to peace looks as unclear as it was before European leaders’ meeting with Zelenskyy in Kyiv

This week began with four European leaders, standing defiantly in Kyiv alongside Volodymyr Zelenskyy, issuing an ultimatum to Vladimir Putin: sign a ceasefire now, or together with Donald Trump we will force you to do so, with sanctions and other tough measures.

Over the subsequent days, there followed a series of offers, counter-offers, ultimatums and deflections, in a dizzying week of high-stakes diplomacy that often seemed to resemble a geopolitical poker game.

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Trump acknowledges starvation in Gaza as Israeli airstrikes kill more than 100

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President says US will ‘take care of’ situation in Gaza on final day of Gulf tour in Abu Dhabi

Donald Trump has said people are starving in Gaza and the US would have the situation in the territory “taken care of” as it suffered a further wave of intense Israeli airstrikes.

On the final day of his Gulf tour, the US president told reporters in Abu Dhabi: “We’re looking at Gaza. And we’re going to get that taken care of. A lot of people are starving.”

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Trump agrees deal for UAE to build largest AI campus outside US

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Agreement that would give Gulf country better access to advanced AI chips raises concerns over Chinese influence

The United Arab Emirates and the United States have signed an agreement for the Gulf country to build the largest artificial intelligence campus outside the United States, one of several deals around AI made during Donald Trump’s visit to the Middle East.

But the agreement has also raised concerns, since it would have faced restrictions under the previous administration over Washington’s fears that China could access the technology.

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Middle East crisis live: Trump says US should turn Gaza into ‘freedom zone’ as more than 100 killed in Israeli strikes

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US president’s reported comments in Qatar come as scores killed in a second consecutive night of heavy bombing

Gaza’s civil defence agency has said that the death toll from Israeli strikes overnight into Thursday is up to 82 people, updating a previous toll.

“The number of martyrs from Israeli airstrikes on Gaza has risen to 82 after the occupation targeted several homes in northern Gaza,” civil defence spokesperson Mohammad al-Mughayir told AFP, after the agency earlier reported at least 50 dead (see 8.27am BST).

We’re getting close to maybe doing a deal without having to do this … there [are] two steps to doing this, there is a very, very nice step and there is the violent step, but I don’t want to do it the second way.

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