Donald Trump

Netanyahu Defends Trump's Plan for Gaza and Says Israel Will "Do the Job"

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has hailed US President Donald Trump's widely criticized plan to move Palestinians out of the war-battered Gaza Strip, saying Israel is willing to "do the job". In a Fox News interview aired late Saturday as the premier was wrapping up a visit to Washington, Netanyahu defended Trump's proposal, which has ...

Gaza: Israeli Withdrawal From the Netzarim Corridor

A Hamas official said Israeli troops on Sunday completed their withdrawal from a strategic road bisecting the Gaza Strip, part of a fragile truce deal that Israel said it was implementing. "Israeli forces have dismantled their positions and military posts and completely withdrawn their tanks from the Netzarim Corridor on Salaheddin Road, ...

Iran Open to Negotiations but Rejects U.S. "Maximum Pressure" Policy

Iran is ready to negotiate with the United States but not under President Donald Trump's "maximum pressure" policy, the Iranian foreign minister said on Saturday. "Lifting sanctions requires negotiations, but not within the framework of a 'maximum pressure' policy, as that would no longer be a negotiation but rather a form of capitulation," Abbas ...

The Wand and the Magic Ring

The ring on the finger of the new U.S. deputy envoy to the Middle East Morgan Ortagus  was given more attention than it deserved, but its symbolism was far greater than what Lebanon could endure. Opponents did not differentiate between it being a religious symbol—perhaps because Judaism in Lebanon is often associated with Zionism, which led ...

Trump Targets Biden and USAID

President Donald Trump on Friday revoked his predecessor Joe Biden's security clearance in a blizzard of new orders, while escalating his campaign to dismantle the US humanitarian agency charged with helping the world's poorest and extending American influence around the globe. In a new series of rapid-fire power plays, the 78-year-old ...

Trump to "Probably" Meet Zelensky Next Week

US President Donald Trump said Friday he would "probably" meet Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky next week, as Russia said its forces had seized the key mining town of Toretsk in east Ukraine. Zelensky said the US and Ukraine were planning "talks" but did not confirm a meeting between the two leaders. "We're also planning meetings and talks at ...

Ortagus: Hezbollah Should Not Be Part of the Government

Morgan Ortagus, the US Deputy Special Envoy to the Middle East, said that Hezbollah should not be part of the new Lebanese government that Prime Minister-designate Nawaf Salam is trying to  form. “Hezbollah has been defeated by Israel, and we are grateful for that,” Ortagus said after meeting with President Joseph Aoun at Baabda ...

Trump's Gaza Plan Derails Saudi-Israel Ties: Analysts

US President Donald Trump's plan to take over Gaza will imperil attempts to forge landmark ties between Saudi Arabia and Israel and fuel anti-American sentiment in the oil-rich kingdom, analysts said. Trump's proposal to redevelop Gaza and oust the more than two million Palestinians living in the territory prompted a global backlash and enraged ...

Judge Pauses Musk's Plan for Mass Cull of U.S. Government Workers

A judge on Thursday suspended a scheme masterminded by billionaire Elon Musk to slash the size of the U.S. government by encouraging federal workers to quit through a mass buyout. The federal judge in Massachusetts issued a temporary injunction on the plan's deadline — midnight Thursday — given by Musk for the country's more than two million ...

Iran Condemns New US Sanctions as 'Illegal' and 'Unjustified'

Iran on Friday condemned as "illegal" and "unjustified" new financial sanctions by the United States that target a network accused of shipping hundreds of millions of dollars worth of Iranian crude oil to China. "The decision of the new US government to exert pressure on the Iranian nation by preventing Iran's legal trade with its economic ...

Trump Sanctions ICC for its Probes Against Israel and the US

US President Donald Trump slapped sanctions on the International Criminal Court Thursday for "illegitimate and baseless" investigations targeting America and its ally Israel, the White House said. Trump signed an executive order saying the court in The Hague had "abused its power" by issuing an arrest warrant for Israeli Prime ...

Trump Administration Imposes First Sanctions on Iranian Oil Shipments to China

The US Treasury announced financial sanctions on Thursday, the first under the new administration of Donald Trump, that target an "international network" accused of shipping Iranian oil to China to fund Tehran's military activities. The sanctions target the network for "facilitating the shipment of millions of barrels of Iranian crude oil worth ...