US President Donald Trump's communications director resigns

The White House on Tuesday said communications director Mike Dubke has resigned, the first in what is expected to be a series of moves to shake up Donald Trump’s press team.

Dubke, 47, occupied the high-powered but low-profile, post for three crisis-filled months. “I can confirm that Dubke has resigned,” an official told AFP.

No date for his departure, which has been in the works for almost two weeks, has been announced.

For months rumors have echoed around the West Wing about Trump being poised to fire his public relations staff en masse.

Many come from the Republican Party establishment and have been uneasy allies with the president.

Trump has privately and publicly expressed fury over a litany of bad headlines, lashing out at reporters, alleged “fake news” headlines and staff.

The president’s failure to pass significant legislation, legal challenges to his executive orders and a rolling scandal over his inner circle’s ties with Russia have hobbled his young administration.

That has put the future of press secretary Sean Spicer and his staff into doubt.

Although the White House communications director is a much less recognizable figure than Spicer, they are usually major players — defining how the West Wing communicates and shaping the media agenda.

During Barack Obama’s administration top aide and confidant Dan Pfeiffer held the post.

AFP

US President Donald Trump satisfied with outcome of 1st overseas trip

NEWS UPDATE - 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 travelled 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.

“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.

United States President Trump's Decision To Take His Wife & Daughter On His Trip Fuels Rumours Of Rivalry

Who's The Real First Lady? Trump's Decision To Take His Wife & Daughter On His Trip Fuels Rumours Of Rivalry

Theirs is the White House rivalry that dares not speak its name, but which, this week, was rather too glaring to ignore.

Donald Trump went on his first international trip as President and took with him his wife Melania, 47, and his daughter Ivanka, 35.

Normally, there is no confusion on the identity of America's First Lady - it's the President's wife. Nowadays, however, it's not so clear.

For Ivanka Trump, the President's daughter by his first marriage, to Czech model Ivana  has taken an increasingly prominent White House role alongside her husband, Jared Kushner, now reportedly Mr Trump's closest adviser.

With the fragrant, ever-smiling Ivanka turning up at State dinners, world leader receptions and top-level government meetings, her stepmother Melania has remained in New York with her young son Barron. Melania has been far more out of the spotlight than Ivanka of late.

United States President Trump to create ‘war room’ in White House

Once President Trump wraps up an initial foreign trip that aides believe has gone very well, the Commander-in-Chief plans to strike quickly next week to beef up the White House staff with a “war room” aimed at taking the fight to the administration’s critics more aggressively, according to two advisers to the president.

The names of David Bossie and Corey Lewandowski, two trusted hands from the Trump campaign, are being bantied about as possible additions to the White House staff.

But the advisers to the president stress both men are currently focused on continuing to help the president from outside, and no final decisions have been made on whether the president will ask them to officially join the administration or simply defend the president more aggressively from the outside.

The advisers to the president describe a hands-on Trump who is prepared to go on offense after realising perhaps belatedly that he has to get far more serious about two critical matters, pushing back against leakers in the federal government and dealing with the political damage from the various Russia investigations led by Congressional committees and Special Counsel Robert Mueller.

“It’s all hands on deck,” said one of the advisers to the president who is involved in the planning.

The second adviser added bluntly, “there are going to be some changes” to the president’s existing staff.

However, both advisers were adamant about stressing that the continued speculation about a massive staff “shakeup” is overblown, and that there is nothing imminent in terms of potential changes for Press Secretary Sean Spicer and other top aides.

Instead, the president’s moves next week are more likely to be about addition than subtraction. “It is about bolstering and adding on to the staff,” noted one of the advisers.

The website Axios quoted one Trump ally as saying, “The White House is embracing the fight, which is going to last as long as Donald Trump is president. We’re getting street fighters ready to go.”

The president has already selected Mark Kasowitz, a tough New York lawyer, to lead his outside legal team to focus on the investigations.

One adviser to the President noted Kasowitz is “ready to rumble” with the President’s critics from outside the White House, so now the focus is who will be added to the West Wing to help Trump.

In the spotlight now are Bossie and Lewandowski, two people who have the trust of the president but did not join the administration in the early months.

Advisers now describe Bossie and Lewandowski as still wanting to help Trump from the outside, but both men would be honoured and hard-pressed to say no if the President asks them for more direct help when he returns from the foreign trip.

Lewandowski said on “Tucker Carlson Tonight” Wednesday night that he has no plans to join the administration and only goes to the White House as a visitor.

But he still left the door open by saying he would be honoured if the president wants him to work in the White House.

“My loyalty is to the president and the agenda he ran on,” Lewandowski said, adding “if I can help the president do that, of course.”

Source: Fox News

Appeal Court Judge Rebukes President Trump

In a stinging rebuke to President Donald Trump, a U.S. Appeals Court refused on Thursday to reinstate his temporary travel ban on people from six Muslim-majority nations, delivering another blow to the White House in a legal battle likely headed to the Supreme Court.

The decision, written by Chief Judge Roger Gregory, described Trump’s executive order in forceful terms, saying it uses “vague words of national security, but in context drips with religious intolerance, animus, and discrimination.”

In a 10-3 ruling, a majority of judges on the U.S. 4th Circuit Court of Appeals said that the challengers to the ban -who included refugee groups and individuals – were likely to succeed on their claim that Trump’s order violates the U.S. Constitution’s bar on favoring one religion over another.

Citing statements by Trump during his presidential election campaign calling for a “Muslim ban,” Gregory wrote that a reasonable observer would likely conclude that the order’s “primary purpose is to exclude persons from the United States on the basis of their religious beliefs.”

The appeals court was reviewing a March ruling by Maryland-based federal judge Theodore Chuang that blocked part of Trump’s March 6 executive order barring people from Libya, Iran, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen for 90 days while the government put in place stricter visa screening.

A similar ruling against Trump’s policy from a Hawaii-based federal judge is still in place and the 9th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals court is reviewing that decision.

The Trump administration has argued that the temporary travel ban is a national security measure aimed at preventing Islamist militant attacks.

The March ban was Trump’s second effort to implement travel restrictions through an executive order. The first, issued on Jan. 27 just a week after the Republican president took office, led to chaos and protests at airports before it was blocked by courts.

The second order was intended to overcome the legal issues posed by the original ban, but it was blocked by judges before it could go into effect on March 16.

The case is likely to be appealed to the Supreme Court, which would make the final decision.

Federal Appeal Court Upholds Decision Blocking Trump's Travel Ban

NEWS UPDATE - A federal appeals court dealt another blow to President Trump's revised travel ban targeting six Muslim-majority countries on Thursday, siding with groups that say the policy illegally targets Muslims.

The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a lower court ruling that blocks the Republican's administration from temporarily suspending new visas for people from Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen. So, this latest ruling preserves the status quo.

The Richmond, Virginia-based 4th Circuit is the first appeals court to rule on the revised travel ban, which Mr. Trump's administration had hoped would avoid the legal problems that the first version encountered.

"Congress granted the president broad power to deny entry to aliens, but that power is not absolute. It cannot go unchecked when, as here, the president wields it through an executive edict that stands to cause irreparable harm to individuals across this nation," the chief judge of the circuit, Roger L. Gregory wrote.

Trump will likely appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court, the venue the president's travel ban has long been expected to reach.

JUST IN: Trump-Russia probe shifts to Deutsche Bank

US POLITICS - Democrats on a U.S. of House of Representatives panel have asked Deutsche Bank to provide information on whether any accounts connected to President Donald Trump have ties to Russia, adding another dimension to probes into connections between Moscow and Trump.

Democrats on the U.S. House Financial Services Committee said on Wednesday they had sent a letter the previous day to Deutsche Bank Chief Executive Officer John Cryan seeking details of internal reviews to determine if Trump’s loans for his real estate business were backed by the Russian government.

The congressional inquiry also seeks information about a Russian “mirror trading” scheme that allowed $10 billion to flow out of Russia.

“Congress remains in the dark on whether loans Deutsche Bank made to President Trump were guaranteed by the Russian government, or were in any way connected to Russia,” the Democrats wrote. “It is critical that you provide this committee with the information necessary to assess the scope, findings and conclusions of your internal reviews.”

The Democrats requested the documents from the bank, but cannot compel it to hand over the information. The committee has the power to subpoena the documents, but that would require cooperation from committee Republicans who make up the majority of the panel because the party has control of the House. No Republicans signed on to the document request.

Citing media reports, the Democrats called for the bank to hand over any documents tied to internal reviews of Trump’s personal accounts at the bank. They also said the bank should state publicly that it had reviewed both the “mirror trading” scheme and Trump’s accounts.

Mirror trading involved buying stocks, for example, in Moscow in rubles, with related parties selling the same stocks shortly thereafter through a bank’s London branch.

They also called on the bank to name an independent auditor to verify the results of the reviews, which should be turned over to the committee “as soon as reasonably practicable.”

Renee Calabro, a spokeswoman for Deutsche, declined to comment.

The House panel request to Deutsche comes as Trump is mired in controversy over FBI and congressional probes into alleged Russian meddling in the 2016 U.S. presidential election and potential collusion between the Moscow and the Trump campaign. Moscow has denied the allegations, and Trump has denied any collusion

US President Trump spills another US secret to Duterte

Still mired in controversy over telling Russia about a planned ISIS attack, President Donald Trump is caught in yet another, this time spilling US military secret to President Rodrigo Duterte of Philippines..

The New York Times reported that Trump told Duterte that Washington has sent two nuclear submarines to waters off the Korean peninsula,  a disclosure likely to raise questions about his handling of sensitive information.

Trump has said “a major, major conflict” with North Korea is possible because of its nuclear and missile programs and that all options are on the table but that he wants to resolve the crisis diplomatically.

North Korea has vowed to develop a missile mounted with a nuclear warhead that can strike the mainland United States, saying the program is necessary to counter U.S. aggression.

Trump told Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte Washington had “a lot of firepower over there”, according to the New York Times, which quoted a transcript of an April 29 call between the two.

“We have two submarines — the best in the world. We have two nuclear submarines, not that we want to use them at all,” the newspaper quoted Trump as telling Duterte, based on the transcript.

The report was based on a Philippine transcript of the call that was circulated on Tuesday under a “confidential” cover sheet by the Americas division of the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs.

In a show of force, the United States has sent the nuclear-powered USS Carl Vinson aircraft carrier to waters off the Korean peninsula, where it joined the USS Michigan, a nuclear submarine that docked in South Korea in late April.

According to the Times, a senior Trump administration official in Washington, who was not authorised to publicly discuss the call and insisted on anonymity, confirmed the transcript was an accurate representation of the call between the two leaders.

U.S. officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, have said Trump discussed intelligence about Islamic State with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Russian Ambassador Sergei Kislyak at talks in the Oval Office this month, raising questions about Trump’s handling of secrets.

Trump also praised Duterte for doing an “unbelievable job on the drug problem”, the New York Times reported, a subject that has drawn much criticism in the West.

US President Trump, Pope Francis meet one on one

US President Donald Trump has finally met Pope Francis, after they clashed at a distance on issues including migration and climate change.

They met at the Vatican for a short private audience on the third leg of his overseas trip.

He arrived for the meeting along with his wife Melania, daughter Ivanka and son-in-law Jared Kushner.

Mr Trump and his entourage arrived at the Vatican just before 06:30 GMT.


They were led by the Swiss Guard from the Vatican courtyard to the offices of Pope Francis.

On one hand, the Jesuit who has made his mission the championing of the poor and dispossessed; on the other the property developer who has championed getting rich, and surrounded himself with billionaires in his cabinet.

And though this is their first meeting, they've already sparred. During the election the Pope on a visit to the Mexico-US border said that people who only think of building walls instead of bridges were not Christian.

Donald Trump described those comments as disgraceful, and accused the pontiff of being a pawn of the Mexican government.

Former US President Obama floors Donald Trump in internet comparison

US President Trump is fond of comparing himself to Barack Obama, describing how he is stronger, and generally better than his predecessor.

But when it comes to signing guest books, Mr Trump may decide it’s better to cede the field.

Social media users seized on a 19-word, mixed-capitals note that Mr Trump left at Israel’s Holocaust memorial and compared it to a much longer, more thoughtful note written by Barack Obama.

“IT IS A GREAT HONOR TO BE HERE WITH ALL OF MY FRIENDS – SO AMAZING AND WILL NEVER FORGET!” Mr Trump wrote at Yad Vashem on Tuesday after laying a wreath in memory of the six million Jews killed by the Nazis.

The note was immediately compared to an entry by Mr Obama from July 2008.

“I am grateful to Yad Vashem and all those responsible for this remarkable institution. At a time of great peril and promise, war and strife, we are blessed to have such a powerful reminder of man’s potential for great evil, but also our capacity to rise up from tragedy and remake our world.

“Let our children come here, and know this history, so that they can add their voices to proclaim ‘never again’. And may we remember those who perished, not only as victims, but also as individuals who hoped and loved and dreamed like us, and who have become symbols of the human spirit.”

Barack Obama’s note at Yad Vashem Credit: GALI TIBBON/AFP/Getty Images

The stark differences in the entries reflect the literary tastes of the two presidents.

Mr Obama is an avid reader who wrote several books and enjoyed long dinners with novelists and other artists to talk about their work.

Mr Trump rarely reads book and prefers to watch television. His bestselling book The Art of the Deal was written by a ghostwriter.

Source: UK Telegrapgh

US President sure has problems with his wife Melania

United States President Donald Trump sure has a problem with his wife Melania. Twice, the US First Lady had rebuffed her husband as he made a bid to hold her publicly.

She did it in Israel.

She has done it again in Rome, as Trump arrived to begin the third leg of his overseas tour, the first since he was sworn on 20 January.

The People Magazine captured the second Melania rebuff of the most powerful leader on earth and says

“As the pair exited Air Force One in Rome Tuesday before a visit to the Vatican, the first lady can be seen pointedly using her left hand to fix her hair as the president makes an attempt to grab it.

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Oops she did it again?! Melania Trump appears to reject Donald’s attempt to hold her hand for the 2nd time in 2 days http://peoplem.ag/ekiJwsc 

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The subtle move happened just one day after she was also seen subtly rebuffing her husband’s attempt at hand-holding as the pair walked away from the presidential plane on the Israeli tarmac.

The state of the Trump’s union has been the subject of scrutiny in recent weeks after the first lady’s verified personal Twitter account liked a tweet about her dramatic change in facial expressions at the inauguration when she smiled, then scowled, after the president glanced in her direction.

The tweet was un-liked after Twitter caught on, and Melania’s communications director, Stephanie Grisham, later told PEOPLE “The First Lady wasn’t aware of any of this until I brought it to her attention. It isn’t her primary account and we have since changed the passwords.”

Read More from Source

Iran president mocks Trump's visit to Saudi Arabia

President Hassan Rouhani of Iran has just dismissed US President Donald Trump's visit to Saudi Arabia over the weekend describing it as a "theatrical gathering" that would do nothing to combat terrorism in the region.

In a news conference in Tehran today, Rouhani said Trump's first visit abroad was a "theatrical gathering with no practical or political value".
He continued to say,

"you can't solve terrorism just by giving your people's money to a superpower"Rouhani sai referring to a $110 billion military deal Trump clinched with Saudi Arabia recently.

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Bahram Qassemi also called on Washington to abandon its "warmongering policy, intervention, Iranophobia and sales of dangerous and useless weapons to the main sponsors of terrorism.

"Unfortunately, under the hostile and aggressive policies of the American statesmen, we are witnessing a renewed strengthening of terrorist groups in the region and miscalculation of the dictatorships which support these groups".

US President, Trump visits Israel despite formidable security

Mr Trump is visiting Israel and the Palestinian territories, as he continues his Middle East trip.

He flies in from Saudi Arabia, a key US ally, where he gave a speech to Arab and Muslim leaders at a summit.

The US president will hold talks with both Israeli and Palestinian leaders during the course of his two-day stop.

President Trump has called an Israeli-Palestinian peace agreement "the ultimate deal", but has been vague about what form it should take.

He has said he prefers to leave it to both sides to decide between them in direct talks.

At a summit in Riyadh on Sunday, Mr Trump called on Arab and Muslim leaders to take the lead in combating Islamist militants, urging them to "drive them out of this earth".

He singled out Iran, saying it had "fuelled the fires of sectarian conflict and terror" in the region for decades.

Donald Trump also stated again that he believed peace between Israelis and Palestinians was possible.

Trump has been widely seen as considerably more supportive of Israel than his predecessor, Barack Obama. He has taken a softer position on the contentious issue of Israeli settlements, suggesting that their expansion rather than their existence might hamper the search for peace.

Over 600,000 Jews live in about 140 settlements built since Israel's 1967 occupation of the West Bank and East Jerusalem, land Palestinians claim for a future state. The settlements are considered illegal under international law, though Israel disputes this.

Mr Trump has also sent mixed signals on the issue of Jerusalem, pledging to move the US embassy there from Tel Aviv, angering Palestinians and delighting Israelis.

Nevertheless he has since stalled, with Secretary of State Rex Tillerson recently telling NBC News Mr Trump was weighing it up.

BBC

US President Trump to give speech on Islam in Saudi

President Donald Trump is expected to underline the need to confront extremism in Islam when he makes a speech in Saudi Arabia later on Sunday.

His address, to a summit of regional leaders, will come on the second day of his first presidential trip abroad.

It is expected he will attempt to strike a collaborative tone in attempts to bolster support for the US fight against Islamic State (IS) militants.

On Saturday, the US signed trade deals of $350bn (£270bn) with Saudi Arabia.

This included the largest arms deal ever made in US history, which Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said was aimed at countering the "malign" influence of Iran, Saudi Arabia's regional rival.

But the president's visit has been overshadowed by his political difficulties at home, namely the fallout over his sacking of FBI chief James Comey.

Mr Trump caused controversy during his campaign by calling for Muslims to be temporarily banned from entering the US over security concerns. Legislation aimed at restricting travel from several Muslim-majority countries remains tied up in the US courts.

According to a report by CNN, the same man who wrote the travel ban has written his speech about Islam.

Mr Trump has made a litany of controversial comments about Islam, including suggesting he would be open to creating a database of all the Muslims in the US, linking the religion with violence.

He has also criticised other politicians for not using the phrase "radical Islamic terrorism" - a phrase which, according to advisers quoted in the US media, will not feature in the speech.

To the relief of his hosts, day one of President Trump's Saudi visit passed off successfully.

Bedevilled by problems back home, in Riyadh he is among newfound friends. The Saudis have sealed their rejuvenated alliance with Washington by signing billions of dollars' worth of contracts with US firms, exactly the sort of domestic boost the president needs.

But today will be altogether more delicate territory.

At the Arab Islamic American Summit on Saturday, President Trump will talk of the need for a combined front against religious extremism and intolerant ideology.

It is a message some may find hard to accept from such a controversial figure as Donald Trump but for now, Saudi officials are giving him the benefit of the doubt.

Mr Trump's eight-day trip will also take in Israel, the Palestinian territories, Brussels, the Vatican, and Sicily.

U.S.: Firing FBI chief 'eased pressure' - Trump

US President Donald Trump told Russian officials that firing FBI director James Comey eased "great pressure" on him, US media report.

The New York Times, citing a document summarising last week's meeting, says he called Mr Comey a "real nut job".

Mr Comey had been running an inquiry into possible collusion between Russia and Donald Trump's election campaign.

The ex-FBI chief has agreed to testify before the Senate Intelligence Committee about the investigation.

The latest report was published just as Mr Trump took off on a flight to the Middle East for the first leg of his first foreign tour as president.

"I just fired the head of the F.B.I. He was crazy, a real nut job," Mr. Trump said, according to the report.

"I faced great pressure because of Russia. That's taken off."

The White House has not disputed the language used in the meeting at the Oval Office between Mr Trump, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and the Russian Ambassador Sergei Kislyak.

In another development, the Washington Post reported that a current White House official is a "significant person of interest" in the investigation into alleged links between the Trump campaign and Russia.

It quoted unnamed sources familiar with the investigation as saying it was someone "close to the president" but they would not identify them further. The White House has denied there was collusion between the campaign and any "foreign entity".

Sigmar Gabriel not quite impressed with the Donald Trump led administration.

At the German-American Conference, a meeting of US and German government and business leaders that held in Berlin on Tuesday, Gabriel said, "admittedly, many things are irritating us. We should not only respond to messages or tweets, we should ask what is our role in proactively shaping policy".
He's also not happy about the Trump Administration's threats to erect trade barriers and to pull out of the Paris Agreement on climate change saying "It's in the long-term interest of all of humanity that the US doesn't quit the Paris Agreement".

The Trump Administration has made it clear that it thinks Germany should spend a lot more money on its military. Tillerson says Germany can afford to spend at least 2% of its $3.5 trillion GDP on defense.

At the moment, Germany spends closer to 1%

Donald Trump gives condition for N/Korea talk

U.S. President Donald Trump told South Korea’s presidential envoy that Washington was willing to try to resolve the North Korean nuclear crisis through engagement, but under the right conditions, South Korea’s foreign ministry said on Thursday.

Trump has said “a major, major conflict” with North Korea is possible and all options are on the table but that he wanted to resolve the crisis diplomatically, possibly through the extended use of economic sanctions.

South Korean President Moon Jae-in, who took office on May 9, has campaigned on a more moderate approach towards the North but he has said it must change its attitude of insisting on arms development before dialogue can be possible.

Moon’s envoy to Washington, South Korean media mogul Hong Seok-hyun, said Trump spoke of being willing to use engagement to ensure peace, Hong said in comments carried by television on Thursday.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Cho June-hyuck in a regular media briefing said: “the fact that Trump said he will not have talks for the sake of talks reiterated our joint stance that we are open to dialogue but the right situation must be formed.”

Cho added that South Korea and the U.S. agreed during a visit to Seoul by Trump’s national security advisers on Monday to formulate a “bold and pragmatic” joint approach.

The North has vowed to develop a missile mounted with a nuclear warhead that can strike the mainland U.S., saying the programme is necessary to counter U.S. aggression.

The U.S., which has 28,500 troops in South Korea to guard against the North Korean threat, has called on China to do more to rein in its neighbor.

North Korea conducted its latest ballistic missile test on Sunday in defiance of UN Security Council resolutions, saying it was a test of its capability to carry a “large-size heavy nuclear warhead”.

A senior North Korean diplomat has said Pyongyang is also open to having talks with Washington under the right conditions.

Moon’s envoy to China, former prime minister Lee Hae-chan, left for Beijing on Thursday with a letter from Moon to deliver to China President Xi Jinping.

Before leaving, Lee said a summit between Xi and Moon could happen as soon as July on the sidelines of a Group of 20 meeting in Germany.

A separate summit could also be held the following month, Lee said.

Moon has sent envoys to the United States, China, Japan and the European Union this week in what the government has called “pre-emptive diplomacy”.

Reuters

Former FBI boss, Robert Mueller to lead Russia inquiry

A former FBI boss, Robert Mueller, has been named special counsel to oversee an inquiry into Russia's alleged interference in the US election.

Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein said it was in the public interest to bring in an outsider.

The appointment has been widely praised by politicians from both sides.

Calls for a special prosecutor had mounted since President Donald Trump fired the most recent FBI director, James Comey, last week.

READ MORE: US President Trump accepts sharing information with Russia

The FBI and Congress are looking into potential links between Mr Trump's campaign team and Russia.

Just over an hour after the news of Mr Mueller's appointment emerged, President Trump predicted the investigation would confirm there had been no collusion.

"A thorough investigation will confirm what we already know - there was no collusion between my campaign and any foreign entity," he said.

The top Democrat in the Senate, Chuck Schumer, said Mr Mueller was "exactly the right kind of individual for this job".
READ MORE: TRUMP’S FIRING OF JAMES COMEY IS AN ATTACK ON AMERICAN DEMOCRACY
And the House Oversight Committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz said he had "impeccable credentials".

In his statement announcing the move, Mr Rosenstein said: "The public interest requires me to place this investigation under the authority of a person who exercises a degree of independence from the normal chain of command."

US President Trump accepts sharing information with Russia

US President Donald Trump acknowledged Tuesday that he shared information with top Russian envoys at an Oval Office meeting last week, but argued that it was his “absolute right” to do so, despite an outcry about potentially leaking sensitive data.

His early morning tweet appeared to fly in the face of repeated White House denials of a Washington Post report on Monday.

The newspaper reported that Trump revealed highly classified information about the Islamic State terrorist group during his talks with the Russian foreign minister and ambassador to the US on May 10, citing current and former administration officials.

Trump called it his “absolute right” to provide the Russians with facts that could help in the fight against terrorism.

“As president, I wanted to share with Russia (at an openly scheduled WH [White House] meeting) which I have the absolute right to do, facts pertaining … to terrorism and airline flight safety,” Trump wrote.

Trump did not respond to repeated questions by reporters about whether he had shared classified information, but called the talks with Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov “very, very successful.”

When asked by reporters about the controversy, Trump said the talks focused on cooperation in fighting terrorism, declaring “we’re gonna have a lot of great success over the next coming years.”

National Security Advisor HR McMaster maintained later Tuesday that Trump did not compromise any intelligence sources or methods and his discussions with Russian officials last week were “appropriate.”

McMaster would not discuss whether Trump revealed classified information or not, but said he is not concerned that Trump’s conversation would prompt the source to stop sharing intelligence.

“What he discussed was wholly appropriate to that conversation and is consistent with the sharing of information by the president with any partners with which he’s engaged,” McMaster told reporters.

The New York Times reported that Israel was the source of the intelligence, quoting a current and a former US official familiar with how the United States obtained the information. Neither is identified.

The White House would not say that Israel was the source, but spokesman Sean Spicer did stress the importance of the US-Israeli alliance during a news conference.

“We appreciate the strong relationship that we have with Israel with respect to intelligence sharing, and hopefully can continue to grow that bond,” Spicer said, pointing to remarks by Israeli Ambassador Ron Dermer.

Dermer had told the Times that Israel had “full confidence in our intelligence-sharing relationship with the United States and looks forward to deepening that relationship ahead under President Trump.”

Trump is scheduled to visit Israel during his first trip abroad as president starting later this week.

Passing on sensitive information gathered by Israel to the Russians raises the possibility that the information could be passed to Iran, Russia’s close ally and Israel’s main threat in the Middle East.

Late Monday, the White House blasted the story as “false.” McMaster Tuesday said he stood by his statement that the “premise is false” because Trump had not had an “inappropriate” conversation.

The Russian Foreign Ministry called the story “fake.”

According to the Post, Trump discussed details with Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and ambassador Sergei Kislyak of a suspected plot by Islamic State involving laptop computers to target aircraft.

The newspaper alleged that, by sharing the information with a US adversary, Trump had jeopardized a key intelligence source in the US-led fight against Islamic State militants in Syria and Iraq.

Trump’s revelations to the Russians included the city within Islamic State-heldterritory where the unnamed US partner had gleaned the threat information. The Post said it was withholding the city and other details of the plot on the advice of US officials.

The partner that provided the now-exposed information in an intelligence-sharing arrangement had not agreed to the United States passing the information to Russia, it said.

The reports have prompted serious concerns among lawmakers and intelligence officials about the president’s handling of classified information.

Congressman Adam Schiff, the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, said Trump’s tweets suggested he had discussed something of concern and worried about whether allies can trust the US with intelligence.(dpa/NAN)

“We immediately have to go into damage mitigation mode,” he said.

Donald Trump asked FBI's Comey to drop Flynn inquiry - reports

President Donald Trump asked FBI chief James Comey to drop an inquiry into links between his ex-national security adviser and Russia, US media report.

"I hope you can let this go," Mr Trump reportedly told Mr Comey after a White House meeting in February, according to a memo written by the ex-FBI director.

The memo was written immediately after the meeting, a day after Michael Flynn resigned, according to media reports.

The White House has denied the allegation in a statement.

Media captionA wild week for Trump in Washington

"The president has never asked Mr Comey or anyone else to end any investigation, including any investigation involving General Flynn," it said.

Mr Flynn was forced out in February after he misled the vice-president about his conversations with Russia's ambassador before Mr Trump took office.

The latest Russian twist, first reported by the New York Times, comes a week after Mr Trump fired Mr Comey over his handling of the FBI investigation into Hillary Clinton's use of a private email server while at the state department.

Mr Comey's dismissal sent shockwaves through Washington, with critics accusing the president of trying to thwart the FBI investigation into Russia's alleged interference in the US election and any Moscow ties to Trump associates.

Mr Comey reportedly wrote a memo following a meeting with the president on 14 February that revealed Mr Trump had asked him to close an investigation into Mr Flynn's actions.

He reportedly shared the memo with top FBI associates.

"I hope you can see your way clear to letting this go, to letting Flynn go," the president told Mr Comey, according to the memo. "He is a good guy."

Mr Comey did not respond to his request, according to the memo, but replied: "I agree he is a good guy."

In response to the report, a White House official pointed out that acting FBI director Andrew McCabe had testified last week that there had been "no effort to impede our investigation to date". READ MORE