8/18/2017

GUANTANAMO/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “The Trump administration is making a fresh attempt at drafting an executive order on handling terrorism detainees, reviving a struggle to navigate legal and geopolitical obstacles to expand use of the Guantánamo Bay wartime prison, according to officials familiar with internal deliberations.
Administration officials said President Trump had been expected to sign a detention policy order three weeks ago. But that plan changed after he fired his first chief of staff, Reince Priebus, on July 28 and replaced him with John F. Kelly, a retired Marine Corps general who once oversaw the prison operation at the American naval base in Cuba.
Instead, officials said, on July 31 — Mr. Kelly’s first day — the National Security Council announced that the White House wanted a new round of interagency deliberations. The message came during a secure video teleconference with counterterrorism strategy and legal officials at military, diplomatic and intelligence agencies.
The agencies were asked to consider three potential versions of the order and make recommendations by this week, according to an official familiar with that process…
Another official familiar with internal deliberations said Mr. Trump is unlikely to sign any detention order for several weeks because the changes may be wrapped into a broader counterterrorism policy review that is underway.
A spokesman for the National Security Council declined to comment.”

-Charlie Savage and Adam Goldman, “Trump Officials Renew Effort to Expand Use of Prison at Guantánamo,” The New York Times online, Aug. 18, 2017