7/24/2018

IRAN/NUCLEAR/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT/TRUMP PEOPLE: “U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday [7-24-18] kept open the possibility of negotiating an agreement to denuclearize Iran, two days after he rattled his saber at the nation on Twitter…Iran on Monday [7-23-18] dismissed Trump’s angry warning that Tehran risked dire consequences ‘the like of which few throughout history have suffered […]

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7/20/2018

NORTH KOREA/NUCLEAR/RUSSIA/TRUMP PEOPLE: “Even as the Trump administration looks for further nuclear arms reductions with Russia and full denuclearization with North Korea, the Pentagon is making crucial changes in nuclear weapons employment and options after Defense Secretary James Mattis and Gen. Joseph Dunford, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, recently called for classified […]

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7/18/2018

COMMERCE/NATIONAL SECURITY/NUCLEAR/TARIFFS/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “The Commerce Department has opened an investigation into whether uranium imports threaten national security, a move that could pave the way for tariffs on foreign producers of the radioactive material that fuels nuclear power plants. Uranium is used in commercial reactors that power a significant portion of the country’s electrical grid, […]

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7/18/2018

NORTH KOREA/NUCLEAR/RUSSIA/SANCTIONS/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “President Donald Trump said Wednesday [7-18-18] there is ‘no rush’ in its negotiations with North Korea over Pyongyang’s nuclear weapons program. The tweet came in a series of early morning messages from the President as he defended his inflammatory news conference with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Helsinki, Finland, earlier in […]

Read More… from 7/18/2018

7/15/2018

MEDIA/NORTH KOREA/NUCLEAR/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “There hasn’t been a missile or rocket fired in 9 months in North Korea, there have been no nuclear tests and we got back our hostages. Who knows how it will all turn out in the end, but why isn’t the Fake News talking about these wonderful facts? Because it is […]

Read More… from 7/15/2018

7/12/2018

MIKE POMPEO/NORTH KOREA/NUCLEAR/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “President Donald Trump took the unusual step Thursday [7-12-18] of releasing a letter he received last week from North Korean leader Kim Jong Un that hailed their summit meeting in Singapore as the ‘start of a meaningful journey’ and called for ‘practical actions’ on both sides. The letter illustrated Mr. […]

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7/9/2018

CHINA/FOREIGN POLICY/NORTH KOREA/NUCLEAR/TRADE WAR/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “President Donald Trump said Monday [7-9-18] that he was confident North Korean leader Kim Jong Un would ‘honor the contract’ the two leaders signed last month in Singapore, while suggesting that China was ‘exerting negative pressure’ on the agreement amid its trade fight with the U.S…After their meeting last […]

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7/9/2018

CHINA/NORTH KOREA/NUCLEAR/TRADE WAR/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “I have confidence that Kim Jong Un will honor the contract we signed &, even more importantly, our handshake. We agreed to the denuclearization of North Korea. China, on the other hand, may be exerting negative pressure on a deal because of our posture on Chinese Trade-Hope Not!” -Donald Trump, […]

Read More… from 7/9/2018

7/7/2018

MIKE POMPEO/NORTH KOREA/NUCLEAR/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT/TRUMP PEOPLE: “U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo brushed off North Korean charges that he used ‘gangster-like’ diplomacy in negotiations in Pyongyang, saying on Sunday [7-8-18] after meeting his Japanese and South Korean counterparts that he would keep pursuing denuclearization talks with North Korea. Pompeo said in Tokyo there was still […]

Read More… from 7/7/2018

7/4/2018

NORTH KOREA/NUCLEAR/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “When the North Koreans were shooting off missile tests and detonating new, more powerful atomic bombs last year, President Trump responded with threats of ‘fire and fury’ and ordered the military to come up with new, if highly risky, pre-emptive strike options. But since the one-day summit meeting last month in […]

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7/3/2018

ASIA/NORTH KOREA/NUCLEAR/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “Many good conversations with North Korea-it is going well! In the meantime, no Rocket Launches or Nuclear Testing in 8 months. All of Asia is thrilled. Only the Opposition Party, which includes the Fake News, is complaining. If not for me, we would now be at War with North Korea!” –Donald […]

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7/2/2018

NORTH KOREA/NUCLEAR/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “The Defense Intelligence Agency believes that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has no intention of engaging in a full denuclearization program, at least for now, according to an administration official familiar with the agency’s finding. A second official tells CNN the Trump administration plans to present the North Koreans with […]

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7/2/2018

MIKE POMPEO/NORTH KOREA/NUCLEAR/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Thursday [7-5-18] will leave for North Korea to engage in the first high-level talks on eliminating Pyongyang’s nuclear weapons and programs since the Singapore summit in June, U.S. officials said. The trip comes amid growing concerns that Washington and Pyongyang may not share the […]

Read More… from 7/2/2018

7/1/2018

MIKE POMPEO/NORTH KOREA/NUCLEAR/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT/TRUMP PEOPLE: “President Trump’s national security adviser said on Sunday [7-1-18] that North Korea could dismantle all of its nuclear weapons, threatening missiles and biological weapons ‘in a year,’ a far more aggressive schedule than the one Secretary of State Mike Pompeo outlined for Congress recently, reflecting a strain inside the […]

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6/27/2018

MIKE POMPEO/NORTH KOREA/NUCLEAR/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told US lawmakers on Wednesday [6-27-18] that North Korea remains a nuclear threat, but defended President Donald Trump for tweeting earlier this month, ‘There is no longer a Nuclear Threat from North Korea…’ Pompeo also confirmed North Korea has yet to return the remains of […]

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6/27/2018

NORTH KOREA/NUCLEAR/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “North Korea is upgrading its nuclear research center at a rapid pace, new satellite imagery analysis suggests, despite Pyongyang’s commitment to denuclearization at a summit with the U.S. this month. The analysis from 38 North, a North Korea-focused website published by the Stimson Center in Washington, found that Pyongyang, in recent […]

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6/21/2018

NORTH KOREA/NUCLEAR/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “U.S. President Donald Trump said on Thursday [6-21-18] North Korea was blowing up four of its big test sites and that a process of ‘total denuclearization … has already started,’ but officials said there was no such evidence since a landmark summit last week. Trump said at a Cabinet meeting in […]

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6/20/2018

NORTH KOREA/NUCLEAR/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “The Trump administration’s top nuclear expert involved in talks on ending North Korea’s nuclear weapons programs is leaving the White House as part of a regular rotation, three senior administration officials said on Wednesday [6-20-18]. The expert, Andrea Hall, has already been replaced by Julie Bentz as acting senior director of […]

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6/15/2018

MIKE POMPEO/NORTH KOREA/NUCLEAR/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “President Donald Trump’s assertion Friday [6-15-18] that he has ‘solved’ the North Korean nuclear weapons threat again diverged from how Secretary of State Mike Pompeo depicted the outcome of this week’s summit between Mr. Trump and North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un. Mr. Pompeo, in meetings in South Korea and […]

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6/14/2018

ASIA/MIKE POMPEO/NORTH KOREA/NUCLEAR/SANCTIONS/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told Asian powers on Thursday [6-14-18] that President Trump was sticking to demands that North Korea surrender its nuclear weapons, as he sought to hold together a fragile consensus on maintaining tough sanctions against the North despite Mr. Trump’s declaration that it was ‘no longer […]

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6/14/2018

MILITARY/NORTH KOREA/NUCLEAR/SOUTH KOREA/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “Harry Harris, the Trump administration’s nominee to be ambassador to South Korea, said North Korea continues to be a nuclear threat and that major military exercises should be paused to give Kim Jong Un a chance to prove whether he is ‘serious.’ President Donald Trump announced in Singapore that the […]

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6/13/2018

MIKE POMPEO/NORTH KOREA/NUCLEAR/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Wednesday [6-13-18] that the U.S. hopes to achieve ‘major disarmament’ of North Korea’s nuclear arsenal during President Donald Trump’s first term in office and would resume joint military exercises with South Korea if the talks stall. ‘We’re hopeful that we can achieve that in […]

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6/13/2018

NORTH KOREA/NUCLEAR/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “President Donald Trump declared Wednesday [6-13-18] that the North Korean regime no longer poses a nuclear threat following his summit with Kim Jong Un, even though the meeting produced no verifiable proof that the rogue regime will discontinue its nuclear program. In a series of tweets, Trump sought to take political […]

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6/13/2018

DEMS/GOP/NORTH KOREA/NUCLEAR/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “Lawmakers from both parties, deeply mistrustful of a leader who has brutalized his own country, greeted a joint agreement between the United States and North Korea coolly on Tuesday [6-12-18] , with top Republicans warning President Trump that any final accord on Kim Jong-un’s nuclear program should be submitted to the […]

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6/13/2018

MIKE POMPEO/NORTH KOREA/NUCLEAR/TRUMP PEOPLE: “Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Wednesday [6-13-18] that the Trump administration hopes to complete ‘major disarmament’ of North Korea within the next 2½ years, even as conflicting accounts of discussions between the two sides left unclear what had actually been agreed to. A day after President Trump’s landmark meeting […]

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6/13/2018

NORTH KOREA/NUCLEAR/SOUTH KOREA/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “A day after its leader’s historic talks with President Trump, North Korea wasted no time on Wednesday [6-13-18] spinning the results in its favor, claiming it had won major concessions from the United States. The authoritarian country’s state-controlled news media said that Mr. Trump had promised to eventually lift sanctions […]

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6/13/2018

NORTH KOREA/NUCLEAR/POLLS/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “Just over half of all Americans say they approve of how President Donald Trump has handled North Korea, but only a quarter think that his summit this week with Kim Jong Un will lead to the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula, according to a Reuters/Ipsos opinion poll released on Wednesday [6-13-18]. […]

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6/13/2018

NORTH KOREA/NUCLEAR/OBAMA/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “Before taking office people were assuming that we were going to War with North Korea. President Obama said that North Korea was our biggest and most dangerous problem. No longer – sleep well tonight!” -Donald Trump, Twitter.com, June 13, 2018 5:01 am […]

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6/13/2018

NORTH KOREA/NUCLEAR/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “Just landed – a long trip, but everybody can now feel much safer than the day I took office. There is no longer a Nuclear Threat from North Korea. Meeting with Kim Jong Un was an interesting and very positive experience. North Korea has great potential for the future!” -Donald Trump, […]

Read More… from 6/13/2018

6/12/2018

NORTH KOREA/NUCLEAR/SENATE/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “Lawmakers from both parties, deeply mistrustful of a leader who has brutalized his own country, greeted a joint agreement between the United States and North Korea coolly on Tuesday [6-12-18], with top Republicans warning President Trump that any final accord on Kim Jong-un’s nuclear program should be submitted to the Senate […]

Read More… from 6/12/2018

6/12/2018

MILITARY/NORTH KOREA/NUCLEAR/SOUTH KOREA/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “President Donald Trump won few specific new commitments from Kim Jong Un to surrender his nuclear weapons after a day of talks, but kick-started a new phase of personal diplomacy aimed at pushing the North Korean leader toward a rapid and verifiable disarmament. In a two-page document signed by both […]

Read More… from 6/12/2018

6/11/2018

NORTH KOREA/NUCLEAR/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “President Trump has imagined himself at the center of high-stakes nuclear negotiations since at least the mid-1980s, when he tried, unsuccessfully, to persuade the Reagan administration that it needed a New York real estate deal maker to lead arms-control talks with the Soviet Union. When, in 1989, he ran into the […]

Read More… from 6/11/2018

6/11/2018

NORTH KOREA/NUCLEAR/SINGAPORE/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT:“President Trump and Kim Jong-un of North Korea will hold the first-ever meeting between leaders of their two countries on Tuesday [6-12-18] morning in Singapore, carrying with them hopes of ending seven decades of hostility and the threat of a nuclear confrontation. At stake is the American goal of ridding North Korea […]

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6/11/2018

NORTH KOREA/NUCLEAR/SOUTH KOREA/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “There is literally nothing in the history of the past three decades to suggest that the diplomatic dance President Donald Trump begins with North Korea on Tuesday [6-12-18] will succeed—no hard evidence Pyongyang will give up its nuclear-weapons program, no record of North Korea’s honoring international agreements, no sign it […]

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6/8/2018

IRAN/NUCLEAR/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “With the Trump administration’s controversial decision to withdraw from the nuclear deal with Iran, the confrontation between the U.S. and the Islamic Republic has entered a new stage. Many of America’s European allies fear that Donald Trump is retracing the path of George W. Bush toward war in the Middle East—this time […]

Read More… from 6/8/2018

6/7/2018

JAPAN/NORTH KOREA/NUCLEAR/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “President Donald Trump on Thursday [6-7-18] said he doesn’t feel a need to prepare for his historic meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, arguing that the delicate and high-stakes negotiations over denuclearization will be based more on ‘attitude’ than legwork. In extensive remarks during a visit from Japanese Prime […]

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6/7/2018

NORTH KOREA/NUCLEAR/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “When President Donald Trump sits down on Tuesday [6-12-18] with Kim Jong Un, his top priority will be wresting a firm commitment that the North Korean leader is finally prepared to give up his nuclear weapons program in exchange for security guarantees. And that may be the easy part. Even if […]

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6/7/2018

IRAN/NUCLEAR/OIL/SAUDI ARABIA/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “A day before U.S. President Donald Trump withdrew from the Iran nuclear deal, one of his senior officials phoned Saudi Arabia to ask the world’s largest oil exporter to help keep prices stable if the decision disrupted supply. Riyadh, Tehran’s arch rival, has long been a close Washington ally, but direct […]

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6/6/2018

EU/IRAN/NUCLEAR/SANCTIONS/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “In a letter to senior Trump administration officials, European foreign and finance leaders this week tacitly acknowledged that their efforts to preserve the West’s nuclear deal with Iran were failing. In the letter, sent on Monday [6-4-18] to the Treasury secretary, Steven Mnuchin, and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, the European leaders […]

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6/6/2018

HOUSE OF REPS/NORTH KOREA/NUCLEAR/SINGAPORE/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “Republican and Democratic members of the U.S. House of Representatives introduced a bill on Wednesday [6-6-18] that would require President Donald Trump’s administration to provide a detailed report on North Korea’s nuclear program to set a ‘baseline’ for progress on talks with Pyongyang. The bill, seen by Reuters before […]

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6/4/2018

IRAN/NUCLEAR/SANCTIONS/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “Iran’s top leader says anyone who fires one missile at his country ‘will be hit by 10’ in response, but dismisses fears of war as ‘propaganda’ by the West. Tensions have soared since the Trump administration withdrew from the landmark 2015 nuclear accord and vowed to restore sanctions unless Iran meets a […]

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6/4/2018

HUMAN RIGHTS/NORTH KOREA/NUCLEAR/SINGAPORE/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “Barreling toward a historic summit with North Korea’s Kim Jong Un, President Donald Trump has his sights set on a nuclear deal, leaving allies and advocates worried that he may give short shrift to human rights abuses and regional security concerns. With a week to go before the June 12 […]

Read More… from 6/4/2018

6/1/2018

NORTH KOREA/NUCLEAR/SINGAPORE/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “North Korea wants the United States to know: It’s not about the money. In the flurry of diplomacy to get the planned Singapore summit talks between President Trump and Kim Jong-un back on track, North Korea has been emphatic that it will not relinquish its nuclear weapons in exchange for American […]

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6/1/2018

JOHN KELLY/NORTH KOREA/NUCLEAR/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “President Donald Trump received a top-level visitor from North Korea on Friday [6-1-18] who came bearing a letter from the country’s dictator Kim Jong Un as the two sides work toward a meeting between the two world leaders. Trump was meeting in the Oval Office with Kim’s envoy, Kim Yong […]

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5/31/2018

NORTH KOREA/NUCLEAR/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “U.S. President Donald Trump said talks with North Korea in New York have been very positive and he is expecting the delegation from Pyongyang to travel to Washington on Friday [6-1-18] to deliver a letter to him from leader Kim Jong Un…If the North Korean delegation goes to the White House, […]

Read More… from 5/31/2018

5/31/2018

NORTH KOREA/NUCLEAR/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT/TRUMP PEOPLE: “It was a quick but telling exchange. At a House committee hearing earlier this month, Democratic Rep. Joaquin Castro of Texas was grilling Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on the Trump administration’s plans for North Korea…’Will you leave them with a civilian nuclear program?’ Castro asked. After a long pause, […]

Read More… from 5/31/2018

5/30/2018

MIKE POMPEO/NORTH KOREA/NUCLEAR/SINGAPORE/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “Ever since President Trump pulled out of planned talks with Kim Jong-un, the leader of North Korea, officials from both countries have been scrambling to salvage the summit meeting and keep it on track for June 12 in Singapore. A process that normally would take months is now being compressed […]

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5/30/2018

MIKE POMPEO/NEW YORK/NORTH KOREA/NUCLEAR/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “A senior North Korean official arrived in New York on Wednesday [5-30-18] in the highest-level official visit to the United States in 18 years, as President Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un sought to salvage prospects for a high-stakes nuclear summit. Kim Yong Chol, the former military intelligence chief […]

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5/29/2018

NORTH KOREA/NUCLEAR/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “Any diplomatic agreement in which North Korea agreed to give up its nuclear weapons could take as long as 10 years to implement, according to a new analysis from former US officials. The assessment, released Monday [5-28-18] by experts at Stanford University, comes as the White House is trying to verify […]

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5/24/2018

MIKE PENCE/NORTH KOREA/NUCLEAR/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “North Korea’s senior envoy for U.S. affairs renewed a threat to call off a planned summit with President Donald Trump and warned that Pyongyang could ‘make the U.S. taste an appalling tragedy it has neither experienced nor even imagined.’ In its most direct language aimed at Washington following a recent […]

Read More… from 5/24/2018

5/24/2018

NORTH KOREA/NUCLEAR/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “North Korea said on Thursday [5-24-18] that it had destroyed its only known nuclear test site, three weeks before its leader, Kim Jong-un, had been planning to meet with President Trump. But only hours after the North Korean news, Mr. Trump announced he had decided to cancel the meeting ‘based on […]

Read More… from 5/24/2018

5/24/2018

NORTH KOREA/NUCLEAR/SOUTH KOREA/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “The Latest on President Donald Trump canceling his planned summit with North Korea (all times local): 5 p.m. South Korean President Moon Jae-in says he’s ‘very perplexed’ that the U.S.-North Korea summit won’t go ahead as planned. Yonhap news agency cited Moon as urging direct talks between President Donald Trump […]

Read More… from 5/24/2018

5/23/2018

MIKE POMPEO/NORTH KOREA/NUCLEAR/TRUMP PEOPLE: “Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told the House Foreign Affairs Committee Wednesday [5-23-18] that the denuclearization of North Korea is the top U.S. national security priority and that economic prosperity was a clear incentive for Pyongyang to give up its weapons. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un was candid about his […]

Read More… from 5/23/2018

5/23/2018

CHINA/NORTH KOREA/NUCLEAR/SINGAPORE/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “President Donald Trump’s spur-of-the-moment decision to agree to a face-to-face meeting with North Korea leader Kim Jong Un represented an unprecedented opportunity, but also a huge risk, most recently highlighted by a case of cold feet on both sides. Anticipation about the June 12 meeting in Singapore is turning to pessimism, […]

Read More… from 5/23/2018

5/21/2018

IRAN/MIKE POMPEO/NUCLEAR/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “Secretary of State Mike Pompeo used his first major policy address to deliver a hard-line speech on Monday [5-21-18], in which he demanded that Iran change just about everything regarding its behavior on the world stage. He insisted that Iran end all nuclear enrichment programs and close its heavy water reactor, […]

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5/21/2018

IRAN/MIKE POMPEO/NUCLEAR/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “The Trump administration escalated its demands on Iran, putting Tehran on notice that any new nuclear deal would require it to stop enriching all uranium and halt its support for militant groups in the region. The administration’s demands were outlined in a speech on Monday [5-21-18] by Secretary of State Mike […]

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5/21/2018

DEFENSE/IRAN/MIKE POMPEO/MILITARY/NUCLEAR/TRUMP PEOPLE: “The US will aim to ‘crush’ Iran with economic and military pressure unless it changes its behavior in the Middle East, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Monday [5-21-18]. Pompeo, unveiling the Trump administration’s new policy on Iran just weeks after President Donald Trump pulled out of the Iran nuclear deal, said […]

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5/21/2018

GERMANY/IRAN/NUCLEAR/TARIFFS/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “German companies are concerned that U.S. President Donald Trump is increasingly thinking only of America rather than just putting his country first, the head of Germany’s DIHK Chambers of Commerce told media. The United States has pulled out of the 2015 Iran nuclear deal and Germany has acknowledged it could be hard […]

Read More… from 5/21/2018

5/21/2018

CHINA/NORTH KOREA/NUCLEAR/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday [5-21-18] urged China on Monday to maintain a secure border with North Korea, pressing Beijing ahead of his anticipated meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un next month aimed at denuclearization…He did not elaborate on the significance of the North Korea-China border issue in […]

Read More… from 5/21/2018

5/17/2018

NORTH KOREA/NUCLEAR/SOUTH KOREA/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “A partial surrender of nuclear arms and missiles by North Korea could help break a deadlock between Washington and Pyongyang over how to begin the process of denuclearization, under a solution proposed by a senior U.S. official and an adviser to the South Korean president. The idea is intended to […]

Read More… from 5/17/2018

5/16/2018

NORTH KOREA/NUCLEAR/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “The White House brushed aside threats by North Korea on Wednesday [5-16-18] to cancel an upcoming summit meeting between President Trump and the North’s leader, Kim Jong-un, saying it was still ‘hopeful’ the meeting will happen — but that Mr. Trump would be fine if it did not. ‘The president is […]

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5/16/2018

NORTH KOREA/NUCLEAR/SOUTH KOREA/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “Amid fresh uncertainty over his planned summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, President Donald Trump Wednesday [5-16-18] said that he is committed to pressing for the country to abandon its nuclear program as part of any meeting. North Korea threatened earlier in the day to scrap the historic […]

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5/16/2018

MIKE POMPEO/NORTH KOREA/NUCLEAR/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “For weeks, President Donald Trump has said he might walk away from a bad deal with North Korea. On Wednesday [5-16-18], Pyongyang signaled that it, too, might turn its back on talks. North Korea’s warnings that it would cancel a June summit if Washington insists on rapid disarmament highlight the […]

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5/16/2018

LIBYA/NORTH KOREA/NUCLEAR/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT/TRUMP PEOPLE: “The White House on Wednesday [5-16-18] downplayed comments by national security adviser John Bolton, who recently invoked Libya’s decision to denuclearize during the Bush administration as a model for US policy on North Korea, potentially placing a planned US-North Korea summit in jeopardy. Hours earlier, a North Korean official said […]

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5/15/2018

EU/IRAN/NUCLEAR/SANCTIONS/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “The United States escalated its financial pressure on Iran Tuesday [5-15-18] by slapping terror sanctions on the head of its central bank and barring anyone around the world from doing business with him, underscoring President Donald Trump’s hard line after his withdrawal from the Iranian nuclear accord upset European allies. Valiollah Seif, […]

Read More… from 5/15/2018

5/14/2018

EU/IRAN/MIKE POMPEO/NUCLEAR/SANCTIONS/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo spoke to German, French and British counterparts in recent days to discuss cooperation over Iran, a State Department spokeswoman said on Monday 5-14-18] a week after U.S. President Donald Trump withdrew from the Iran nuclear deal…The White House on Sunday [5-13-18] threatened to impose sanctions […]

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5/14/2018

FOREIGN POLICY/IRAN/NORTH KOREA/NUCLEAR/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “Nobody said national-security policy was simple or easy. For proof, look at the current state of U.S. views on North Korea and Iran. At the moment, President Donald Trump has nice things to say about North Korea, which has built a nuclear weapon, has threatened to use it against the […]

Read More… from 5/14/2018

5/13/2018

EU/IRAN/MIKE POMPEO/NUCLEAR/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT/TRUMP PEOPLE: “John R. Bolton, the national security adviser, said on Sunday [5-13-18] that European officials should have known that President Trump would withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal, despite months of negotiations to salvage the accord that they believed had brought them close to satisfying the president’s demands…Mr. Bolton’s remarks could […]

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5/13/2018

IRAN/NUCLEAR/TRUMP PEOPLE: “While many hands gripped the sword that undercut the Iran nuclear deal, no one outside the Trump administration was a more persistent or effective critic than Mark Dubowitz, the chief executive of a hawkish Washington think tank. But rather than publicly celebrate President Trump’s decision Tuesday [5-8-18] to jettison the accord, he is […]

Read More… from 5/13/2018

5/13/2018

IRAN/MILITARY/NUCLEAR/SPENDING/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “President Donald Trump repeated a misleading claim about Iran’s military budget Saturday [5-12-18], saying it had increased by more than 40 percent since the negotiation of the Iran nuclear deal. ‘Iran’s Military Budget is up more than 40% since the Obama negotiated Nuclear Deal was reached…just another indicator that it was all […]

Read More… from 5/13/2018

5/11/2018

BRITAIN/IRAN/NUCLEAR/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Theresa May of the United Kingdom condemned recent suspected Iranian rocket attacks on Israel in a phone call on Friday [5-11-18], according to statements from both administrations. But only a U.K. readout of the call addressed May’s concerns about the United States’ withdrawal from the Iran […]

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5/10/2018

NORTH KOREA/NUCLEAR/SINGAPORE/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “Less than a year ago, President Trump was savaging Kim Jong-un, the North Korean leader, as a ‘madman’ and murderer of his own people, branding him as ‘Little Rocket Man’ for his nuclear testing exploits and poking fun at his portly stature. Early Thursday [5-10-18] morning, a jubilant Mr. Trump described […]

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5/10/2018

NORTH KOREA/NUCLEAR/SINGAPORE/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “President Trump announced on Thursday [5-10-18] that his meeting with the North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un, will be held on June 12 in Singapore. The announcement came in a tweet just hours after Mr. Trump met the three recently freed American hostages at Joint Base Andrews, where they arrived in the […]

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5/10/2018

IRAN/JAMES MATTIS/NUCLEAR/RUDY GIULIANI/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT/TRUMP PEOPLE: “Defense Secretary James Mattis may have come to terms with President Donald Trump’s decision to quit the Iran nuclear deal, but he suggested the administration is still grappling with how to define US policy on countering Tehran following public calls for regime change from national security adviser John Bolton […]

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5/9/2018

IRAN/NUCLEAR/SANCTIONS/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “President Trump said on Wednesday [5-9-18] that he expects Iran to continue to comply with the terms of the 2015 deal that limits Tehran’s nuclear program, even as the United States violates it by reimposing what he called ‘among the strongest sanctions that we’ve ever put on a country…’ Beyond betting that […]

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5/9/2018

IRAN/NUCLEAR/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “Iran’s supreme leader chastised President Donald Trump on Wednesday [5-9-18] over his decision to pull America out of the 2015 nuclear deal, while lawmakers lit a paper U.S. flag on fire inside parliament, shouting, ‘Death to America!’ The government backlash reflected broad public anger in Iran over Trump’s decision, which threatens to […]

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5/9/2018

IRAN/NUCLEAR/SANCTIONS/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “President Donald Trump warned Iran on Wednesday [5-9-18] against resuming its nuclear weapons program, a day after announcing that he was withdrawing the U.S. from the landmark Iran nuclear deal…The comments came a day after Trump announced he was withdrawing the U.S. from the accord with Iran, abruptly restoring harsh sanctions in […]

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5/9/2018

ASIA/EU/IRAN/MIDDLE EAST/MIKE POMPEO/NORTH KOREA/NUCLEAR/SANCTIONS/TRUMP PEOPLE: “Having returned from North Korea on Thursday [5-10-18], Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will embark on talks to persuade allies in Europe, the Middle East and Asia to press Iran to return to negotiations over its nuclear and missile programs, U.S. officials said. The open question is whether the allies, […]

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5/9/2018

MIKE POMPEO/NORTH KOREA/NUCLEAR/TRUMP PEOPLE: “Secretary of State Mike Pompeo extended an olive branch to senior North Korean officials on Wednesday [5-9-18]: ‘All the opportunities your people so richly deserve’ in exchange for the shutting down of the North’s nuclear weapons program…Mr. Pompeo arrived in Pyongyang on Wednesday on a mission to smooth any remaining wrinkles […]

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5/9/2018

FOREIGN POLICY/IRAN/NAFTA/NORTH KOREA/NUCLEAR/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “The relative caution that constrained President Trump for much of his first year in office has been cast aside, and an emboldened commander in chief is finally reshaping foreign policy to reflect the ‘America First’ philosophy he promised during his campaign. Having shed or sidelined some of the top advisers […]

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5/9/2018

EU/IRAN/NUCLEAR/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “European leaders on Wednesday [5-9-18] began drawing up plans to preserve the Iran nuclear accord, in defiance of President Donald Trump’s Tuesday [5-8-18] decision to abandon what he called the ‘rotten’ agreement. The possible action includes legislation that would block Washington from punishing European companies that continue to do business with Iran. […]

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5/9/2018

IRAN/NORTH KOREA/NUCLEAR/SANCTIONS/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “President Donald Trump announced Tuesday [5-8-18] he is quitting the Iran nuclear deal, pitting him against the United States’ closest allies and leaving the future of Tehran’s nuclear ambitions in question…In announcing his long-telegraphed decision, Trump said he would initiate new sanctions on the regime, crippling the touchstone agreement negotiated by […]

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5/9/2018

IRAN/NUCLEAR/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “Donald Trump’s exit from the Iran nuclear deal was one of the most significant moments of his presidency — and cemented a sharp turn in decades of US foreign policy orthodoxy. It also opened a new window into Trump’s political soul, showing his willingness to unleash the kind of chaos abroad he […]

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5/8/2018

IRAN/ISRAEL/NUCLEAR/SANCTIONS/SAUDI ARABIA/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “For President Trump and two of the allies he values most — Israel and Saudi Arabia — the problem of the Iranian nuclear accord was not, primarily, about nuclear weapons. It was that the deal legitimized and normalized the clerical Iranian government, reopening it to the world economy with oil revenue […]

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5/8/2018

IRAN/ISRAEL/NUCLEAR/SAUDI ARABIA/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “For President Trump and two of the allies he values most — Israel and Saudi Arabia — the problem of the Iranian nuclear accord was not, primarily, about nuclear weapons. It was that the deal legitimized and normalized Iran’s clerical government, reopening it to the world economy with oil revenue that […]

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5/8/2018

IRAN/NUCLEAR/OIL/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “Oil prices settled lower on Tuesday [5-8-18], recovering some losses after President Donald Trump announced his decision to abandon the Iran nuclear deal. Light, sweet crude for June delivery settled down 2.4% at $69.06 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, breaking a four-session winning streak. Brent, the global benchmark, fell […]

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5/8/2018

IRAN/JOE BIDEN/NUCLEAR/OBAMA/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “Former President Barack Obama on Tuesday [5-8-18] criticized President Donald Trump’s decision to exit the Iran deal, a pillar of Obama’s legacy on foreign policy…Trump announced on Tuesday afternoon that he was withdrawing the US from the nuclear agreement with Iran and said he would impose new sanctions. In his statement […]

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5/8/2018

FOREIGN POLICY/IRAN/NUCLEAR/SANCTIONS/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “The U.S. is pulling out of the Iranian nuclear accord, President Donald Trump announced Tuesday [5-8-18], dismantling his predecessor’s signature foreign-policy achievement and bucking the wishes of key allies around the globe. Speaking in the Diplomatic Room of the White House, Mr. Trump delivered harsh words about the deal, calling it […]

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5/8/2018

IRAN/NUCLEAR/SANCTIONS/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “President Donald Trump announced Tuesday [5-8-18] he is quitting the Iran nuclear deal, pitting him against the United States’ closest allies and leaving the future of Tehran’s nuclear ambitions in question. ‘It is clear to me that we cannot prevent an Iranian nuclear bomb under the decaying and rotten structure of the […]

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5/8/2018

IRAN/NUCLEAR/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “President Hassan Rouhani said on Tuesday [5-8-18] that Iran would remain committed to a multinational nuclear deal despite U.S. President Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw from the 2015 agreement designed to deny Tehran the ability to build nuclear weapons…The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) is the full name for the nuclear […]

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5/8/2018

IRAN/NUCLEAR/POLL/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “Almost two-thirds of Americans — 63% — believe that the US should not withdraw from the agreement made with Iran to prevent the country from developing nuclear weapons. Only 29% believe the US should withdraw, according to a new CNN poll conducted by SSRS. President Donald Trump is expected to announce Tuesday […]

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5/7/2018

IRAN/NUCLEAR/OBAMA/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “For years, opponents of the nuclear deal with Iran have accused Benjamin J. Rhodes, a top national security aide to President Barack Obama, of scheming to sell the diplomatic agreement on false pretenses to the American people. Now, just as President Trump appears likely to announce his decision to withdraw from the […]

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5/7/2018

EU/IRAN/NORTH KOREA/NUCLEAR/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “President Trump is expected to announce on Tuesday [5-7-18] that he is withdrawing the United States from the Iran nuclear deal, European diplomats said after concluding that they had failed to convince him that reneging on America’s commitment to the pact could cast the West into new confrontation with Tehran. If […]

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5/7/2018

IRAN/NUCLEAR/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “President Donald Trump said he would announce on Tuesday [5-8-18] his decision on whether to withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal, which he has repeatedly criticized. ‘I will be announcing my decision on the Iran Deal tomorrow from the White House at 2:00pm,’ Mr. Trump tweeted Monday [5-7-18] afternoon. Mr. Trump repeatedly […]

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5/4/2018

NORTH KOREA/NUCLEAR/SOUTH KOREA/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “President Trump has ordered the Pentagon to prepare options for drawing down American troops in South Korea, just weeks before he holds a landmark meeting with North Korea’s leader, Kim Jong-un, according to several people briefed on the deliberations. Reduced troop levels are not intended to be a bargaining chip […]

Read More… from 5/4/2018