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Top Palestinian Authority Official Denies Reports of Trump-Led Regional Peace Initiative

But he never uttered the words “two-state solution”, the longtime USA policy plan that would create a separate homeland for Palestinians. Abbas similarly refused a 2014 attempt by then-U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry to restart negotiations.

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In the week leading up to Trump’s first foreign trip, the White House was overwhelmed with a series of bombshell reports that raised more questions about Trump and his campaign associates’ ties to Russian Federation. And some are starting to question the chances for Trump’s pledge to overhaul the USA tax code.

Trump will spend Saturday at the second day of the G-7 summit in Sicily, bringing to an end a nine-day trip that started in Saudi Arabia and Israel before moving on to three European stops.

There is every outward indication that the Trump-Bibi chemistry is infinitely better than the Obama-Bibi vibes, even though the president may soon be pressing the prime minister for compromises on the Palestinian front.

Without naming anyone in particular, Rubin tells OneNewsNow that Trump is getting “bad advice” from his advisers about moving the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem – a campaign promise that has yet to be realized.

Although more than 40 leaders of Muslim-majority countries attended a Sunday meeting with Trump, the focus in Riyadh was on the Persian Gulf’s importance as a USA partner and bulwark against terrorism during two days of bilateral negotiations with Saudi Arabia and the six-member Gulf Cooperation Council.

Trump betrayed no awkwardness at relishing the warm embrace of one of the world’s most oppressive governments.

“Rooting out terrorism will not be achieved through direct confrontation only”, Salman said, “but also through achieving sustainable development….a notion embodied in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 in all its aspects, citing the keenness to invest in the youths, empowering women, diversifying the economy and developing the education”.

Senior administration officials, who briefed reporters on the condition of anonymity, said the communique also includes a new commitment by the Gulf states to charge and prosecute individuals in their countries who finance terrorists, although the document itself does not specify that.

But to end these wars, there needs to be political compromise between main players like Iran and Saudi Arabia and Trump’s belligerent rhetoric makes this nearly impossible to achieve.

Trump was referring to a vow by North Atlantic Treaty Organisation countries to move toward spending 2 percent of their gross domestic product on defense by 2024.

Those calls had mixed results.

“There is undoubtedly a positive message being sent when a U.S. president chooses Saudi Arabia, the land of the Two Holy Mosques, as his first foreign destination”.

On that point, first lady Melania Trump praised the “empowerment of women” in remarks to about 200 workers at an all-female General Electric service center in Riyadh, reported Reuters.

TAORMINA, Sicily (AP) – As he dashed through the Middle East and Europe, Donald Trump looked like a conventional American leader overseas.

More than 400,000 Israelis live in settlements on the West Bank that are considered illegal under global law and a major obstacle to Middle East peace. When in 2009 Barack Obama offered “a new beginning” in foreign policy, he spoke, via an audience of Egyptian students, to the youth of the Arab world; Mr Trump spoke to leaders of 50 Muslim countries.

This is the final day of Trump’s first official trip overseas.

Trump’s short time in Saudi Arabia left the central contradiction of his approach unexplored. Unlike Obama, who infamously claimed during a speech at Cairo University, “I consider it part of my responsibility as president of the United States to fight against negative stereotypes of Islam wherever they appear”, Trump made it clear he feels no such calling.

There, he berated members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation alliance and aggressively jostled the prime minister of miniscule Montenegro to get to the front of a photo line, straightening his jacket with emphasis as he landed on his mark. These arms will be added to those that President Obama supplied earlier on for no less than 115 billion dollars. Rulers who demonize all Islamists and other opponents as militants nurture a self-fulfilling prophecy, allowing them to repeat the pattern of repression that leads to more radicalization.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (R) and US President Donald Trump speak upon the latter’s arrival at Ben Gurion International Airport in Tel Aviv on May 22, 2017, as part of his first trip overseas. In other words, Israel does not accept the principle of peace with the Arab states, and by implication with the Muslim world, in return for withdrawal from the occupied territories.

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Gary Cohn, the director of the National Economic Council, said Trump wanted to hear out his counterparts’ arguments for why he should stay in the landmark Paris climate accord. So we’re working on it and I will tell you, a big difference over the previous year, money is actually starting to pour into North Atlantic Treaty Organisation from countries that would not have been doing what they’re doing now had I not been elected, I can tell you that. He came here to get smarter.

Top Palestinian Authority Official Denies Reports of Trump-Led Regional Peace Initiative