Trump called off Pompeo's North Korea visit after belligerent letter - reportThe Saigon Times Daily U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo listens as President Donald Trump speaks during a cabinet meeting at the White House in Washington, U.S., July 18, 2018 – PHOTO: REUTERS WASHINGTON (REUTERS) - U.S. President Donald Trump called off a visit to North Korea by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo after the latter received a belligerent letter from a senior North Korean official just hours after the trip was announced last week, the Washington Post reported on Monday. The Post quoted two unnamed senior U.S. administration officials as saying the letter came on Friday from Kim Yong Chol, vice chairman of North Korea’s ruling Workers’ Party Central Committee, who led previous rounds of talks with Pompeo. The newspaper said the exact contents of the message were unclear, but it was sufficiently belligerent that Trump and Pompeo decided to call off the journey. The … [Read more...] about Trump called off Pompeo’s North Korea visit after belligerent letter
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Trump says Mexico trade deal near; NAFTA hurdles seen easing
Trump tweeted on Saturday morning that the United States’ “relationship with Mexico is getting closer by the hour. Some really good people within both the new and old government, and all working closely together....A big Trade Agreement with Mexico could be happening soon!” Jesus Seade, who will serve as chief negotiator for Mexico’s next government, said he and U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer were now discussing a periodic review process that spare the North American Free Trade Agreement from automatic expiration unless new terms were agreed. Mexico and Canada have adamantly opposed the U.S. sunset demand that would kill the pact unless it is renegotiated every five years, a plan that business groups also say will stifle long-term investment decisions. “It’s going to come out. It’s no longer what the United States was putting first in any way,” Seade said of the sunset clause outside the U.S. Trade Representative’s … [Read more...] about Trump says Mexico trade deal near; NAFTA hurdles seen easing
John McCain and Donald Trump: No love lost
This combination of pictures created on Aug 24, 2018 shows US Senator John McCain and US President Donald Trump. (Photo: AFP/Mandel Ngan, Brendan Smialowski) The two men never pretended to like each other. It was not just their clashing personalities or vastly dissimilar backgrounds. Their differences were fundamental, their values dramatically at odds, and their disagreements public and pointed. When Trump announced his candidacy for the Republican presidential nomination in June 2015, suggesting that many Mexican immigrants were criminals and "rapists", McCain denounced him for using language that "fired up the crazies". Senator John McCain, seen shortly after his brain cancer was diagnosed in July 2017 AFP/JUSTIN SULLIVAN Trump's response: McCain was a "dummy" who had barely managed to graduate from the US Naval Academy. Never one to give in, Trump then attacked the former navy pilot over what might have seemed his least vulnerable point: the military career - including … [Read more...] about John McCain and Donald Trump: No love lost
US military parade ordered by Trump postponed ‘to 2019’
President Trump's plans for a Veterans Day military parade through the streets of Washington DC have been delayed until at least 2019. Mr Trump was impressed by France's Bastille Day parade on a visit in 2017 and said the US could "top it". But figures released on Thursday suggested the event could cost about $90 million (£71m) - more than three times the original estimate. Critics had also made comparisons to parades in countries led by autocrats. The parade was originally conceived to mark the centenary of the end of World War One, on 11 November. A Pentagon spokesperson, Colonel Rob Manning, said in a statement that the Department of Defense and the White House "have now agreed to explore opportunities in 2019". The parade's budget director had offered an estimate of between $10m (£7.8m) and $30m (£23.6m) when the White House announced its request in February. But a US official gave a new estimate of $92m. A memo when the plan was first mooted said no tanks would be … [Read more...] about US military parade ordered by Trump postponed ‘to 2019’
Trump cancels Pompeo’s trip to North Korea over stalled nuclear diplomacy
Trump cancels Pompeo's trip to North Korea over stalled nuclear diplomacy The Saigon Times Daily U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo waves to the media before his meeting with Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry at the State Department in Washington, U.S., August 8, 2018 – PHOTO: REUTERS WASHINGTON (REUTERS) - U.S. President Donald Trump abruptly cancelled his top diplomat’s planned trip to North Korea on Friday, publicly acknowledging for the first time that his effort to get Pyongyang to denuclearize had stalled since his summit with the North’s leader. Trump partly blamed China for the lack of progress with North Korea and suggested that talks with Pyongyang, led so far by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, could be on hold until after Washington resolved its bitter trade dispute with Beijing. It was a dramatic shift of tone for Trump, who had previously hailed his June 12 summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un as a success and said the North Korean … [Read more...] about Trump cancels Pompeo’s trip to North Korea over stalled nuclear diplomacy