Section: POLITICO – U.S. Edition (USA)
A Russia reset? Maybe not yet.
After a phone call between Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin days after the U.S. election, Russian media buzzed that Putin might host Trump this winter to kick off what the Kremlin described as their joint effort to “normalize ties” between the U.S. and Russia.The talk of an early state visit remains speculative. But...
Trump’s team of rivals: Fighting spills into public
Donald Trump’s struggle to find a secretary of state has erupted into an early battle for the soul of his nascent presidency – a critical showdown between the insurgents who thrust him into office and establishment Republicans pushing for a more conventional White House.At the moment, the internal debate over who should serve as the steward...
Will Nikki Haley put the U.S. in Russia’s corner?
Nikki Haley is about to become a major player in Donald Trump’s reset with Russia.As word spread Wednesday that the president-elect had chosen the South Carolina governor as his ambassador to the United Nations, some observers saw it as a sign that Trump will abide by his pledge to cooperate more with Moscow. Haley is not a flame-thrower...
Putin’s favorite congressman
This summer, Rep. Dana Rohrabacher used information he received directly from the Russian government to promote one of President Vladimir Putin’s top priorities: removing the name of the martyred Russian lawyer Sergei Magnitsky from a global anti-corruption law.Multiple independent investigations blamed Russian officials for the death in...
What Trump’s early picks say about his administration
The Donald J. Trump administration is looking a whole lot like the coalition who brought him the White House win.On Friday, Trump rolled out three more picks for the most powerful jobs in Washington, and they offered up a little something for everyone.Establishment Republicans, many of whom are ambivalent about joining the Trump administration,...
Trump’s new world order
It’s been only nine days since Donald Trump won the presidential election, but much of the world is acting like he’s already in charge.Russia is doubling down on its military offensives in Syria, where dictator Bashar Assad says Trump could be a “natural ally.” Mexico has unveiled an 11-point plan to protect its citizens...
Obama to Trump: Time to get serious
BERLIN — Get serious or get played, President Barack Obama told President-elect Donald Trump here Thursday — warning his successor that he’ll lose elections and people will die if he doesn’t shape up.As impressive as the campaign he ran was, that won’t translate to governing, Obama said he told Trump in their long private...
Trump’s first ambassador: Barack Obama
ATHENS — There was a time, a week ago, when the Obama White House was focused on questions like who would take over tending to the first lady’s vegetable garden.Now President Barack Obama is setting out on what was supposed to be a fun post-election farewell trip to Greece and Germany with not just his entire domestic record at risk of...
The Black Swan President
On Tuesday, when Donald Trump defied the polls, the Clinton machine and much of his own party establishment to become president-elect of the United States, he also became the closest thing to a black swan event we’ve ever seen in American politics: Statistically unlikely, rationalized only in hindsight—and carrying an impact that could be...
Trump team warns Obama not to make major moves on foreign policy
Before Donald Trump won the presidency, Democratic foreign policy circles hummed with talk that an outgoing President Barack Obama could take a last stab at peace talks between the Israelis and the Palestinians. There also was a strong expectation that Obama would push hard for Congress to approve the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal.But now...
