Hope Hicks has resigned as White House communications director.
The announcement came a day after Hope Hicks testified in front of the House Intelligence Committee, but White House sources said this was not the reason.
The 29-year-old former model is reported to have told colleagues she was leaving because she felt she had achieved all she could. Hope Hicks has worked for Donald Trump for years.
Hope Hicks is the fourth person to serve as President Trump’s communications chief.
On February 27, Hope Hicks gave a nine-hour testimony in front of the panel investigating alleged Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election.
She is reported to have admitted to the panel that she had occasionally told what amounted to “white lies” for President Trump, but she denied lying about anything relevant to the investigation.
White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders – who described Hope Hicks as “in a league of her own” – said it remained unclear when she would leave the administration.
Hope Hicks’ departure will come as a major blow to President Trump, who said he would miss having her by his side. A former press secretary, Hope Hicks rose through the ranks to occupy the desk closest to the Oval Office.
She kept a low public profile but recently found herself part of a scandal when newspapers exposed that she was in a relationship with White House staff secretary Rob Porter, who had been accused of domestic violence against past partners.
When news of the allegations against Rob Porter broke last month, it was Hope Hicks who helped draft an initial White House statement defending him.
President Trump was reportedly not consulted and was unimpressed with Hope Hicks’ handling of the controversy.
Hope Hicks became head of the White House communications team in August 2017, after the abrupt firing of Anthony Scaramucci.
In a statement, President Trump said: “Hope is outstanding and has done great work for the last three years. She is as smart and thoughtful as they come, a truly great person.
“I will miss having her by my side but when she approached me about pursuing other opportunities, I totally understood. I am sure we will work together again in the future.”
Anthony Scaramucci, speaking on Fox News, said: “She’s one of the least malicious people I’ve ever met in my life. She’s dedicated, she’s charming, she’s thoughtful, at the end of the day she’s going to have an unbelievable career.”
Hope Hicks’ departure comes just after Jared Kushner, President Trump’s son-in-law and senior adviser, had his White House security clearance downgraded.
In a testimony to the House Intelligence Committee, White House communications director Hope Hicks has reportedly admitted telling what amounted to white lies for President Donald Trump.
However, she denied lying about anything relevant to the Russia investigation.
Republican and Democratic lawmakers said Hope Hicks deflected some questions in the nine-hour hearing.
The 29-year-old former model has been by Donald Trump’s side for years.
Hope Hicks is seen as a key witness in the ongoing inquiry into alleged Russian meddling in the 2016 election.
Adam Schiff, the top Democrat on the committee, said afterwards that Hope Hicks answered questions about her role in Donald Trump’s campaign.
According to the California Democrat, Hope Hicks also discussed matters relating to the transition period between the election and the inauguration.
However, Adam Schiff said she would not answer any questions about events since Donald Trump became president.
Hope Hicks reportedly refused to answer questions about a 2016 meeting between members of the Trump campaign and a Russian lawyer at the Trump Tower.
When reports of the meeting first emerged, President Trump’s eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., released a statement saying the meeting was held to discuss Russian adoptions.
However, in a later statement, Donald Trump Jr. said the meeting had been held after members of the campaign were offered damaging information about Hillary Clinton from the Russian government.
Hope Hicks was with the president on Air Force One while they were penning the initial statement, which the White House has acknowledged Donald Trump had a role in drafting.
“All of our questions about what went into that statement went unanswered,” Adam Schiff told AP news agency.
“We got Bannoned,” said Democratic representative Dennis Heck as he emerged from the session.
Dennis Heck was referring to former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon, who declined to answer questions about anything other than the Trump campaign during his testimony earlier this month.
Hope Hicks has already testified to the Senate Intelligence Committee and met Robert Mueller, the Department of Justice special counsel.
Robert Mueller is investigating whether there was any collusion between the Trump campaign and Moscow, or obstruction of justice.
In a recent interview, President Donald Trump has warned that Israeli settlements “complicate” the peace process with Palestinians and urged “care” over the issue.
The president also told the Israeli newspaper Yisrael Hayom that he did not believe the Palestinians, and possibly Israel as well, were ready to make peace.
He angered Palestinians in December when he recognized Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.
Donald Trump also threatened to withhold aid unless Palestinians agreed to talks.
The interview was published on February 11.
Asked by editor-in-chief Boaz Bismouth when the US would present its peace plan, President Trump said: “We will see what happens. Right now the Palestinians are not into making peace, they are just not into it. Regarding Israel, I am not certain it, too, is interested in making peace so we will just need to wait and see what happens.”
Asked whether Israeli settlements would form part of the peace plan, the president said: “We will be talking about settlements. The settlements are something that very much complicates and always have complicated making peace, so I think Israel has to be very careful with the settlements.”
More than 600,000 Jews live in about 140 settlements built since Israel’s 1967 occupation of the West Bank and East Jerusalem. The settlements are considered illegal under international law, though Israel disputes this.
President Trump said that recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital had been a highlight of his first year in office.
Israel claims the whole of the city as its capital but the Palestinians want East Jerusalem, occupied by Israel in the 1967 Middle East war, to be the capital of a future Palestinian state.
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has said he will no longer accept the US as a mediator following the controversial recognition of Jerusalem.
President Donald Trump’s speechwriter David Sorensen has become the second White House aide this week to resign amid allegations of domestic abuse.
However, David Sorensen denies his ex-wife’s allegations he was violent and emotionally abusive.
David Sorensen’s departure comes just days after another Trump top aide, Rob Porter, quit over allegations of abuse from two ex-wives, something he denies.
Questions have been raised over how long it took the White House to act on the accusations facing Rob Porter.
Jessica Corbett, David Sorensen’s ex-wife, told the Washington Post that he was physically abusive to her while they were married.
She said that on separate occasions David Sorensen ran a car over her foot, threw her against a wall and extinguished a cigarette on her hand.
In response, her former husband released a statement in which he said he had “never committed violence of any kind against any woman in my entire life” and that instead it was he who had been physically abused.
David Sorensen said he was considering legal action, but said he quit because he “didn’t want the White House to have to deal with this distraction”.
White House officials said they learned of the accusations by David Sorensen’s wife on February 8.
Deputy press secretary Raj Shah said: “We immediately confronted the staffer, he denied the allegations and he resigned today.”
Allegations of domestic abuse against Rob Porter involving two ex-wives surfaced on February 6.
It is alleged that the former White House staff secretary gave one ex-wife a black eye while another filed a restraining order. He denies the allegations.
On February 9, President Trump paid tribute to Rob Porter, who quit his White House position on February 7.
Speaking in the Oval Office President Trump said: “We found out about it recently and I was surprised by it, but we certainly wish him well and it’s a tough time for him.”
However, the president did not refer to Rob Porter’s accusers.
Donald Trump’s comments sparked criticism from Democrats, with former VP Joe Biden saying the president had downplayed the allegations against Rob Porter.
Joe Biden said: “That’s like saying: <<That axe murderer out there, he’s a great painter>>.”
The case has put pressure on President Trump’s Chief-of-Staff John Kelly, who has denied reports he offered to resign over his handling of the accusations.
After initially praising Rob Porter as a man of “integrity”, John Kelly later released a statement saying he was shocked by the claims and stressed domestic violence was unacceptable.
According to media reports, John Kelly and other White House officials were aware for several months of the domestic abuse accusations because they were holding up Rob Porter’s security clearance application.
Raj Shah said that President Trump was not aware of any security issues before February 6 and was “disheartened” and “saddened” by the accusations.
White House communications director Hope Hicks’ handling of the controversy has also reportedly displeased President Trump.
Hope Hicks, 29, has recently been in a relationship with Rob Porter, a Harvard graduate and former Oxford Rhodes Scholar.
President Trump was reportedly not consulted when Hope Hicks helped draft an initial statement defending Rob Porter.
According to CBS News, Rob Porter approached White House Counsel Don McGahn in January 2017 to inform him his ex-wives might say unflattering things about him to background check investigators.
In June 2017, Rob Porter’s preliminary file was sent from the FBI to the White House security office, containing the abuse allegations.
In November, Don McGahn received a call from an ex-girlfriend of Rob Porter alleging physical violence by the aide.
Don McGahn told the White House chief of staff there was an issue with Rob Porter’s security clearance, although he was vague, reports CBS.
Rob Porter told John Kelly his ex-wives were saying false things about him.
A White House spokesman said on February 8 that John Kelly did not realize the extent of the claims until a photo of one of Rob Porter’s former wives, Colbie Holderness, suffering a black eye, emerged on February 7.
Russia suggests that an expected US report that could sanction Kremlin-linked oligarchs is an attempt to influence its March presidential election.
The treasury department report is expected to detail the closeness of senior Russian political figures and oligarchs to President Vladimir Putin, who is standing for re-election.
US officials accuse Russia of meddling in the 2016 US presidential elections.
Russia has repeatedly denied the allegations.
President Putin’s spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, said the forthcoming report would be analyzed.
During 2017, President Donald Trump enacted new sanctions on Russia but he accused Congress of overreaching itself and preventing him from easing penalties on Russia in the future.
President Trump has repeatedly rejected any allegations that his campaign staff colluded with Russia to help him defeat Democratic rival Hillary Clinton at the November 2016 presidential election.
The allegations voiced by the US intelligence community are currently being investigated by Congress and Robert Mueller.
Dmitry Peskov said the US report was a “direct and obvious attempt to influence the elections” on March 18.
However, the spokesman added that he was sure the list would not affect the vote.
The Kremlin has pledged to help limit further damage to Russian oligarchs and businesses that could be on the list.
In 2018, President Vladimir Putin reportedly met top businessmen behind closed doors to discuss the issue.
Vladimir Putin is seen as the clear favorite to win the March elections.
His main opposition rival, Alexei Navalny, has been barred from standing in the race.
Alexei Navalny was briefly detained during a protest rally on January 28.
The US treasury department has to finalize the document on January 29, after which it is expected to hand the report over to Congress.
It is not known whether the names of those on the list will be publicly revealed or kept secret or indeed how many people and entities are on the list.
Being on the list does not automatically trigger sanctions but such penalties could be activated any time later by the United States.
President Donald Trump has said he is prepared to be questioned under oath as part of an investigation into alleged Russian meddling in the 2016 election.
The president said he was “looking forward” to it, subject to the advice of his lawyers.
Investigators are assessing if the Trump campaign colluded with Russia to influence the election in his favor – a claim denied by both Donald Trump and Russia.
Investigators will also determine if President Trump obstructed the inquiry.
The US intelligence community has already concluded that Russia tried to sway the presidential election in favor of Donald Trump.
He had previously said he thought an interview was unlikely because there had been no collusion
President Trump has called the Russia investigation a “witch hunt” and a “hoax”.
Speaking at the White House on January 24, President Trump maintained he was “absolutely” prepared to be questioned under oath by the top investigator.
He said: “There’s been no collusion whatsoever, there’s no obstruction whatsoever.”
Donald Trump’s lawyers have been talking to the investigation team led by justice department special counsel Robert Mueller about an interview, and the form it might take.
The questioning could happen face-to-face, in writing, or it could be a combination of both.
As to when it might happen, President Trump said: “Yesterday they were talking about two to three weeks.”
Asked if he thought Robert Mueller would be fair, the president replied: “We are going to find out… I hope so.”
President Trump told reporters that his former rival Hillary Clinton was not prepared to be interviewed under oath by the FBI about her use of a private email server.
He also said he did not recall asking an acting FBI director about his voting record.
“I don’t think I did,” he said.
“I don’t know what’s the big deal with that.”
Andrew McCabe, who took over the FBI after the president fired its previous director, James Comey in May 2017, said he found President Trump’s Oval Office question “disturbing”.
Andrew McCabe said he told the president that he did not vote in the 2016 presidential election, according to the Washington Post.
Robert Mueller is thought to be investigating whether James Comey’s firing was an attempt to obstruct justice.
Las t week, US Attorney General Jeff Sessions was interviewed by the Mueller inquiry for several hours.
Jeff Sessions is thought to be the first member of the Trump cabinet to be questioned.
Four people have already been criminally charged as part of Robert Mueller’s investigation.
Michael Flynn, President Trump’s former national security adviser, pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about a meeting with a Russian ambassador.
Former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort has been charged on 12 counts, including conspiring to defraud the US in his dealings with Ukraine, and conspiracy to launder money.
Paul Manafort’s business associate Rick Gates was also charged with conspiracy to launder money.
A third adviser to the campaign – George Papadopoulos – pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI.
The US Senate has failed to pass the new budget and prevent the shutdown of many federal services.
A bill to fund the federal government for the coming weeks did not receive the required 60 votes by the deadline of midnight on January 19.
President Donald Trump accused the Democrats of putting politics above the interests of the American people.
The Democrats blame him for rejecting bipartisan compromise proposals.
Negotiations in both houses of Congress continued on January 20, Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell said the chamber would be back in session on the next day to try to end the impasse.
The White House budget chief has expressed optimism that a resolution will be found before January 22.
If not, hundreds of thousands of federal workers face the prospect of no work and shuttered offices at the start of the working week.
The last government shutdown was in 2013, and lasted for 16 days.
This is the first time a government shutdown has happened while one party, the Republicans, controls both Congress and the White House.
The January 19 vote was 50-49, falling far short of the 60 needed to advance the bill. With a 51-seat majority in the Senate, the Republicans did not have enough seats to pass the bill without some support from the Democrats.
They want funding for border security – including the border wall – and immigration reforms, as well as increased military spending.
The Democrats have demanded protection from deportation of more than 700,000 undocumented immigrants who entered the United States as children.
The Republicans added a sweetener in the form of a six-year extension to a health insurance program for children in lower-income families. However, Democrats want this program extended permanently.
President Trump accused the Democrats of being “far more concerned with illegal immigrants than they are with our great military or safety at our dangerous southern border”.
However, the leading Senate Democrat, Chuck Schumer, blamed the president, saying President Trump was under pressure from “hard-right forces within the administration”.
White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders warned: “The president will not negotiate on immigration reform until Democrats stop playing games and reopen the government.”
The US budget must be approved by October 1 – the start of the federal financial year.
However, Congress has often failed to meet this deadline and negotiations continue well into the new year, with the previous year’s funding to federal agencies extended on a temporary basis.
Because Congress failed to agree an extension that would have maintained government funding through to February 16, it means many federal agencies effectively closed for business as of 00:01 on January 20.
Most staff in the departments of housing, environment, education and commerce will be staying at home on January 22. Half of workers in the treasury, health, defense and transportation departments will also not be going to work.
According to recent reports, Donald Trump’s former chief strategist, Steve Bannon, has been summoned to testify before a grand jury.
Steve Bannon was reportedly subpoenaed by former FBI director Robert Mueller, who is leading an investigation into alleged collusion with Russia during the 2016 election campaign.
On January 16, he appeared separately before a Congressional panel.
Congress is holding its own inquiry into the allegations.
The New York Times, quoting an unnamed person with direct knowledge of the matter, reports that Steve Bannon was subpoenaed last week.
However, the summons could be a negotiating tactic by Robert Mueller to persuade Steve Bannon to agree to be questioned by investigators in the less formal setting of the special counsel’s offices in Washington, the newspaper’s source added.
The House Intelligence Committee is also investigating the allegations of Russian interference in the 2016 election. Its proceedings on January 16 were not open to the public.
This is one of four investigations being conducted by Congress into the alleged collusion, with others launched by the Senate Intelligence Committee, the Senate Judiciary Committee and the House Oversight Committee.
President Donald Trump’s administration has issued new guidance that would allow states to impose work requirements on low-income healthcare recipients.
According to the document, able-bodied recipients of the Medicaid health program for the poor would be required to work, volunteer or prepare for a job through school or training.
However, critics argue that the move is aimed at cutting the number of people receiving government-funded Medicaid.
The administration contends the policy is to promote “community engagement”.
Seema Verma, administrator for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, said: “This is about helping those individuals rise out of poverty.
“Our fundamental goal is to make a positive and lasting difference in the health and wellness of our beneficiaries, and today’s announcement is a step in that direction.”
Seema Verma said the new policy came about at the request of 10 different states including Kentucky, Maine, New Hampshire, Arizona, Indiana and Utah.
The new guidance also suggests considering exemptions or “reasonable modifications” for certain Medicaid recipients, including elderly, pregnant or disabled people; those in areas with high unemployment or people caring for children or elderly relatives; people with substance abuse disorders such as opioid addiction.
It states that a review of studies showed, “strong evidence that unemployment is generally harmful to health, including higher mortality; poorer general health; poorer mental health; and higher medical consultation and hospital admission rates”.
The report also states that people with a full-time job are less likely to suffer from depression.
As of October 2017, nearly 75 million individuals were enrolled in Medicaid and the children’s health insurance program (CHIP).
According to a study by the nonpartisan Kaiser Family Foundation, almost 60% of working-age Medicaid recipients are already employed full time or part time.
It is unclear how many Medicaid recipients who are actively seeking work may lose their insurance in the process if their state should choose to enact the new guidelines.
Several members of Congress were outspoken against the decision.
Under President Barack Obama’s Affordable Care Act, ObamaCare, 31 states expanded Medicaid coverage. Republicans have tried repeatedly to overturn the health law.
The Obama Administration had previously rebuffed proposals allowing states the right to impose work requirements on Medicaid recipients, arguing it would result in fewer people having access to health insurance.
In order to implement any new policy based on the guidance, states would have to propose the changes through waivers and wait until they are granted federal approval.
Steve Bannon has left Breitbart News organization, where he built his reputation.
The move comes amid a furore over remarks Donald Trump’s former chief strategist reportedly made about the president’s son, Donald Jr.
Steve Bannon described a meeting Donald Trump Jr. held in New York with a Russian lawyer during the 2016 presidential election campaign as “treasonous”.
He was one of Donald Trump’s most trusted – and controversial – aides.
However, Steve Bannon left his post last summer after reports of a power struggle among President Trump’s White House staff.
Steve Bannon’s subsequent attempt to take on the Republican establishment suffered a severe blow when Roy Moore, the Senate candidate he championed in a special election in Alabama, lost to a Democrat – the first time that party has won in the state in decades.
President Trump has recently taken to referring to Steve Bannon as “Sloppy Steve”, a derogatory reference to his former aide’s famously disheveled appearance.
Rebekah Mercer, a wealthy benefactor of Steve Bannon, said at the weekend she had ended her support for his political efforts.
On January 7, Steve Bannon insisted that his “treason” comments – quoted in an inside account of the Trump White House, Michael Wolff’s Fire and Fury – were not directed at Donald Trump’s son but at another former aide, Paul Manafort, who was also present at the meeting in Trump Tower.
The Senate, House of Representatives and a special counsel are all investigating alleged Russian interference in the presidential election, allegations denied by both Russia and President Trump.
Steve Bannon had served as executive chairman of Breitbart since 2012.
Breitbart issued a statement saying it and Steve Bannon would “work together on a smooth and orderly transition”.
The organization quoted Steve Bannon as saying: “I’m proud of what the Breitbart team has accomplished in so short a period of time in building out a world-class news platform.”
Larry Solov, the Breitbart chief executive, was quoted as saying: “Steve is a valued part of our legacy, and we will always be grateful for his contributions, and what he has helped us to accomplish.”
According to recent reports, President Donald Trump’s legal team is in talks with investigators who are seeking to interview him as part of a justice department probe.
The Washington Post, quoting an unnamed person close to President Trump, says investigation lead by Robert Mueller is likely to interview him within weeks.
President Trump’s legal team has not confirmed the reports.
Robert Mueller is investigating possible collusion between Donald Trump’s 2016 campaign and Russia in the US elections.
Tensions between Robert Mueller, the special counsel appointed to look into alleged Russian interference, and the president have risen since the investigation led to charges against several former members of Donald Trump’s campaign team.
Donald Trump’s administration denies working with Russia on the election, and the president has labeled the investigation “a witch hunt”.
According to The Post, Robert Mueller first raised the possibility of interviewing the president in a meeting with his lawyers, John Dowd and Jay Sekulow, in late December.
President Trump’s lawyers are reluctant to allow him to sit down for open-ended questioning and are discussing whether to allow him to provide written answers to some of the questions, The Washington Post and NBC News report.
According to NBC, which cited three people close to the story, the talks are “preliminary and ongoing”.
President Trump’s lawyers did not confirm the reports, but told both media outlets: “The White House is continuing its full co-operation with the OSC [Office of Special Counsel Robert Mueller] in order to facilitate the earliest possible resolution.”
The Post, quoting an unnamed source, says the two sides planned to meet again to continue discussions on terms and substance of any interview.
Aside from the Russia angle, special counsel Robert Mueller may also look into whether the president and his inner circle sought to obstruct justice while in office following the firing of FBI director James Comey.
Robert Mueller was appointed by the justice department as special counsel shortly after James Comey’s dismissal.
Sitting presidents have been interviewed by prosecutors in the past, most notably when Democrat President Bill Clinton testified before a grand jury in 1998 over his relationship with White House intern Monica Lewinsky.
Steve Bannon has tried to reverse remarks in which he called President Donald Trump’s son, Donald Jr., “treasonous”.
His accusation appears in Michael Wolff’s new book Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House.
Donald Trump’s former chief strategist was referring to a meeting in June 2016 between Donald Trump Jr. and a group of Russians.
However, on January 7, Steve Bannon said the barb was directed at former aide Paul Manafort, who was also present.
The Senate, House of Representatives and a special counsel are all investigating alleged Russian interference in the presidential election, allegations denied by both Russia and President Trump.
In a statement first reported by news site Axios, Steve Bannon called Donald Jr. “both a patriot and a good man”.
“My comments were aimed at Paul Manafort, a seasoned campaign professional with experience and knowledge of how the Russians operate,” he said. “He should have known they are duplicitous, cunning and not our friends. To reiterate, those comments were not aimed at Don Jr.”
The original remark, published in Michael Wolff’s book and not disputed by Steve Bannon, appeared to take aim at all three Trump campaign officials in the room, including Donald Jr.
It read: “The three senior guys in the campaign thought it was a good idea to meet with a foreign government inside Trump Tower in the conference room on the 25th floor – with no lawyers. They didn’t have any lawyers.
“Even if you thought that this was not treasonous, or unpatriotic, or bad shit, and I happen to think it’s all of that, you should have called the FBI immediately.”
Steve Bannon’s attempt to clarify follows repeated denunciations by President Trump, who dubbed him “Sloppy Steve” and said his former aide “cried when he got fired”.
It also follows the loss of the main financial backer of his conservative Breitbart website, heiress Rebekah Mercer, who said in a rare public statement that she had cut off Steve Bannon from funding following his remarks to Michael Wolff.
Steve Bannon went on in his statement to say he regretted waiting five days to say something, and called Michael Wolff’s reporting “inaccurate”.
Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House rocketed to the top of the Amazon bestseller list upon publication last week and became the talk of Washington DC and beyond.
Based on first-hand reporting at the White House and, according to Michael Wolff, more than 200 interviews with top administration figures and others, it portrays the president as impatient, unable to focus and with no interest in reading or attempting to understand policy.
Michael Wolff’s book, Fire and Fury : Inside the Trump White House, went on sale on January 5, days ahead of its scheduled release, despite President Donald Trump’s attempts to block its publication.
The book reveals how White House employees believed Donald Trump’s “mental powers were slipping” and how his team was shocked and horrified by his election win.
Steve Bannon, Donald Trump’s former chief strategist, and the author have both been the target of the president’s ire over the past few days. Steve Bannon cried when he lost his job last year, President Trump said and Michael Wolff had written a book “full of lies”, the president added.
The book also claims that Melania Trump was in tears of sadness on election night – though she has denied this and the president’s son, Donald Jr., engaged in “treasonous” behavior, according to former Trump aide Steve Bannon (claims denied by the Trumps).
On January 5, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson told CNN that he had “no reason to question” President Trump’s mental fitness.
Rex Tillerson said Donald Trump was “not typical of presidents of the past”.
“I think that’s well recognized. That’s also though why the American people chose him,” the secretary of state said.
President Donald Trump and leading GOP members are meeting to thrash out their priorities for 2018.
According to recent reports, the two-day retreat at Camp David is expected to focus heavily on a strategy before crucial congressional elections in November.
The meeting takes place as a row continues between President Trump and Michael Wolff, the author of a new tell-all book about his presidency.
Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House raises concerns over Donald Trump’s mental health. The president called Michael Wolff a “total loser”.
The Camp David summit begins two weeks before the end of President Trump’s first year in office. It will seek to tie up unfinished business by Republicans, who have rallied around Donald Trump during the release of Michael Wolff’s book.
President Trump said as he left for the Maryland retreat: “We have a lot of things to work on, a lot of things to accomplish.”
The agenda is not public, but various media outlets have said the talks could also look at immigration and the opioids crisis.
After Steve Bannon announced his tell-all book, President Donald Trump’s lawyers have written to his former strategist, saying he has violated a non-disclosure agreement.
The cease-and-desist notice accuses Steve Bannon of defaming President Trump in speaking to author Michael Wolff.
Michael Wolff’s forthcoming tell-all book describes Donald Trump as being unprepared for the president job.
The 64-year-old writer is a former columnist for New York magazine and Vanity Fair. He also wrote a biography of media mogul Rupert Murdoch.
His book is reportedly based on more than 200 interviews.
President Trump responded by saying Steve Bannon had “lost his mind” after losing his White House position.
The president’s lawyers said Steve Bannon had broken his employment agreement by speaking to Michael Wolff about Donald Trump and his family, “disclosing confidential information” and “making disparaging statements and in some cases outright defamatory statements to Mr. Wolff about Mr. Trump, his family members, and the Company”, the letter said.
Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House makes many explosive claims, including that Steve Bannon thought a meeting between Donald Trump Jr. and a group of Russians was “treasonous”. The Trump team was shocked and horrified by his election win and Donald Trump’s wife, Melania, was in tears on election night. Donald Trump was angry that A-list stars had snubbed his inauguration and the new president “found the White House to be vexing and even a little scary”. The book also claims that Ivanka Trump had a plan with her husband, Jared Kushner, that she would be “the first woman president”. Ivanka Trump mocked her dad’s “comb-over” hairstyle and “often described the mechanics behind it to friends”.
The book also alleges that former UK PM Tony Blair told Donald Trump during a meeting in February 2017 that the British intelligence services may have been spying on him and his campaign, according to a report in The Times.
The Times says Tony Blair was hoping to get a job advising Donald Trump on the Middle East.
A spokesperson for Tony Blair told The Times that the allegations were a “total fabrication: and said the former prime minister had not suggested himself as Donald Trump’s Middle East envoy.
In March 2017, then-White House press secretary Sean Spicer told journalists UK intelligence services could have been involved in an alleged spying operation on Trump Tower in New York. GCHQ said the allegation was “nonsense”.
According to New York magazine, which first published the extracts from Michael Wolff’s book, the author was able to take advantage of the Trump administration’s political inexperience to gain an unusual amount of insight.
“There were no ground rules placed on his access, and he was required to make no promises about how he would report on what he witnessed,” it says.
Michael Wolff said he was able to take up “something like a semi-permanent seat on a couch in the West Wing” following the president’s inauguration.
In a statement on January 3, President Trump said: “Steve Bannon has nothing to do with me or my presidency.
“When he was fired, he not only lost his job, he lost his mind.”
“Steve was a staffer who worked for me after I had already won the nomination by defeating seventeen candidates, often described as the most talented field ever assembled in the Republican party,” the president continued.
White House press secretary Sarah Sanders described the book as “filled with false and misleading accounts from individuals who have no access or influence with the White House”.
“Participating in a book that can only be described as a trashy tabloid fiction exposes their sad desperate attempts at relevancy.”
Steve Bannon, the president’s former chief strategist, was considered a key player in the Trump White House and helped shape Donald Trump’s “America First” campaign message before he left his post in August.
In April, President Trump had declined to affirm that Steve Bannon still had his support, removing him from his elevated role on the crucial National Security Council.
He then appeared to downplay Steve Bannon’s role, declaring in a New York Post interview: “I’m my own strategist.”
After leaving the White House, Steve Bannon returned to his role as the head of the right-wing Breitbart News website, where he said he planned to help the Trump administration as a “wingman outside”.
Donald Trump reportedly spoke to Steve Bannon as recently as December 13, the day of the special Senate election in Alabama that saw the defeat of Republican Roy Moore, whom Bannon supported.
President Donald Trump has responded to North Korean leader Kim Jong-un saying his nuclear button is “much bigger” and “more powerful”.
In a tweet, the president warned: “North Korean Leader Kim Jong Un just stated that the “Nuclear Button is on his desk at all times.” Will someone from his depleted and food starved regime please inform him that I too have a Nuclear Button, but it is a much bigger & more powerful one than his, and my Button works!”
President Trump’s tweet is the latest contribution to the bickering, increasingly personalized feud between the nuclear-armed leaders.
Earlier this week, Kim Jong-un threatened that his nuclear launch button was “always on my table”.
Unsurprisingly, Donald Trump’s unorthodox words sent social media into a frenzy.
It ended a quick-fire day of tweeting that included taking credit for a lack of airplane crashed, announcing awards for “corrupt media”, and threatening to pull aid from Palestinians who do not show “appreciation or respect”.
President Trump’s latest comment states the obvious: any US president has immediate access to the nuclear codes and the US has the world’s biggest nuclear arsenal.
Many people online have expressed alarm at the apparently light-hearted use of nuclear threats by world leaders.
However, Donald Trump’s supporters have defended him, saying his comments are both factually accurate and show American strength and resolve.
During his presidential campaign, Donald Trump had a long-running spat with Marco Rubio over the size of his hands.
At the time, he insisted: “He referred to my hands – ‘if they are small, something else must be small’. I guarantee you there is no problem. I guarantee”.
This connection was not missed by social media users.
The UN Security Council has imposed tough new sanctions on North Korea in response to ballistic missile tests.
President Donald Trump praised the decision in a tweet: “The United Nations Security Council just voted 15-0 in favor of additional Sanctions on North Korea. The World wants Peace, not Death!”
The US-drafted resolution includes measures to cut North Korea’s petrol imports by up to 90%.
China and Russia, North Korea’s main trading partners, voted in favor of the resolution.
North Korea is already subject to a raft of sanctions from the US, the UN and the EU.
Nikki Haley, the US ambassador to the UN, said the sanctions sent an “unambiguous message to Pyongyang that further defiance will invite further punishments and isolation”.
She described North Korea as “the most tragic example of evil in the modern world”.
The Chinese foreign ministry described the situation on the peninsula as “complex and sensitive” and called on all sides to “exercise restraint and make active efforts to ease tensions”.
The US said it was seeking a diplomatic solution to the issue and drafted this new set of sanctions, including: deliveries of petrol products will be capped at 500,000 barrels a year, and crude oil at four million barrels a year; all North Korean nationals working abroad will have to return home within 24 months under the proposals, restricting a vital source of foreign currency. There will also be a ban on exports of North Korean goods, such as machinery and electrical equipment.
Tensions have risen this year over North Korea’s nuclear and missile programs, which it has pursued despite pressure from world powers.
The UN sanctions came in response to North Korea’s November 28 firing of a ballistic missile, which the US said was its highest yet.
President Trump has previously threatened to “totally destroy” North Korea if it launches a nuclear attack. North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has described President Trump as “mentally deranged”.
Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas has announced he will not accept any US plan for peace with Israel, after it recognized Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.
President Abbas’ comments came after a UN General Assembly vote effectively repudiated President Donald Trump’s controversial declaration.
The US has for the past few months been drafting a new peace plan, though it has not divulged any details.
Meanwhile, two Palestinians were killed in clashes with Israeli troops amid fresh protests over Jerusalem’s status.
The men, both in their 20s, were shot dead in the east of the Gaza Strip, according to the Palestinian health ministry. Israel said it was investigating.
There have been violent confrontations on the border between Israel and Gaza, as well as across the occupied West Bank, for the past three Fridays.
Palestinians clashed with troops in places including Bethlehem as the city, the traditional birthplace of Jesus, prepared for Christmas.
Mahmoud Abbas reiterated that he no longer accepted the US as a mediator in the peace process with Israel. He also rebuffed a new US framework for peace being developed by President Trump’s Middle East envoy, Jared Kushner, before it has been launched.
The Palestinian leader told a news conference in Paris: “The United States has proven to be a dishonest mediator in the peace process and we will no longer accept any plan from the United States.”
While the details of the US plan are not known, it has been devised for months and there has been an expectation it will be publicly launched in early 2018.
The last round of US-brokered peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians collapsed amid acrimony in April 2014.
Mahmoud Abbas has been emboldened by the outcome of the vote at the UN, which rejected any changes to the status of Jerusalem.
Yesterday’s vote came three days after the US used its power of veto to block a similar resolution at the world body’s smaller, but more powerful, Security Council.
The US had warned countries not to support the latest resolution, threatening to cut off financial aid anyone who backed it.
However, the UN resolution still passed with a decisive majority, as most nations, including the US’ allies, voted in its favor.
President Donald Trump has threatened to cut off financial aid to countries that back a UN resolution opposing the recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital as he took the step amid international criticism.
The president told reporters at the White House: “They take hundreds of millions of dollars and even billions of dollars, and then they vote against us.
“Let them vote against us. We’ll save a lot. We don’t care.”
Donald Trump’s comments come ahead of a UN General Assembly vote on a resolution opposing any recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.
The draft resolution does not mention the United States, but says any decisions on Jerusalem should be canceled.
Earlier, US ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley warned member states that President Donald Trump had asked her to report on “who voted against us” on December 21.
The status of Jerusalem goes to the heart of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Israel occupied East Jerusalem, previously occupied by Jordan, in the 1967 Middle East war and regards the entire city as its indivisible capital.
The Palestinians claim East Jerusalem as the capital of a future state and its final status is meant to be discussed in the latter stages of peace talks.
Israeli sovereignty over Jerusalem has never been recognized internationally, and all countries currently maintain their embassies in Tel Aviv. However, President Trump has told the US state department to start work on moving the US embassy.
The 193-member UN General Assembly will hold a rare emergency special session on December 21 at the request of Arab and Muslim states, who condemned President Trump’s decision to reverse decades of US policy earlier this month.
The Palestinians called for the meeting after the US vetoed a Security Council resolution, which affirmed that any decisions on the status of Jerusalem were “null and void and must be rescinded”, and urged all states to “refrain from the establishment of diplomatic missions in the holy city”.
The other 14 members of the Security Council voted in favor of the draft, but Ambassador Nikki Haley described it as an “insult”.
The non-binding resolution put forward by Turkey and Yemen for the General Assembly vote mirrors the vetoed Security Council draft.
The Palestinian permanent observer at the UN, Riyad Mansour, said he hoped there would be “overwhelming support” for the resolution.
However, on December 19, Nikki Haley warned in a letter to dozens of member states that encouraged them to “know that the president and the US take this vote personally”.
According to journalists who were shown the letter, Nikki Haley wrote: “The president will be watching this vote carefully and has requested I report back on those countries who voted against us. We will take note of each and every vote on this issue.”
“The president’s announcement does not affect final status negotiations in any way, including the specific boundaries of Israeli sovereignty in Jerusalem,” she added.
“The president also made sure to support the status quo of Jerusalem’s holy sites.”
Nikki Haley also tweeted: “At the UN we’re always asked to do more & give more. So, when we make a decision, at the will of the American ppl, abt where to locate OUR embassy, we don’t expect those we’ve helped to target us. On Thurs there’ll be a vote criticizing our choice. The US will be taking names.”
Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki and his Turkish counterpart, Mevlut Cavusoglu, accused the US of intimidation.
Mevlut Cavusoglu told a joint news conference in Ankara on December 20 before travelling to New York: “We see that the United States, which was left alone, is now resorting to threats. No honorable, dignified country would bow down to this pressure.”
President Donald Trump is expected to sign the tax bill, his first major legislative achievement and the biggest rewrite of the US tax code in a generation, in the coming days.
The bill slashes taxes for corporations and the wealthy, while offering mixed, temporary relief to working people.
However, Democrats have labeled the GOP tax bill “government for sale” as Congress sent the historic measure to the president’s desk.
Prominent Democrat Elizabeth Warren said: “It’s a heist.”
Meanwhile, President Trump, hosting Republican leaders at the White House, said: “We are making America great again.”
The president thanked congressional leaders for pushing through what he called “the largest tax cut in the history of our country”.
House Speaker Paul Ryan praised Donald Trump’s “exquisite presidential leadership” for the success of the bill.
Earlier, in a statement, President Trump said: “I promised the American people a big, beautiful tax cut for Christmas. With final passage of this legislation, that is exactly what they are getting.”
Image source Public Domain Pictures
Because of a procedural glitch, the bill had to be voted on for a second time in the Republican-dominated House of Representatives. The bill passed 224 to 201 on December 20.
Democrats say that error was caused by Republicans rushing the most sweeping overhaul of the tax system since 1986 through Congress.
In an often secretive process, no public hearings were held and multiple last-minute amendments that were pushed by lobbyists cropped up in the final version.
President Trump tweeted: “The Tax Cuts are so large and so meaningful, and yet the Fake News is working overtime to follow the lead of their friends, the defeated Dems, and only demean. This is truly a case where the results will speak for themselves, starting very soon. Jobs, Jobs, Jobs!”
The unpopular bill is likely to be a major issue during the 2018 mid-term congressional elections.
According to a Reuters/Ipsos poll, 52% of adults said they opposed the tax plan, while only 27% supported it.
Non-partisan analysts say the greatest beneficiaries of the package will be the super-wealthy, multinational corporations and the commercial property industry.
In the immediate future, the plan will see the vast majority of taxpayers having lower tax bills, but those cuts expire in 2025.
By 2027, the Tax Policy Center estimates the overall change would be negligible.
And 53% of taxpayers would face higher bills, many of them in the lower income brackets.
The tax bill is projected to add $1.5trillion over the next decade to the $20 trillion US debt, which President Trump promised last year he would eliminate.
However, Republicans argue it will boost economic growth.
The legislation reaches beyond fiscal matters to tick off a wish list of conservative priorities.
It strikes a serious blow to ObamaCare, scrapping the fine levied on Americans who do not buy health insurance.
The Congressional Budget Office says this will increase premiums for people who have medical coverage.
The bill also opens Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil and gas drilling, a major defeat for environmentalists.
President Donald Trump has denied he is planning to fire Robert Mueller, who is investigating possible Russian meddling in the 2016 election.
Tensions have been rising between the White House and Robert Mueller’s inquiry.
On December 16, a lawyer for Donald Trump’s presidential transition group said thousands of emails had been unlawfully obtained by Robert Mueller’s team.
Responding to questions over the legal row, President Trump said it was “not looking good” and his people were “very upset”.
The president said, while returning from a weekend trip to Camp David: “I can’t imagine there’s anything on them, frankly, because, as we said, there’s no collusion.”
Donald Trump’s administration has denied working with Russia in the 2016 election and the president labeled the investigation “a witch hunt”.
Responding to a media question on the White House lawn on whether he was considering firing Robert Mueller amid his criticism, President Trump responded: “No, I’m not.”
Several Democratic lawmakers had expressed concern, and on December 15 the top Democrat on the House intelligence committee, Adam Schiff, said he feared Republican members wanted to shut the probe down.
Several former members of Donald Trump’s campaign team are facing charges as part of the investigation.
Kory Langhofer, a lawyer working for the Trump for America (TFA) group – who helped Donald Trump’s transition to the White House after his election, complained on December 16 after the group became aware Robert Mueller’s investigation had obtained tens of thousands of their emails.
He sent a letter to congressional committees claiming the records had been obtained unlawfully.
The TFA group had used the facilities, including email hosting, of a government agency, the General Services Administration (GSA), in the period between Donald Trump’s election in November 2016 and inauguration in January.
In his letter, Kory Langhofer, says GSA staff “unlawfully produced TFA’s private materials, including privileged communications” to Robert Mueller’s investigation team.
The emails obtained reportedly involve 13 Trump transition officials, including former national security adviser Michael Flynn who pleaded guilty to making false statements to the FBI earlier this month.
The GSA, Kory Langhofer complains, “did not own or control the records in question” and maintains the constitutional rights of transition officials were violated.
A spokesperson for Robert Mueller said they had done nothing wrong.
Peter Carr said: “When we have obtained emails in the course of our ongoing criminal investigation, we have secured either the account owner’s consent or appropriate criminal process.”
GSA Deputy Counsel Lenny Loewentritt has denied another of Kory Langhofer’s accusations, that the GSA gave assurances that requests for Trump transition records would go through the group’s lawyers.
Lenny Loewentritt told BuzzFeed that the transition group knew materials would have to be provided to law enforcement “therefore, no expectation of privacy can be assumed”.
Democratic Representative Eric Swalwell tweeted that the accusations were “another attempt to discredit Mueller as his #TrumpRussia probe tightens”.
US intelligence agencies believe Russia tried to tip the presidential election in favor of Donald Trump – a charge denied by both Moscow and the president.
Three of President Donald Trump’s harassment accusers have demanded a congressional inquiry.
At a New York City news conference, Jessica Leeds, Samantha Holvey and Rachel Crooks accused President Trump of groping, fondling, forcibly kissing, humiliating or harassing them.
The trio detailed their allegations shortly beforehand live on TV.
However, the White House said the women were making “false claims”.
The December 11 press conference was organized by Brave New Films, which last month released a documentary, 16 Women and Donald Trump, about the claims made by multiple women.
Jessica Leeds, Samantha Holvey and Rachel Crooks originally went public separately with their allegations a month before last year’s presidential election.
The claims have been given a new lease of life by the harassment scandals that have engulfed high-profile public figures since October’s fall of Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein.
On December 11, Samantha Holvey told NBC News that Donald Trump had ogled her and other competitors in 2006 at the Miss USA beauty pageant, which he owned.
The former Miss North Carolina, who was 20-years-old at the time, said “he lined all of us up” and was “just looking me over like I was just a piece of meat”.
“It left me feeling very gross,” Samantha Holvey told Megyn Kelly.
She later told the reporters: “They’ve investigated other Congress members, so I think it only stands fair that he [President Trump] is investigated as well
“This isn’t a partisan issue, this is, how women are treated every day.”
Jessica Leeds, now in her 70s, says that when she was 38 she sat next to Donald Trump in the first-class cabin of a flight to New York and he assaulted her.
She said: “He jumped all over me.”
Jessica Leeds said she came forward because: “I wanted people to know what kind of person Trump really is, and what a pervert he is.”
Rachel Crooks said she was kissed on the lips by Donald Trump outside a lift in Trump Tower when she was a 22-year-old receptionist at a real estate company there.
The White House said on December 11: “These false claims, totally disputed in most cases by eyewitness accounts, were addressed at length during last year’s campaign, and the American people voiced their judgment by delivering a decisive victory.
“The timing and absurdity of these false claims speaks volumes and the publicity tour that has begun only further confirms the political motives behind them.”
President Trump rejected such allegations last year and vowed to sue the accusers, though no lawsuit has yet been filed.
However, over the weekend President Trump’s ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki Haley, said his accusers “should be heard”.
Speaking to CBS News, Nikki Haley said she was “incredibly proud of the women who have come forward”.
Meanwhile, three Democratic senators – Cory Booker of New Jersey, Jeff Merkley of Oregon and Kirsten Gillibrand of New York – called on President Trump to resign over the allegations.
At least sixteen Palestinians have been injured in clashes in the occupied West Bank, during protests against President Donald Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.
According to local reports, the injuries are mostly from tear gas and rubber bullets, but at least one was hurt by live fire.
Israel has deployed hundreds of extra troops in the West Bank.
Donald Trump’s announcement – met with worldwide dismay – reversed decades of US policy on the sensitive issue.
Palestinians in the both the West Bank and the Gaza Strip have gone on strike and taken to the streets in protest.
Many of the United States’ closest allies have said they disagree with the move, and both the UN Security Council and the Arab League will meet in the coming days to decide their response.
There are fears the announcement could lead to a renewed outbreak of violence. The Palestinian Islamist group Hamas has already called for a new intifada, or uprising.
On December 6, President Trump said that he had “determined it is time to officially recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel”.
He said: “I’ve judged this course of action to be in the best interests of the United States of America and the pursuit of peace between Israel and the Palestinians.”
The president said he was directing the state department to begin preparations to move the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.
Despite warnings of regional unrest over any such move, the decision fulfills a campaign promise and appeals to Donald Trump’s right-wing base.
Recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital was “nothing more or less than a recognition of reality”, he added.
“It is also the right thing to do.”
President Trump said the US would support a two-state solution – shorthand for a final settlement that would see the creation of an independent Palestinian state within pre-1967 ceasefire lines in the West Bank, Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem, living peacefully alongside Israel – “if agreed to by both sides”.
He also refrained from using Israel’s description of Jerusalem as its “eternal and undivided capital”. The Palestinians want East Jerusalem to be the capital of any future Palestinian state.
Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel was profoundly grateful to President Trump, who had “bound himself forever with the history of the capital”.
The prime minister also said Israel was “in touch with other countries to follow suit. I have no doubt other embassies will move to Jerusalem – the time has come”. He did not name any of these countries, although the Philippines and the Czech Republic have been mentioned in Israeli media.
The mood has been very different on the Palestinian side.
Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh has called for a “day of rage” on December 8 and said it should “be the first day of the intifada against the occupier”.
President Donald Trump’s decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital has been condemned by world’s leaders.
Saudi Arabia called it “unjustified and irresponsible”, while France and the UK said they did not support the decision.
However, Israel’s PM Benjamin Netanyahu hailed it as “a historic day”.
Donald Trump’s move reversed decades of US policy. The fate of Jerusalem is one of the thorniest issues between Israel and the Palestinians.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas denounced President Trump’s move as “deplorable”.
Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip are expected to hold a day of strikes and protests on December 7.
The UN Security Council is to discuss the issue on December 8 after eight of the 15 member nations called for an emergency session. The Arab League is to meet on December 9.
President Trump said on December 6 he had “judged this course of action to be in the best interests of the United States of America, and the pursuit of peace between Israel and the Palestinians”.
He said he was directing the state department to begin preparations to move the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.
Despite warnings of regional unrest over any such move, the decision fulfils a campaign promise and appeals to Donald Trump’s right-wing base.
Recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital was “nothing more or less than a recognition of reality”, the president added.
“It is also the right thing to do.”
Donald Trump said the US still supported a two-state solution to the longstanding Israeli-Palestinian conflict, if approved by both sides, which would essentially see the creation of an independent Palestinian state living alongside Israel.
Following the announcement, PM Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel was profoundly grateful, tweeting: “Jerusalem has been the focus of our hopes, our dreams, our prayers for three millennia.”
On December 6, Benjamin Netanyahu went further, saying President Trump “bound himself forever with the history of the capital”, and predicting that many other countries would follow Washington’s example.
The Republican Jewish Coalition thanked President Trump in a New York Times add.
The mood was very different on the Palestinian side, with a day of strikes and protests planned.
The leader of Hamas, the Islamist movement that runs the Gaza Strip, called for a new intifada, or uprising, saying it was the only way to “confront” Israel and the US.
President Mahmoud Abbas called President Trump’s announcement “deplorable” and said Jerusalem was the “eternal capital of the state of Palestine”.
Fatah, Mahmoud Abbas’s party, said it would push for a UN resolution requesting that Washington “rescind its decision” and disqualifying the US as a co-sponsor of the peace process.
The Arab and the wider Muslim world – including a number of US allies – condemned Donald Trump’s announcement.
Demonstrations have already taken place outside the US consulate in Istanbul, Turkey.
The Saudi royal court said: “The US move represents a significant decline in efforts to push a peace process and is a violation of the historically neutral American position on Jerusalem.”
Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak called on Muslims everywhere to “make it clear that we strongly oppose” the US move.
UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said it was “a moment of great anxiety”. He said “there is no alternative to the two-state solution”.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron both said their countries did not support the move while EU chief diplomat Federica Mogherini voiced “serious concern”.
Donald Trump’s announcement puts the US at odds with the rest of the international community’s view on Jerusalem’s status.
The Palestinians claim East Jerusalem as the capital of a future state, and according to the 1993 Israel-Palestinian peace accords, its final status is meant to be discussed in the latter stages of peace talks.
Israeli sovereignty over Jerusalem has never been recognized internationally, and all countries maintain their embassies in Tel Aviv.
Jerusalem contains sites sacred to the three major monotheistic faiths – Judaism, Islam and Christianity.
East Jerusalem, which includes the Old City, was annexed by Israel after the Six Day War of 1967, but before now it has not been internationally recognized as part of Israel.
President Donald Trump will recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, senior White House officials have said.
The president is due to announce the controversial decision in a speech later.
Donald Trump is also expected to approve moving the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, but not for several years.
Israel welcomes the changes but the Palestinians and Arab leaders have warned they will jeopardize any Middle East peace process.
Pope Francis called for the “status quo” to be respected. Dialogue would only come through “recognizing the rights of all people” in the region, he said.
Saudi Arabia, an ally of the US, called the new policy “a flagrant provocation to Muslims”.
Israel has always regarded Jerusalem as its capital city, while the Palestinians claim East Jerusalem as the capital of a future Palestinian state.
In recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, the US becomes the first country to do so since the foundation of Israel in 1948.
The issue goes to the heart of Israel’s conflict with the Palestinians, who are backed by the Arab and wider Islamic world.
Jerusalem is home to key religious sites sacred to Judaism, Islam and Christianity, especially in East Jerusalem.
Israel annexed the sector from Jordan after the 1967 Middle East war and regards the entire city as its indivisible capital.
According to the 1993 Israel-Palestinian peace accords, its final status is meant to be discussed in the latter stages of talks.
Israeli sovereignty over Jerusalem has never been recognized internationally and all countries maintain their embassies in Tel Aviv.
Since 1967, Israel has built a dozen settlements, home to about 200,000 Jews, in East Jerusalem. These are considered illegal under international law, though Israel disputes this.
In recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, the US could reinforce Israel’s position that settlements in the east are valid Israeli communities.
Trump administration officials said recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital was seen as “a recognition of reality” by the US government.
However, specific boundaries of Jerusalem would remain subject to a final status agreement, the official said. The status of holy sites would not be affected.
President Trump would also direct the state department to begin the process of moving the US embassy to Jerusalem – but this could take several years as it still has to be designed and built and security concerns would need to be addressed.
Donald Trump originally promised the move to pro-Israel voters during his campaign for the presidency.
The White House officials added that the president would still sign a regular waiver blocking the embassy’s move from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem until the new building was completed.
Successive presidents have signed waivers to get round the 1995 Jerusalem Embassy Act, which mandates moving the embassy. They have done this so that the US can be seen as neutral in Middle East peace negotiations.
Donald Trump has vowed to pursue a peace agreement between Israelis and Palestinians, led by his son-in-law and top adviser Jared Kushner.
An administration official said the new US policy on Jerusalem was not designed to favor Israel in that process.
Ahead of his formal announcement, President Trump phoned several regional leaders to inform them of the embassy move.
Reacting to news of President Trump’s impending announcement, Saudi Arabia’s King Salman told him the relocation of the embassy or recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital “would constitute a flagrant provocation of Muslims, all over the world”.
Meanwhile, Hamas leader Ismail Haniya called for protests on December 8 and Jordan’s King Abdullah said the decision would “undermine efforts to resume the peace process”.
Egypt’s President Abdul Fattah al-Sisi urged President Trump “not to complicate the situation in the region” while Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said his country could sever ties with Israel.
China also warned of an escalation in tensions in the Middle East.
France, the EU and the Arab League have also expressed concern.
US government employees and their families have been barred from personal travel in Jerusalem’s Old City and the West Bank for security reasons ahead of expected protests.
Israel’s intelligence minister Israel Katz told Army Radio that Israel was “preparing for every option”, including an outbreak of violence.
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