INTERVIEW — TOM ROGAN — Columnist at National Review and a Senior Fellow at the Steamboat Institute
- Trump foreign policy:
- Trump flips on NATO, says alliance “no longer obsolete” / President Trump on NATO: ‘It’s no longer obsolete’ President Donald Trump reversed course on his view of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization on Wednesday, saying it is “no longer obsolete,” after months of bashing the alliance as no longer relevant during his presidential campaign. “I said it was obsolete. It’s no longer obsolete,” he said at a press conference with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg at the White House. “The secretary general and I had a productive discussion about what more NATO can do in the fight against terrorism,” Trump said. “I complained about that a long time ago, and they made a change, and now they do fight terrorism. “Every generation strives to adapt the NATO alliance to meet the challenges of their times, and on my visit to Brussels this spring, which I look very much forward to, we will work together to do the same,” he continued, calling for NATO to support Iraq to fight ISIS. “We must not be trapped by the tired thinking that so many have but apply new solutions to face new circumstances.”He reiterated that countries in NATO ought to allocate 2 percent of their GDP to military spending — a frequent rallying cry during his campaign last year. Only five of the 28 member states currently do so, including the U.S. Trump said that NATO was obsolete as recently as January in an interview with The Times of London. “I said a long time ago that NATO had problems. No. 1, it was obsolete because it was designed many, many years ago. No. 2, the countries aren’t paying what they’re supposed to pay,” he said. “I took such heat when I said NATO was obsolete. It’s obsolete because it wasn’t taking care of terror. I took a lot of heat for two days. And then they started saying Trump is right.”
- UN / RUSSIA / SYRIA: Russia vetoes UN draft resolution on Syria gas attack probe. UNITED NATIONS, United States — Russia on Wednesday vetoed a UN draft resolution demanding the Syrian government cooperate with an investigation of a suspected chemical attack that the West blames on President Bashar Assad’s forces. It was the eighth time that Russia has used its veto power at the UN Security Council to block action directed at its ally in Damascus. Britain, France and the United States put forward the measure in response to the suspected sarin gas attack in Khan Sheikhun on April 4 that left 87 dead, including 31 children. China, another veto-holding power at the council, abstained in the vote, as did Kazakhstan and Ethiopia. Bolivia voted against the measure and 10 other council members supported it. British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson said he was “dismayed” by the Russian veto. “This puts Russia on the wrong side of the argument,” Johnson said in a statement issued in London. Russia imposed its veto as US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said after talks in Moscow that there was a “low level of trust” between the United States and Russia.
- RUSSIA: US says ‘low point’ of Russia ties cannot continue. (BBC) — US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson says ties with Russia are at a low point and must improve. After two hours of talks with President Vladimir Putin and Foreign Secretary Sergei Lavrov in Moscow, he said that the “two foremost nuclear powers cannot have this relationship”. Although there was some “common ground” on Syria, “broad differences” remained. Mr Lavrov said the two sides needed to overcome “time-bomb issues” inherited from Barack Obama’s administration. Tensions have risen since a suspected chemical attack on the rebel-held Syrian town of Khan Sheikhoun last week that left 89 people dead. The US and its allies blamed the Syrian government, and the US fired 59 cruise missiles at Syria’s Shayrat airbase in response.
- North Korea to journalists: Expect a “big and important event” Thursday
- Trump says China has turned back N. Korean coal ships, lauds it as ‘big step’
8am – B MEDIA NEWS:
- Spicer keeps apologizing.
- CNN’S ACOSTA: WE NEED REPUBLICANS TO BELIEVE IN MAINSTREAM MEDIA: Acosta may have had unpleasant things to say about the Trump White House, but he claims he doesn’t want to isolate those who hold conservative ideologies. “We need Republicans to believe in mainstream news media just as much as Democrats,” he said. “We need people to trust us.”
- Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov Scolds Andrea Mitchell’s ‘Manners.’ Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov was affronted Wednesday when NBC reporter Andrea Mitchell called out a question while he was speaking in Moscow, asking who taught her “manners.” ABC News Moscow correspondent Patrick Reevell tweeted out video of the exchange, which occurred when Lavrov and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson entered the room for a photo-op, the Washington Examiner reported. Mitchell, who focuses on foreign affairs in her reporting, tried to address Tillerson, presumably about the recent Syrian chemical attack. “Mr. Secretary, the Russians don’t believe the intelligence. How confident are you, Mr. Secretary–” Mitchell began to ask, as Lavrov was speaking. “Who was bringing you up? Who was giving you your manners?” Lavrov asked.
