Articles by "White House"
Showing posts with label White House. Show all posts

Hello Jammu News at 11:01:00 PM 1


Washington, Apr 15 :  President Donald Trump and other G7 leaders will discuss international coordination of the coronavirus response by video conference on Thursday, the White House said.

The remote meeting convened by Trump follows up on another virtual summit held last month and comes as the leading world economies remain under lockdown due to the pandemic.

Trump convened the meeting for "Thursday morning to coordinate national responses to the Coronavirus pandemic," White House spokesman Judd Deere said.

"Working together, the G7 is taking a whole-of-society approach to tackle the crisis across multiple areas, including health, finance, humanitarian assistance, and science and technology," Deere said.

The G7 is made up of Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States, which this year holds the group's presidency.

The White House has said that the traditional annual summit, due to have been staged near Washington in June, will instead also take place by video link.

On Tuesday, Trump spoke by phone with French President Emmanuel Macron on "efforts to defeat the coronavirus pandemic and reopen world economies," the White House said.

"The two leaders also discussed the upcoming teleconference with G7 leaders, as well as critical regional and bilateral issues.
Read more »

Hello Jammu News at 8:39:00 PM 0


Washington, Aug 3  :  US President Donald Trump invited Iran's foreign minister to the White House last month at the height of tensions between the two countries, a magazine reports.

The invitation, extended by Senator Rand Paul with permission from the president, was turned down for now, The New Yorker reported Friday.

The minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, said it was up to Tehran to decide on accepting it.

Neither the White House nor the State Department responded requests for comment on the report, which quoted US and Iranian sources and what the magazine called a well-placed diplomat.

Zarif told the magazine he would not want a White House meeting that yielded just a photo op and a two page statement afterwards, The New Yorker said.

Trump has said publicly several times that he is willing to hold talks with the Iranians even as he lambasts Tehran as a corrupt, incompetent and dangerous regime that is a threat to regional security and US interests.

Last year Trump pulled the US out of an international accord designed to curb Iran's nuclear program, and has reimposed sanctions on Iran -- and even slapped them on Zarif this week -- in an effort to force it to renegotiate the agreement.

Rand had been working for weeks on setting up a meeting with Zarif and on July 15, conferred with him in New York, passing on an invitation from Trump for him to come to the White House, the magazine said.

At the one hour meeting with Rand, Zarif suggested ways to end the nuclear impasse and address Trump's concerns, The New Yorker said.

Tensions soared in the Gulf in June and July amid attacks on oil tankers, Iran's downing of an unmanned US surveillance drone and after the US said it had downed an Iranian drone.

Trump has said the attack against the US drone prompted him to order a military strike in response, only to call it off at the last minute.
Read more »

Hello Jammu News at 5:25:00 PM 0


Washington, Oct 6 (PTI) The US presidential waiver on weapons deal with sanctions-hit Russia is intended to "wean" countries like India off the Russian equipment, the White House has said as New Delhi inked a USD 5 billion deal to purchase S-400 Triumf air defence system from Moscow. 

The mega deal was sealed in New Delhi on Friday during the visit of Russian President Vladimir Putin for the annual summit with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

In a guarded reaction, the US said Friday its intent to slap sanctions against Russia was not aimed at imposing damage to the military capabilities of its "allies or partners," shortly after India concluded the deal for purchase of S-400 missile defence system from Russia.

The S-400 missile defence system would give India's defence a cutting-edge security against any missile attack by its enemies.

"The (CAATSA presidential) waiver is narrow, intended to wean countries off Russian equipment and allow for things such as spare parts for previously-purchased equipment," a White House National Security Council Spokesperson told PTI hours after the conclusion of the S-400 contract.

The deal was concluded during the visit of Russian President Vladimir Putin for the annual summit with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

President of US-India Strategic and Partnership Forum Mukesh Aghi said: "India lives in a very turbulent and nuclear-powered region. S-400 provides that assurance and is compatible with its current platform. Friends understand that these discussions with Russia started several years ago hence I do not believe US will impose sanction on India".

But for the presidential waiver, Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act or CAATSA sanctions kicks in in the event of a major purchase like S-400 missile defence system. Ahead of the deal, the US had urged India not to purchase S-400. It reiterated Friday.

"The Administration has indicated that a focus area for the implementation of CAATSA Section 231 is new or qualitative upgrades in capability including the S-400 air and missile defense system," the White House NSC Spokesperson said.

Last month, the US had imposed sanctions on China for the purchase of S-400 from Russia.

"Our recent action to sanction a Chinese government entity for an S-400 delivery underscores the seriousness of our resolve on this issue. The waiver authority is not country-specific. There are strict criteria for considering a waiver," said the spokesperson.

The State Department, which is tasked with reviewing the deal and initiated the process of sanctions or waiver under CAATSAA, and then recommend to the president, did not respond to the question on the time frame and the process.

However, an industry source said the law is ambiguous about "when a waiver is necessary so this can be avoided for years".

The National Defense Authorization ACT (NDDA) 2019 gives president the power to waive of the CAATSA sanctions if it is national security interest. 

It also lists out several other options for presidential waiver, prominent among which is the purchase country India in this case is taking or will take steps to reduce its inventory of major defense equipment and advanced conventional weapons produced by the defense sector of the Russian Federation as a share of its total inventory of major defense equipment and advanced conventional weapons over a specified period.

In fact, over the last more than a decade, India the top arms purchaser of the world, has gradually reduced its dependence on Russian arms. It now stands at about 60 per cent, which is much lower than it was a decade ago. The US has been a major beneficiary of this move.

As part of its diversification plan, India has increased its purchase of arms from the US from about zero to more than USD 18 billion. India is in the process of purchasing arms and equipment worth billions of dollars from the US in the coming years including armed and unarmed drones and fighter jets.

A presidential waiver can also be given if a country like India in this case is cooperating with the US government on other security matters critical to the US strategic interests. Experts believe that is exactly the case and one of the main reasons for US designating India as a 'Major Defence Partner'.

"I don't like to make predictions in today's Washington but sanctioning India, and surrendering the Indian defence market to Russia, would have exactly the opposite of the intended effect of CAATSA. No American interest group benefits from sanctioning India," Benjamin Schwartz from US India Business Council said.

He has previously served as the director for India in the US office of the secretary of defence.

Aparna Pande, from the Hudson Institute think-tank, said "I believe what is more likely is that even though India will sign the S-400 deal, it will delay payment, etc so that the sanctions don't come into effect.

"This way India maintains its strategic autonomy and historical ties with Russia and yet ensures its strategic relationship with the US is not impacted either," Pande said.

According to Rick Rossow, from the Center for Strategic and International Studies think tank: "Congress widened the waiver criteria with India in mind, and the fact we had a robust '2+2 Dialogue' in Delhi a month back shows that the administration believes in the momentum".

The Russian Embassy in the US tweeted that that the delivery of S-400 will begin in October 2020.

Read more »

Hello Jammu News at 1:43:00 PM 0
Washington, Jun 26 : Describing immigration reform as his top priority, US President Donald Trump today renewed his push for an immigration system which prevents people from entering America illegally.

"One of the highest on the list is immigration. And we have to change our laws. We have to make them sensible," Trump told reporters in a joint media appearance with King Abdullah II Bin al-Hussein of Jordan in the Oval Office of the White House.

Trump said he wants a system in place where the foregone conclusion for any illegal entrance is exit.

"We want a system where, when people come in illegally, they have to go out. A nice simple system that works. Mexico holds people for four hours, for five hours, for two hours, and they're gone. We have people for four, five, six years and they never leave. So we want to have a great immigration," Trump said in response to a question.

The US president also attacked the Democrats, who he said, are in favour of open borders and alleged that they "do not care about our military".

"What we have is very simple. We want strong borders and no crime ... The Democrats want open borders and they don't care about crime, and they don't care about our military. I care about our military. That's what we want and that's what we're going to get. And we're going to get it sooner than people think," he said.

White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders later told reporters that virtually all Americans agree that it makes no sense that an illegal alien sets one foot on American soil, and then they would go through a three-to-five-year judicial process to be removed from the country.

"Thousands of illegal aliens are removed every month, without seeing an immigration judge, as a result of procedures in current law, including voluntary removal and expedited removal. Just because you don't see a judge doesn't mean you aren't receiving due process," she said.

Sanders said the president is focused on securing borders and reforming immigration system to prevent the crisis at the border from getting worse.

Trump, she said, likes to see people being stopped illegally from entering the country at all.

"We'd like to have secure borders. The Democrats are the ones that want open borders. The president would like us to secure the borders and have a very legal and easy immigration process so people can come here the right way, not the wrong way," she said.

Responding to a question, she said Trump would certainly like to see more expedited removal.

"Ultimately, the president would like to see our border secured so that we don't have all of these problems to begin with," she said.

"The president wants to fix our immigration system completely, not just tinker with it. He actually wants us to have a system that works, and he wants to have a secure border. He doesn't believe in the philosophy that Democrats to, that we should have open borders. He wants to stop that," Sanders said.

The White House spokesperson affirmed that Trump wants to stop the crime that comes into the US, and his administration hopes to do the same, adding they would like to see the Congress "step up and work with us".   PTI
Read more »

Hello Jammu News at 12:53:00 PM 0


Washington, Feb 22: US President Donald Trump, after listening to a series of emotional stories and pleas to enhance school safety at the White House on Wednesday, has floated the idea of arming teachers and school staff, an idea that was met with support from many of the attendees, a CNN report said on Thursday.
"If you had a teacher who was adept with the firearm, they could end the attack very quickly," he said, stating that schools could arm up to 20 per cent of their teachers to stop "maniacs" who may try and attack them.
"This would be obviously only for people who were very adept at handling a gun, and it would be, it's called concealed carry, where a teacher would have a concealed gun on them. They'd go for special training and they would be there and you would no longer have a gun-free zone," Trump said.
"Gun-free zone to a maniac -- because they're all cowards -- a gun-free zone is 'let's go in and let's attack because bullets aren't coming back at us.' "
The comment came during a White House listening session marked by poignant testimony from students and parents affected by school shootings. Trump offered some solutions, calling for more mental institutions and hospitals in addition to the idea of arming teachers.
"I'm not here to debate, but I lost my sister. And like Mr President said, if you could find 20 per cent of maybe retired law enforcement officers, or a teacher who could go through discreet training to carry a firearm around his waist, it could've been a very different situation," Hunter Pollack, one of Meadow Pollack's brothers, said. 
"We need more security, we need more firearms on campus, we need better background checks, and we need to study more on mental health."
Fred Abt, father of Parkland shooting survivor Carson Abt, said he had discussed with Education Secretary Betsy DeVos over lunch that rather than waiting for first responders to arrive, it would be more efficient to have firearms locked on school campuses.
"One possible solution, which may not be very popular, would be to have people in the school, teachers, administrators who have volunteered to have a firearm safely locked in the classroom who are given training throughout the year," he said. "There are plenty of teachers who are already licensed to carry firearms, have them raise their hands to volunteer for the training, and when something like this starts, the first responders are already on campus."
Nicole Hockley, whose six-year-old son was killed in the 2012 Sandy Hook elementary school shooting, took the microphone and told Trump she would rather arm teachers with ways to prevent shootings in the first place rather than with a firearm.
"Let's talk about prevention," Hockley said. "There is so much we can do to help this person before we reach this point."
But many others embraced the President's idea.
Andrew Pollack, a father of one of the 17 victims who died in last week's Florida shooting, said he was speaking Wednesday because his daughter couldn't.
"We as a country failed our children," he said. "This shouldn't happen."
He asked how it was that America could protect its airports, its concerts, its embassies and even the elevators at the Department of Education, but not its schools.
"How many schools, how many children have to get shot? It stops here with this administration and me. I'm not going to sleep until it is fixed. And Mr. President, we'll fix it. Because I'm going to fix it. I'm not going to rest," he said.
Standing feet from the President, Pollack raised his voice at one point: "I'm pissed. It was my daughter I am not going to see again. She is not here. She is not here. She is in North Lauderdale at whatever it is, King David Cemetery, that is where I go to see my kid now."
"My beautiful daughter, I'm never going to see her again. It's simple. Let's fix it," he said.
Justin Gruber, 15, who was affected by the Parkland shooting, said he was born after Columbine, which marked a new era in school safety.
"I was born into a world where I never got to experience safety and peace. There needs to be a significant change in this country. This has to never happen again," he said. "People should be able to feel like when they go to school it can be safe. There needs to be a change. People need to feel safe. Parents shouldn't have to go through the idea of losing their child."
Trump responded to the series of emotional stories from the survivors and parents of victims from the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School by pledging to get to work on school shootings "two minutes" after the listening session.
"We don't want others to go through the kind of pain you have gone through," Trump said. "It wouldn't be right."
Trump, flanked by the students, went around the room and shook hands before opening the event.
Trump also later tweeted he would "always remember" the event, adding "we must keep our children safe."
"I will always remember the time I spent today with courageous students, teachers and families," he posted to Twitter, along with a link to the full event. "So much love in the midst of so much pain. We must not let them down. We must keep our children safe!!" UNI
Read more »
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)