Trump recognizes Jerusalem as Israel's capital, defying allies and foes

[onthebottom]

As usual, he goes his own way. I think this is a mistake but perhaps putting a stake in a two state solution will make everyone realize they need to solve for a one state answer.

Trump recognizes Jerusalem as Israel's capital, defying allies and foes

WASHINGTON/JERUSALEM (Reuters) - President Donald Trump reversed decades of U.S. policy on Wednesday and recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, effectively taking sides in one of the thorniest issues in the Mideast dispute and upsetting Washington’s friends and foes alike.

Trump announced his administration would begin a process of moving the U.S. embassy in Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, a step expected to take years and one that his predecessors had avoided so as not to inflame tensions.

The status of Jerusalem -- home to sites that are holy to the Muslim, Jewish and Christian religions -- is one of the biggest obstacles to reaching a peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinians.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hailed Trump’s announcement as a “historic landmark” but other close Western allies of Washington such as Britain and France were critical.

Palestinians accused the United States of abdicating its responsibility to try to broker peace.

The international community does not recognize Israeli sovereignty over the entire city, believing its status should be resolved in negotiations. No other country has its embassy in Jerusalem.

Trump’s decision fulfills a campaign promise and will please Republican conservatives and evangelicals who make up a sizeable portion of his domestic support.

“I have determined that it is time to officially recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel,” Trump said in a speech in the White House. “While previous presidents have made this a major campaign promise, they failed to deliver. Today, I am delivering.”

Trump’s decision risks further inflaming a region already grappling with conflict in Syria, Iraq and Yemen.

Protests broke out in areas of Jordan’s capital Amman inhabited by Palestinian refugees and several hundred protesters gathered outside the U.S. consulate in Istanbul.

Youths chanted anti-American slogans in Amman, while in the Baqaa refugee camp on the city’s outskirts, hundreds of protesters roamed the streets denouncing Trump and calling on Jordan’s government to scrap its 1994 peace treaty with Israel. “Down with America. America is the mother of terror,” they chanted.

Israel considers Jerusalem its eternal and indivisible capital and wants all embassies based there. Palestinians want the capital of an independent state of theirs to be in the city’s eastern sector, which Israel captured in the 1967 Middle East war and annexed in a move never recognized internationally.

Netanyahu said any peace deal with Palestinians must include Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. This would be a non-starter for Palestinians in any negotiations if it means the entire city would be under Israeli control.

PALESTINIANS UPSET

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Wednesday called the city “the eternal capital of the state of Palestine.” Abbas said Trump’s decision was tantamount to the United States abdicating its peace mediator role. Jordan called Trump’s decision “legally null”

Palestinian Islamist group Hamas accused Trump of a “flagrant aggression against the Palestinian people.”

Trump has tilted U.S. policy toward Israel since taking office in January.

“He cannot expect to side entirely with Israel on the most sensitive and complex issues in the process, and yet expect the Palestinians to see the United States as an honest broker,” said former U.S. Ambassador to Israel Daniel Kurtzer.

Pope Francis called for Jerusalem’s status quo to be respected, saying new tension would further inflame world conflicts. China and Russia expressed concern the move could aggravate Middle East hostilities.

British Prime Minster Theresa May said: “We disagree with the U.S. decision to move its embassy to Jerusalem and recognize Jerusalem as the Israeli capital before a final status agreement. We believe it is unhelpful in terms of prospects for peace in the region. The British Embassy to Israel is based in Tel Aviv and we have no plans to move it.”

French President Emmanuel Macron said Trump’s announcement was “regrettable.” U.N. chief Antonio Guterres said there was no alternative to a two-state solution for Israel and the Palestinians, “There is no Plan B.”

Trump said his move is not intended to tip the scale in favor of Israel and that any deal involving the future of Jerusalem would have to be negotiated by the parties.

 

[canada-man]

African countries agree with Trump.

https://www.i24news.tv/en/news/isra...e-to-jerusalem-in-future-tanzania-leader-says

 

[danmand]

As usual, he goes his own way. I think this is a mistake but perhaps putting a stake in a two state solution will make everyone realize they need to solve for a one state answer.

Trump recognizes Jerusalem as Israel's capital, defying allies and foes

WASHINGTON/JERUSALEM (Reuters) - President Donald Trump reversed decades of U.S. policy on Wednesday and recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, effectively taking sides in one of the thorniest issues in the Mideast dispute and upsetting Washington’s friends and foes alike.

Trump announced his administration would begin a process of moving the U.S. embassy in Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, a step expected to take years and one that his predecessors had avoided so as not to inflame tensions.

The status of Jerusalem -- home to sites that are holy to the Muslim, Jewish and Christian religions -- is one of the biggest obstacles to reaching a peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinians.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hailed Trump’s announcement as a “historic landmark” but other close Western allies of Washington such as Britain and France were critical.

Palestinians accused the United States of abdicating its responsibility to try to broker peace.

The international community does not recognize Israeli sovereignty over the entire city, believing its status should be resolved in negotiations. No other country has its embassy in Jerusalem.

Trump’s decision fulfills a campaign promise and will please Republican conservatives and evangelicals who make up a sizeable portion of his domestic support.

“I have determined that it is time to officially recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel,” Trump said in a speech in the White House. “While previous presidents have made this a major campaign promise, they failed to deliver. Today, I am delivering.”

Trump’s decision risks further inflaming a region already grappling with conflict in Syria, Iraq and Yemen.

Protests broke out in areas of Jordan’s capital Amman inhabited by Palestinian refugees and several hundred protesters gathered outside the U.S. consulate in Istanbul.

Youths chanted anti-American slogans in Amman, while in the Baqaa refugee camp on the city’s outskirts, hundreds of protesters roamed the streets denouncing Trump and calling on Jordan’s government to scrap its 1994 peace treaty with Israel. “Down with America. America is the mother of terror,” they chanted.

Israel considers Jerusalem its eternal and indivisible capital and wants all embassies based there. Palestinians want the capital of an independent state of theirs to be in the city’s eastern sector, which Israel captured in the 1967 Middle East war and annexed in a move never recognized internationally.

Netanyahu said any peace deal with Palestinians must include Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. This would be a non-starter for Palestinians in any negotiations if it means the entire city would be under Israeli control.

PALESTINIANS UPSET

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Wednesday called the city “the eternal capital of the state of Palestine.” Abbas said Trump’s decision was tantamount to the United States abdicating its peace mediator role. Jordan called Trump’s decision “legally null”

Palestinian Islamist group Hamas accused Trump of a “flagrant aggression against the Palestinian people.”

Trump has tilted U.S. policy toward Israel since taking office in January.

“He cannot expect to side entirely with Israel on the most sensitive and complex issues in the process, and yet expect the Palestinians to see the United States as an honest broker,” said former U.S. Ambassador to Israel Daniel Kurtzer.

Pope Francis called for Jerusalem’s status quo to be respected, saying new tension would further inflame world conflicts. China and Russia expressed concern the move could aggravate Middle East hostilities.

British Prime Minster Theresa May said: “We disagree with the U.S. decision to move its embassy to Jerusalem and recognize Jerusalem as the Israeli capital before a final status agreement. We believe it is unhelpful in terms of prospects for peace in the region. The British Embassy to Israel is based in Tel Aviv and we have no plans to move it.”

French President Emmanuel Macron said Trump’s announcement was “regrettable.” U.N. chief Antonio Guterres said there was no alternative to a two-state solution for Israel and the Palestinians, “There is no Plan B.”

Trump said his move is not intended to tip the scale in favor of Israel and that any deal involving the future of Jerusalem would have to be negotiated by the parties.

It could have been part of a plan, but I cannot believe it.

 

[Frankfooter]

A list of UN resolutions stating that Jerusalem is not part of Israel.

UN Security Council
Resolution 242: November 22, 1967, the unanimously adopted resolution called on Israel to withdraw its armed forces from territories occupied in the 1967 conflict.

Resolution 250: April 27, 1968, asked Israel not to hold a military parade in Jerusalem.

Resolution 251: May 2, 1968, condemned Israel holding the military parade in Jerusalem.

Resolution 252: May 21, 1968, asked Israel to cancel all activities in Jerusalem, and condemned the occupation of any land through armed aggression. It also demanded Israel "desist from taking any further action which tends to change the status" of the city.

Resolution 267: July 3, 1969, confirmed resolution 252, reaffirming that "acquisition of territory by military conquest is inadmissible".

Resolution 271: September 15, 1969, condemned the extensive damage caused by arson to the Holy Al Aqsa Mosque, a building under the military occupation of Israel. It called on Israel to observe the provisions of the Geneva Conventions and "refrain from causing any hindrance to the discharge of the established functions of the Supreme Muslim Council of Jerusalem", including "its plans for the maintenance and repair of the Islamic Holy Places" within the city.

Resolution 298: September 25, 1971, confirmed in "the clearest possible terms" that all actions taken by Israel to change the status of Jerusalem, such as land confiscation, were illegal.

Resolution 465: March 1, 1980, demanded Israel to stop the planning and construction of settlements in territories occupied since 1967, including Jerusalem. It also called on Israel to "dismantle the existing settlements".

Resolution 476: June 30, 1980, reaffirmed the "overriding necessity for ending the prolonged occupation of Arab territories occupied by Israel since 1967" and reiterated that all measures which had altered the status of Jerusalem were "null and void" and had to be rescinded.

Resolution 478: August 20, 1980, condemned in "the strongest terms" the enactment of Israeli law proclaiming a change in status of Jerusalem. The resolution called on all states "that have established diplomatic missions" in Jerusalem to withdraw them from the city.

Resolution 672: October 12, 1990, expressed alarm at the violence which claimed more than twenty Palestinian lives at the al-Aqsa Mosque on October 8, 1990. The resolution condemned the acts of violence committed by Israeli security forces and referred to Israel as an "occupying power".

Resolution 1073: September 28, 1996, expressed concern about developments in Jerusalem relating to Israel's opening of an entrance to a tunnel near the al-Aqsa Mosque, which resulted in a number of civilian deaths, and called for "the safety and protection of Palestinian civilians to be ensured".

Resolution 1322: October 7, 2000, denounced the visit made by Israeli opposition leader, Ariel Sharon, to the al-Aqsa Mosque and the "subsequent violence there and at other holy places" which resulted in more than 80 Palestinian deaths.

Resolution 1397: March 12, 2002, called on Palestinian and Israeli leaders to resume the peace process through negotiations regarding a political settlement.

Resolution 2334: December 23, 2016, condemned Israel's construction of settlements in all territory occupied since 1967, including East Jerusalem. The UNSC emphasised it would not recognise any changes to the pre-1967 conflict lines, and stressed that the "cessation of all Israeli settlement activities is essential for salvaging the two-State solution".

UN General Assembly
Resolution 2253: July 4, 1967, expressed concern at Israel’s attempts to change the status of Jerusalem and called for "all measures already taken" to be rescinded and no further such action.

Resolution 36/15: October 28, 1981, determined that Israel’s transformation of Jerusalem, including historical, cultural and religious sites, constituted a "flagrant violation of the principles of international law". Such acts, the resolution stated, "constitute a serious obstruction to achieving a comprehensive and just peace in the Middle East".

Resolution 55/130: February 28, 2001, demanded that Israel cooperate with a special committee set up to "investigate Israeli practices affecting the human rights of Palestinian people and other Arabs" in the occupied territories. The resolution expressed "grave concern" about the situation in Jerusalem "as a result of Israeli practices and measures … [especially] the excessive use of force … which has resulted in more than 160 Palestinian deaths".

Resolution 10/14: December 12, 2003, requested the International Court of Justice to provide an advisory opinion on the legal consequences of Israel's construction of a wall in the "Occupied Palestinian Territory, including in and around East Jerusalem".

Resolution 60/104: January 18, 2006, requested the Special Committee, "pending complete termination of the Israeli occupation", continue to investigate Israeli actions in "the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and other Arab territories" since 1967.

Resolution 70/89: December 15, 2015, condemned the continuation of Israeli occupation of the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, as a violation of international law. The resolution also denounced Israel’s "unlawful construction" of a wall inside occupied territories, including "in and around East Jerusalem".

Resolution 71/96: December 23, 2016, reaffirmed that the Geneva Convention, relative to the protection of civilians during conflict, was applicable to the "Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and other Arab territories occupied by Israel since 1967".

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO)
150: November 27, 1996, stated the "Old City of Jerusalem" was inscribed on the endangered world heritage list, and labelled Israel's opening of an entrance to a tunnel near the al-Aqsa Mosque "an act which has offended religious sensibilities in the world".

159: June 15, 2000, expressed concern at "the measures which continue to impede the free access of Palestinians to Jerusalem".

184: April 2, 2010, expressed "deep concern" regarding Israeli archeological works, including excavations, at the al-Aqsa Mosque compound in Jerusalem. The resolution stated the works "contradict UNESCO decisions and conventions".

192: January 13, 2014, criticised Israel’s "continuous, [and] intrusive" archeological demolitions, excavations and works in East Jerusalem.

196: May 22, 2015, stated "deep regret" at Israel's "refusal to implement previous UNESCO decisions concerning Jerusalem" and called for the deployment of a permanent expert to East Jerusalem "to report on a regular basis about all the aspects covering all UNESCO fields of competence in East Jerusalem".

202: November 18, 2017, expressed regret at Israel's refusal to "implement the UNESCO request … to appoint a permanent representative to be stationed in East Jerusalem", and stressed the "urgent need to implement the UNESCO reactive monitoring mission to the Old City of Jerusalem and its Walls".

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2017/12/resolutions-occupied-east-jerusalem-171206081326131.html

 

[Aardvark154]

Unfortunately I see this as idiocy.

The only way I can see to resolve the situation in Jerusalem is one city capital of both states (with treaty guarantees that there is access to the old city for all, and perhaps international guarantors).

 

[Frankfooter]

Unfortunately I see this as idiocy.

The only way I can see to resolve the situation in Jerusalem is one city capital of both states (with treaty guarantees that there is access to the old city for all, and perhaps international guarantors).

Or this solution.
https://www.newyorker.com/humor/bor...f-americans-support-moving-trump-to-jerusalem

 

[danmand]

Unfortunately I see this as idiocy.

The only way I can see to resolve the situation in Jerusalem is one city capital of both states (with treaty guarantees that there is access to the old city for all, and perhaps international guarantors).

I believe that is what was envisioned when Israel was created.

Corpus separatum (Latin for "separated body") is a term used to describe the Jerusalem area in the 1947 United Nations Partition Plan for Palestine. According to the plan the city would be placed under international regime, conferring it a special status due to its shared religious importance. The corpus separatum was one of the main issues of the Lausanne Conference of 1949, besides the other borders and the question of the right of return of Palestinian refugees. The plan was adopted by the General Assembly with a two-thirds majority, although its implementation failed and nowadays the view that Jerusalem should be the capital of both Israel and Palestine is widely supported internationally
The plan was initially proposed in UN General Assembly Resolution 181 (II) of 29 November 1947. It provided that "Independent Arab and Jewish States and the Special International Regime for the City of Jerusalem ... shall come into existence in Palestine two months after the evacuation of the armed forces of the mandatory Power has been completed but in any case not later than 1 October 1948". All the residents would automatically become "citizens of the City of Jerusalem", unless they would opt for citizenship of the Arab or Jewish State.
I watched an interview with Nikki Haley on CNN, until I had to go and throw up. She said that this was a move to get the peace process started. I agree with somebody who said that her qualifications for being UN ambassador is that she once had breakfast at the International House of Pancakes. What an embarrassment for USA to have such a nitwit as UN ambassador.

 

[Aardvark154]

I believe that is what was envisioned when Israel was created.

Corpus separatum (Latin for "separated body") is a term used to describe the Jerusalem area in the 1947 United Nations Partition Plan for Palestine. According to the plan the city would be placed under international regime, conferring it a special status due to its shared religious importance. The corpus separatum was one of the main issues of the Lausanne Conference of 1949, besides the other borders and the question of the right of return of Palestinian refugees. The plan was adopted by the General Assembly with a two-thirds majority, although its implementation failed and nowadays the view that Jerusalem should be the capital of both Israel and Palestine is widely supported internationally
The plan was initially proposed in UN General Assembly Resolution 181 (II) of 29 November 1947. It provided that "Independent Arab and Jewish States and the Special International Regime for the City of Jerusalem ... shall come into existence in Palestine two months after the evacuation of the armed forces of the mandatory Power has been completed but in any case not later than 1 October 1948". All the residents would automatically become "citizens of the City of Jerusalem", unless they would opt for citizenship of the Arab or Jewish State.

Unfortunately we both know that this isn't what happened. Jordan instead occupied and subsequently annexed the Old City of Jerusalem during the 1948 Arab–Israeli War and from that time until 1967 prevented Israelis and most Jews from visiting the Holy Sites in the Old City.

So if you want to place blame for the current situation it rather lies on the Arab side.

 

[K Douglas]

Unfortunately we both know that this isn't what happened. Jordan instead occupied and subsequently annexed the Old City of Jerusalem during the 1948 Arab–Israeli War and from that time until 1967 prevented Israelis and most Jews from visiting the Holy Sites in the Old City.

So if you want to place blame for the current situation it rather lies on the Arab side.

Most of the blame as to why there is no peaceful 2 state solution lies on the Arab side. The primary reason being they don't believe in Israel's right to exist even a square mile of it.

 

[Allwomen247]

Why is this surprising to anyone who’s paying attention?

This was one of his campaign promises and like him or loathe him he is trying to fulfill his promises.

I think he’s going to have a harder time building the wall

Cheers

 

[Indiana]

Don’t they have a nice wall in Jerusalem?

 

[danmand]

Unfortunately we both know that this isn't what happened. Jordan instead occupied and subsequently annexed the Old City of Jerusalem during the 1948 Arab–Israeli War and from that time until 1967 prevented Israelis and most Jews from visiting the Holy Sites in the Old City.

So if you want to place blame for the current situation it rather lies on the Arab side.

There is more than enough blame on all sides of this conflict.

 

[bver_hunter]

More like a kick in the face to Kushner. He reportedly was coming to some agreement with the Saudi Arabia Prince Mohammed Bin Salman who would have influenced Palestinian Leader Abbas to accept a new treaty. Keep on cheering for Saint Trump, as he is the comedian on the World Stage.

 

[Ceiling Cat]

There will be bloodshed from this decision.

 

[onthebottom]

African countries agree with Trump.

https://www.i24news.tv/en/news/isra...e-to-jerusalem-in-future-tanzania-leader-says

Never has there been a more damning statement.

 

[onthebottom]

A list of UN resolutions stating that Jerusalem is not part of Israel.


http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2017/12/resolutions-occupied-east-jerusalem-171206081326131.html

No one takes the U.N. General Assembly seriously, it’s democracy for dictators and despots.

 

[onthebottom]

Every other POTUS yielded to the Sate Department. (Like the 2006 law to build a barrier on the Mexican boarder)

http://time.com/5049019/jerusalem-embassy-history/

The 1995 Law Behind President Trump's Plan to Move the U.S. Embassy in Israel to Jerusalem

Every six months for more than two decades, U.S. presidents have had to decide all over again whether to move the U.S. embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. Since the Clinton administration, they decided each time to keep the embassy where it is, seeking not to throw a wrench into delicate Middle East peace talks. On Tuesday, however, after signing a waiver putting off the move in June, President Donald Trump informed the Palestinian Authority’s President Mahmoud Abbas that he’s going to recognize the contested holy city as Israel’s capital and begin the process of moving the embassy there.

That decision, which experts fear will spark unrest throughout the Arab world, represents the conclusion of a process that began in 1995, with the passage of that year’s Jerusalem Embassy Act. The law required the U.S. to move the embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem by a set deadline, but conceded that the move could be put off for six months at a time as long as the President “determines and reports to Congress in advance that such suspension is necessary to protect the national security interests of the United States.”

The reasons why such a waiver might be needed are not much different today than they were in 1995.

That May, TIME reported in the international edition that, though both the Clinton Administration and Israeli government “support the move to Jerusalem in principle, they would prefer to see the peace process more stabilized before confronting the explosive issue of Jerusalem.” The effort led by Senate majority leader Bob Dole to make the move mandatory came “at a particularly raw moment,” the magazine added. Here’s how TIME described the many years of political history that led up to that point:

The city’s status has been an open question for decades. The intent of the U.N., when it voted in 1947 to partition what was then British-administered Palestine into Jewish and Arab states, was to put Jerusalem under an international regime. But after the Arab-Israeli war of 1948, newly born Israel controlled the western portion of the city and Jordan the east. In the 1967 war Israel captured the eastern sector and annexed it. No country, however, recognizes Israel’s hold there. The Arab states insist on Arab sovereignty over at least East Jerusalem, which the Palestinians want to make the capital of their hoped-for future state.

As Trump did, President Bill Clinton also came into office calling for the embassy to eventually be moved to Jerusalem, even as he actively worked to kill Dole’s bill. “From a policy perspective, this debate was happening shortly after the celebrated Taba Agreement wherein Israel and the Palestinians had just agreed on interim governance arrangements for the West Bank and Gaza,” Foreign Policy has observed. “Hope was high that this momentum would lead to a lasting peace, and the Clinton administration argued that a ‘premature focus on Jerusalem’ could ‘undermine negotiations and complicate the chances for peace[.]’”

Get your history fix in one place: sign up for the weekly TIME History newsletter

Yet some saw the 1995 law and its implementation as having more to do with domestic American politics than the Middle East peace process. “This is all about vote counting in the coming U.S. elections,” Sa’eb Erakat, the Palestinian minister for local government, told TIME in 1995, adding that he believed supporting the bill would help Dole fundraise with Jewish groups in the 1996 presidential race. And as a TIME article later that year noted, Dole had in fact opposed the bill “until this year, when he’s running for President.”

In 2017, the potential consequences of recognizing Jerusalem as the capital remain the same: the risk of sparking protests in the Arab world and jeopardizing the standing of the U.S. as a broker in coming peace talks. One thing that’s different about 2017’s political climate, however, is that there’s “a window of opportunity that didn’t exist before,” as Israel’s ambassador to the U.S. Ron Dermer explained to Politico, for the two sides share security concerns about Iran. Whether that view holds true remains to be seen, but peace talks are planned for early 2018.

 

[toguy5252]

Just pandering to his base and perhaps to Jewish donors. Regrettably I do not think this will be helpful in furthering any peace process. And not because of any UN Resolutions. The ultimate disposition of the Jerusalem issue will have to be negotiated. Both sides will have to make hard decisions and compromises. Neither has so far shown an inclination to do so.

 

[managee]

I believe that is what was envisioned when Israel was created.

Corpus separatum (Latin for "separated body") is a term used to describe the Jerusalem area in the 1947 United Nations Partition Plan for Palestine. According to the plan the city would be placed under international regime, conferring it a special status due to its shared religious importance. The corpus separatum was one of the main issues of the Lausanne Conference of 1949, besides the other borders and the question of the right of return of Palestinian refugees. The plan was adopted by the General Assembly with a two-thirds majority, although its implementation failed and nowadays the view that Jerusalem should be the capital of both Israel and Palestine is widely supported internationally
The plan was initially proposed in UN General Assembly Resolution 181 (II) of 29 November 1947. It provided that "Independent Arab and Jewish States and the Special International Regime for the City of Jerusalem ... shall come into existence in Palestine two months after the evacuation of the armed forces of the mandatory Power has been completed but in any case not later than 1 October 1948". All the residents would automatically become "citizens of the City of Jerusalem", unless they would opt for citizenship of the Arab or Jewish State.
I watched an interview with Nikki Haley on CNN, until I had to go and throw up. She said that this was a move to get the peace process started. I agree with somebody who said that her qualifications for being UN ambassador is that she once had breakfast at the International House of Pancakes. What an embarrassment for USA to have such a nitwit as UN ambassador.

I can’t believe I may actually be buying Nikki Haley’s drivel, but part of me wonders if this could actually work to bring them back to the table. It’ll take 6-months to complete the relocation. That’s plenty of time for movement to happen on the current stalemate. This seems like it’s straight out of “The Art of Deal.”

Once the move is complete, I find it hard to believe any agreement will be possible under Trump, which would ensure he falls short on ever achieving what would ultimately be the deal of his lifetime/presidency. For a man as narcissistic as he is, that would seem to be something he’d want to avoid this early in his presidency.

This seems like a massively risky move if it was just an attempt to satiate donors. I thought this was the guy that didn’t owe anything to his backers?

 

[Frankfooter]

No one takes the U.N. General Assembly seriously, it’s democracy for dictators and despots.

There are 15, I think, UN SC resolutions that everyone does take seriously there as well.