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Trump Foreign Policy Tag

India, the second biggest oil customer for Iran, has begun cutting Iranian crude oil imports ahead of the November deadline set by the Trump administration, Indian newspapers report. The United States is expected to impose a fresh round of crippling sanction on Tehran in early November, targeting the country's oil industry -- Islamic Republic's main source of revenue.

Next week, South Korean President Moon Jae-in is expected to head to Pyongyang for the first time with the goal of accelerating international efforts to denuclearize North Korea.
"At this stage, I believe it is most important to put a complete end to military tensions between North and South, or possibility of military conflict, or war threat," Moon told reporters Thursday.

Former Secretary of State John Kerry recently admitted that he has had meetings with officials from Iran since leaving office. One of the points Kerry relayed to them was that they should wait out the Trump presidency. It's nearly impossible to imagine the firestorm this would set off among Democrats and the media if a former Bush official had done this to Obama.

German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas has laid out an ambitious plan to counter the United State at the world stage. In an article titled "Making Plans for a New World Order," Minister Mass talked about forming a "counterweight" to the US and called on the the European Union to become "a cornerstone of the international order." "[W]here the USA crosses the line, we Europeans must form a counterweight," German Foreign Minister wrote on Wednesday. "The main goal of our foreign policy is therefore to build a sovereign, strong Europe."

I have been watching events on the Korean Peninsula since the conclusion of the Singapore Summit between President Donald Trump and North Korea's Kim Jong Un, trying to determine what the eventual outcome of that meeting would be. I have come to the conclusion that the two Koreas are like the children in a messy divorce, and are tired of being pawns in a larger political drama between the two "parents". In part, that assessment comes from statements from South Korean officials that they want the U.S. and China to declare a formal end to the Korean War.

The United States has imposed sanctions on Chinese and Russian companies for violating the trade restrictions on North Korea. The move highlights President Donald Trump's strategy to keep tightening the screws on Pyongyang over its nuclear program. The Treasury Department blacklisted a Russian port agency and two Chinese firms on Wednesday for aiding North Korea's shipping industry.

With the Turkish currency in free fall, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has announced a boycott of US-made electronic goods. Showing defiance in the wake of the recent US sanctions imposed in a dispute over the detention of an American pastor, Erdogan accused US President Donald Trump of waging "economic warfare" against the country.

Germany's central bank, the Bundesbank, has revised its regulations to stop Iran from withdrawing €320 million ($400 million) in cash from the country's bank accounts. Under the new conditions, the Bundesbank can stop cash transfers that violate US Treasury sanctions, the German newspaper BILD disclosed. The drastic measure to physically ship the cash out of Germany demonstrates Tehran's demising trust in the European financial institutions as the US Treasury tightens screws on the regime's worldwide financial operations. The transaction is "one of the largest cash transfers ever in German history," a spokesman for the country's finance minister admitted.

Hungary has decided to quit the United Nations migration pact ahead of its final approval. Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto slammed the UN-backed accord as a “threat to the world” and “entirely against” his country's national interests. “This document is entirely against Hungary’s security interests,” he said. “This pact poses a threat to the world from the aspect that it could inspire millions [of illegal migrants].”

President Donald Trump's meeting with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in Helsinki received some sharp criticism from the mainstream European media. Following Monday's summit, newspapers and news outlets on this side of the Atlantic made hay about the critical remarks coming from Arizona Republican senators John McCain and Jeff Flake, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, and former CIA Director John Brennan. "Trump's behavior [at the summit] was catastrophic," said the German newspaper Die Welt. "He made too many concessions to Putin. Many Republicans were shocked. And the former CIA chief even spoke of treason," referring Brennan's tweet that Trump's "press conference performance in Helsinki" was "nothing short of treasonous."

President Donald Trump's week-long Europe visit not only provoked a 'day of rage' from leftist demonstrators in London, it also triggered mainstream German media and liberal politicians, with the former German Vice-Chancellor Sigmar Gabriel even accusing the U.S. President of striving for a 'regime change' in Germany.

President Donald Trump criticized Europe's open border policy, saying that mass immigration was permanently changing the continent for the worse. The UK is "losing" its culture as a result, he added. "I think it changed the fabric of Europe and, unless you act very quickly, it’s never going to be what it was and I don’t mean that in a positive way." Trump said in an interview with the British newspaper The Sun. The comments came on the first day of his visit to the UK.

President Donald Trump ended his time in Brussels, Belgium, by declaring his commitment to NATO and finds it unnecessary for the US to withdraw. NATO members held an emergency meeting on Thursday to address Trump's concern that they're not pulling enough of their weight when it comes to defense spending. Trump touted in an impromptu news conference before his departure that the members reached an agreement.

President Donald Trump questioned Germany's growing dependency on Russian energy supplies and described Berlin as a "captive" of Russia. "They pay billions of dollars to Russia and we have to defend them against Russia," President Trump said. He also criticized Chancellor Angela Merkel's continued refusal to spend enough on Europe's security. The remarks were made today during a meeting with the NATO secretary general, Jens Stoltenberg. Trump is in Brussels to attend the two-day NATO summit.