Republican Senator Collins opposes Pruitt for U.S. EPA chief
Republican U.S. Senator Susan Collins of Maine said on Wednesday she will oppose Oklahoma
Attorney General Scott Pruitt's nomination to head the Environmental Protection Agency,
citing his numerous lawsuits against the agency.
"His actions leave me with considerable doubts about whether his vision for the EPA is consistent
with the agency's critical mission to protect human health and the environment," Collins
said in an interview with Maine Public Radio.
Trump greets Netanyahu with smiles, handshakes and a jolt or two
President Donald Trump gave Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu a couple of jolts when
they met for the first time on Wednesday as leaders of the United States and Israel.
If there were differences, the two men – each immersed in political turmoil on the home
front - did all they could to mask them during a White House news conference brimming with
smiles, asides and efforts to show how much they like each other.
"Bibi and I have known each other a long time -- a smart man, great negotiator," said Trump,
referring to the 67-year-old Israeli leader by his nickname.
Netanyahu was equally effusive in response: "There is no greater supporter of the Jewish
people and the Jewish state than President Donald Trump," he said, referring to the 70-year-old
U.S. president who took office on Jan. 20.
Trump went some distance to embrace Netanyahu's views, upending decades of U.S. Middle East
policy by dropping insistence on a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Netanyahu sought to demonstrate personal chemistry with the American property-mogul-turned-politician,
an acquaintance since the 1980s, especially after eight years of awkwardness and tensions
with his predecessor, President Barack Obama.
But Trump caught Netanyahu off-guard, at one point saying that if a solution to the Israeli-Palestinian
conflict was going to be reached, "Both sides will have to make compromises."
Turning to Netanyahu, he said, "You know that, right?"
Netanyahu looked momentarily startled and replied, chuckling, "Both sides."
Later, while responding to a question about settlements, a particular point of tension
during the Obama years, Trump said, "I'd like to see you hold back on settlements for
a little bit."
Again, Netanyahu's face registered surprise before he offered an ironic smile.
"We'll work something out," said Trump, who has appointed his son-in-law Jared Kushner
as his special adviser on the Middle East.
"I think we're going to make a deal.
It might be a bigger and better deal than people in this room even understand.
That's a possibility.
So let's see what we do."
"Let's try it," Netanyahu said.
Studying his reaction, Trump quickly interjected: "That doesn't sound too optimistic, but
he's a good negotiator."
In a play on the title of Trump's 1987 best-selling book, Netanyahu responded, "That's the
art of the deal," drawing laughter from the audience.
Near the end of his comments, Netanyahu sought to show how well he knows Kushner, whose father,
Charles Kushner, has donated generously to Israeli causes.
"Can I reveal, Jared, how long we've known you?" said Netanyahu, looking to Jared Kushner,
36, who was sitting in the front row, next to his wife, Ivanka Trump.
"Well, he was never small.
He was always big.
He was always tall," Netanyahu said, implying he had known Kushner since he was a baby.
U.S. warns NATO - increase spending or we might 'moderate' support
U.S. President Donald Trump's defense secretary warned NATO allies on Wednesday that they
must honor military spending pledges to ensure the United States does not "moderate" support
for the alliance.
Jim Mattis, on his debut trip to Brussels as Pentagon chief, also accused some NATO
members of ignoring threats, including from Russia.
"America cannot care more for your children's future security than you do," Mattis said
in a closed-door session with NATO defense ministers, according to prepared remarks provided
to reporters.
The comments represented some of the strongest criticism in memory of allies who have failed
to reach defense spending goals.
Europe's low expenditure has long been a sore point for the United States, which puts up
70 percent of alliance funds.
But Trump has made change a priority, saying allies have "been very unfair to us" for not
spending more.
Trump was sharply critical of NATO during his election campaign, making European allies
nervous by calling the alliance obsolete and praising Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Since taking office on Jan. 20, Trump has voiced strong support for NATO, comments echoed
by Mattis at NATO's Brussels headquarters.
Mattis called NATO "the most successful and powerful military alliance in modern history"
and made a point of shaking hands with each of his European counterparts at the start
of the meeting.
Mattis, however, suggested U.S. support should not be seen as a given.
"I owe it to you to give you clarity on the political reality in the United States, and
to state the fair demand from my country's people in concrete terms," Mattis said.
"America will meet its responsibilities, but if your nations do not want to see America
moderate its commitment to this alliance, each of your capitals needs to show support
for our common defense."
Mattis stopped short of issuing an explicit ultimatum or say how the United States might
moderate its support.
The United States for years has called for European allies to spend 2 percent of economic
output on defense, he said.
But he added that NATO allies must show progress in 2017 and adopt a plan, with target dates,
toward defense spending goals.
Italy and Spain, two of Europe's larger economies, spend barely 1 percent a year on defense as
they seek to curtail budget deficits following the 2008/2009 global financial crisis.
Belgium, the Netherlands and Denmark, three other wealthy European nations that are among
the smallest spenders on defense, still need to convince centre-left political parties
that do not support higher defense spending, preferring to prioritize welfare and education.
But the Baltic states of Latvia and Lithuania, who fear a repeat of Russia's 2014 annexation
of Ukraine's Crimean peninsula, are on course to meet the 2 percent goal, while Romania
is also heading towards that level.
HARDLY A "MAD DOG"
After Mattis' address, Britain's Defense Secretary Michael Fallon said the former U.S. general
had explained that "the impatience of the American taxpayer is a reality".
"America will meet its responsibilities, but if your nations do not want to see America
moderate its commitment to this alliance, each of your capitals needs to show support
for our common defense."
Mattis stopped short of issuing an explicit ultimatum or say how the United States might
moderate its support.
The United States for years has called for European allies to spend 2 percent of economic
output on defense, he said.
But he added that NATO allies must show progress in 2017 and adopt a plan, with target dates,
toward defense spending goals.
Italy and Spain, two of Europe's larger economies, spend barely 1 percent a year on defense as
they seek to curtail budget deficits following the 2008/2009 global financial crisis.
Belgium, the Netherlands and Denmark, three other wealthy European nations that are among
the smallest spenders on defense, still need to convince centre-left political parties
that do not support higher defense spending, preferring to prioritize welfare and education.
But the Baltic states of Latvia and Lithuania, who fear a repeat of Russia's 2014 annexation
of Ukraine's Crimean peninsula, are on course to meet the 2 percent goal, while Romania
is also heading towards that level.
HARDLY A "MAD DOG"
After Mattis' address, Britain's Defense Secretary Michael Fallon said the former U.S. general
had explained that "the impatience of the American taxpayer is a reality".
U.S. EPA staff told to prepare for Trump executive orders sources
Staff at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency have been told that President Donald
Trump is preparing a handful of executive orders to reshape the agency, to be signed
once a new administrator is confirmed, two sources who attended the meeting told Reuters
on Wednesday.
A senior EPA official who had been briefed by members of the Trump administration mentioned
the executive orders at a meeting of staffers in the EPA's Office of General Counsel on
Tuesday, but did not provide details about what the orders would say, said the sources,
who asked not to be named.
"It was just a heads-up to expect some executive orders, that's it," one of the sources said.
The second source said attendees at the meeting were told Trump would sign between two and
five executive orders.
Trump administration officials did not respond to requests for comment.
Trump has promised to cut U.S. environmental rules - including those ushered in by former
President Barack Obama targeting carbon dioxide emissions - as a way to bolster the drilling
and coal mining industries, but has vowed to do so without compromising air and water
quality.
Trump has also expressed doubts about the science behind climate change and promised
during his campaign to pull the United States out of a global pact to combat it.
Since his election in November, he has softened that stance, saying he would keep an "open
mind" to the climate accord.
Trump's pick to run the EPA, Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt, is scheduled to face
a Senate confirmation vote on Friday, according to a Senate aide, after a contentious hearing
last month in which lawmakers pressed Pruitt on his ties to the oil industry.
Pruitt sued the EPA more than a dozen times to block its regulations while he was the
top prosecutor for the oil and gas producing state.
Trump and Pruitt's positions have worried EPA staff, who are concerned the new administration
will cut the EPA's budget, critical programs and scientific research.
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Some Republican lawmakers, emboldened by Trump's election, have raised pressure on the EPA
in recent days.
On Tuesday, Rep. Lamar Smith, chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on
Science, Space and Technology, asked the EPA's inspector general to investigate whether EPA
staff were using encrypted messages to coordinate efforts to derail the new administration's
agenda, in possible violation of federal records laws.
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