Tag Archives: Politics

Up to 600,000 immigrants in U.S. South may have path to legal status: analysis

FILE PHOTO: People are taken into custody by the U.S. Border Patrol near Falfurrias, Texas, U.S., on March 29, 2013. REUTERS/Eric Thayer/File Photo

By Alex Dobuzinskis

(Reuters) – As many as 600,000 illegal immigrants in several U.S. states could have a path to legally remain in the country, according to an analysis released on Thursday by a legal aid group.

A statistical review of immigrant screenings done by Catholic Legal Immigration Network (CLINIC) determined that around 15 percent of the 4 million illegal immigrants in seven southern U.S. states had grounds to apply for legal status based on fears of persecution in their homeland, family ties or other factors.

The percentage of the 11 million illegal immigrants across the country who might be eligible to stay in the United States could be even higher, according to University of California at San Diego political scientist Tom Wong, who conducted the analysis for CLINIC.

“As we ramp up immigration enforcement in the United States, we should take this figure and remind ourselves that we shouldn’t deport first and then ask questions,” Wong said in a telephone interview.

His analysis supports the contention by immigrant rights groups that with assistance from lawyers, significant numbers of illegal immigrants could be allowed to remain in the United States.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokeswoman Danielle Bennett said the agency could delay a deportation if an immigrant has a pending appeal or application for legal status.

“Before carrying out a removal, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement conducts a thorough review of each case to determine whether there are any reasons the removal order issued by the immigration court should not be executed at that time,” she said in an email.

President Donald Trump’s administration has warned that the vast majority of the 11 million illegal immigrants in the United States could be subject to deportation.

CLINIC, one of the largest U.S. providers of legal aid to immigrants, and its affiliates interviewed more than 2,700 immigrants in seven southern states, including Florida, Georgia, Virginia and Texas.

The largest portion of those screened who might attain legal status were those who had a credible fear of persecution in their home country that could form the basis for an asylum claim.

But a majority of applications for U.S. asylum are denied.

Other categories included victims of serious crimes, such as domestic violence or extortion, who cooperated with law enforcement, and immigrants with family ties to U.S. citizens.

“There isn’t a line for a person to get legal status in the country,” said Sarah Pierce, an analyst with the Migration Policy Institute. “There’s a bunch of small pigeon-hole categories. So the first step is to see if someone fits into one of those categories.”

(Reporting by Alex Dobuzinskis in Los Angeles and Sharon Bernstein in Sacramento; editing by Patrick Enright, G Crosse)

Trump tells Duterte of two U.S. nuclear subs in Korean waters: NYT

FILE PHOTO: The Ohio-class guided-missile submarine USS Michigan arrives for a regularly scheduled port visit while conducting routine patrols throughout the Western Pacific in Busan, South Korea, April 24, 2017. Jermaine Ralliford/Courtesy U.S. Navy/Handout via REUTERS

MANILA (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump told his Philippine counterpart that Washington has sent two nuclear submarines to waters off the Korean peninsula, the New York Times said, comments likely to raise questions about his handling of sensitive information.

Trump has said “a major, major conflict” with North Korea is possible because of its nuclear and missile programs and that all options are on the table but that he wants to resolve the crisis diplomatically.

North Korea has vowed to develop a missile mounted with a nuclear warhead that can strike the mainland United States, saying the program is necessary to counter U.S. aggression.

Trump told Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte Washington had “a lot of firepower over there”, according to the New York Times, which quoted a transcript of an April 29 call between the two.

“We have two submarines — the best in the world. We have two nuclear submarines, not that we want to use them at all,” the newspaper quoted Trump as telling Duterte, based on the transcript.

The report was based on a Philippine transcript of the call that was circulated on Tuesday under a “confidential” cover sheet by the Americas division of the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs.

In a show of force, the United States has sent the nuclear-powered USS Carl Vinson aircraft carrier to waters off the Korean peninsula, where it joined the USS Michigan, a nuclear submarine that docked in South Korea in late April.

According to the Times, a senior Trump administration official in Washington, who was not authorized to publicly discuss the call and insisted on anonymity, confirmed the transcript was an accurate representation of the call between the two leaders.

U.S. officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, have said Trump discussed intelligence about Islamic State with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Russian Ambassador Sergei Kislyak at talks in the Oval Office this month, raising questions about Trump’s handling of secrets.

Trump also praised Duterte for doing an “unbelievable job on the drug problem”, the New York Times reported, a subject that has drawn much criticism in the West.

Almost 9,000 people, many small-time users and dealers, have been killed in the Philippines since Duterte took office on June 30. Police say about one-third of the victims were shot by officers in self-defense during legitimate operations.

(Reporting by Karen Lema; Editing by Nick Macfie)

Trump calls Nazi Holocaust ‘history’s darkest hour’

U.S. President Donald Trump and first lady Melania lay a wreath during a ceremony commemorating the six million Jews killed by the Nazis in the Holocaust, in the Hall of Remembrance at Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial in Jerusalem May 23, 2017. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst

JERUSALEM (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump paid tribute at Israel’s Yad Vashem memorial on Tuesday to the six million Jews killed in the Nazi Holocaust, calling it an indescribable act of evil.

Holding hands, the president and First Lady Melania Trump walked solemnly to lay a wreath together upon the ashes of Holocaust victims, buried at the site’s Hall of Remembrance.

“Words can never describe the bottomless depths of that evil, or the scope of the anguish and destruction. It was history’s darkest hour,” Trump said in a short speech after the memorial ceremony.

“It was the most savage crime against God and his children,” said Trump, who is visiting Israel and the Palestinian Territories on the second leg of his first foreign trip since taking office in January.

Trump’s administration has drawn anger over past omissions and utterances regarding the Holocaust.

In January, on International Holocaust Remembrance Day, a Trump administration statement failed to mention Jews, the overwhelming majority of those who were killed in the Holocaust.

In April, White House spokesman Sean Spicer triggered an uproar when he said Hitler did not sink to the level of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad by using chemical weapons on his own people. Spicer also used the term “Holocaust centers”, in an apparent reference to the Nazi death camps.

Spicer later apologized after his comments sparked an uproar on social media and elsewhere for overlooking the fact that millions of Jews perished in Nazi gas chambers.

The Anti-Defamation League said in April that anti-Semitic incidents, from bomb threats and cemetery desecrations to assaults and bullying, have surged in the United States since the election of Trump, and a “heightened political atmosphere” played a role in the rise.

Trump had been criticized for waiting until late February to deliver his first public condemnation of anti-Semitic incidents, previously speaking more generally about his hope of making the nation less “divided.”

He later called such incidents “horrible … and a very sad reminder” of the work needed to root out hate, prejudice and evil.

Trump was due to travel to Rome later on Tuesday, where he will continue a nine-day trip that began in Saudi Arabia.

(Reporting by Maayan Lubell; Editing by Jeffrey Heller and Mark Trevelyan)

For Trump’s defenders, White House turmoil is politics as usual

FILE PHOTO: Supporters of President Donald Trump gather for a "People 4 Trump" rally at Neshaminy State Park in Bensalem, Pennsylvania, U.S. March 4, 2017. REUTERS/Mark Makela

By John Whitesides

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – In Washington, the chatter about a deepening, Watergate-style crisis has engulfed the White House – and those conversations are echoed in big cities across the country and in a succession of headlines that seem to suggest almost certain doom for the young Trump administration.

But for many Americans, including President Donald Trump’s staunchest supporters, the “crisis in Washington” is not about possible missteps by Trump or questions over whether his campaign colluded with Russia. For them, it’s the latest egregious example of mainstream media bias and of Washington insiders desperate to preserve their status taking revenge on the New York celebrity businessman.

In such an intensely polarized political environment that distrust of mainstream media will make it less likely that Trump supporters – and the Republican officeholders who rely on their votes – will abandon the president any time soon.

“The more negativity, the more we’re for him. It’s backfiring on them,” Arizona resident Nadia Larsen said of media reports about possible collusion with Russia or Trump’s conversations with then-FBI Director James Comey.

Reports from the Washington Post and New York Times that Trump shared classified information with Russia’s foreign minister and pressured Comey to end an inquiry into former national security adviser Michael Flynn have been met with skepticism by Larsen and many other Trump supporters.

More credible, they say, is news from prominent conservative media outlets, from the Trump-friendly airwaves of Fox News to websites such as Breitbart. Those outlets have cast the allegations as an ideological attack by Obama administration holdovers or the revenge of the “deep state,” a term used by the far right to refer to what they see as a deeply entrenched bureaucracy opposed to Trump.

“The only news I watch is Fox, but the only news I watch and believe is whatever comes out of the president’s mouth and whatever he tweets,” said Larsen, an Israeli-born immigrant who has lived in Tucson, Arizona, for 25 years.

Several Trump supporters decried what they described as baseless news from anonymous sources and said they have not seen any concrete evidence to support the allegations against Trump.

“This is what I expected,” said Jeff Klusmeier, an insurance agent in Louisville, Kentucky. “I expected the media to attack Trump. I expected the Democrats to attack him and call for impeachment. So it’s par for the course for me.”

Conservative media outlets have developed their own theories about the recent spate of negative headlines. The Breitbart News Network, once headed by Trump chief strategist Stephen Bannon, reported that some of the recent accusations were driven by associates of Comey, who was fired by Trump last week, in a story headlined “Comey Strikes Back.”

Among the headlines on the Drudge Report, a popular conservative news aggregator, were “Media Reach Peak Meltdown” and “Sabotage in DC.”

“The anti-Trump press believes it smells blood in the water,” said Fox News commentator Sean Hannity, a staunch Trump supporter who accused the mainstream media of “hyperventilating breathlessness.”

Hannity tweeted on Wednesday that five groups were trying to destroy Trump: the media, Democrats, deep state/intelligence operatives, establishment Republicans and “never Trumpers.”

‘WITCH HUNT’

“This effort, this plan, this desire to upend and stop the Trump presidency got going probably on election night and certainly within 24 hours. And now we’re seeing it manifest itself,” radio talk-show host Rush Limbaugh said.

On Wednesday, the Justice Department appointed former FBI head Robert Mueller as a special counsel to investigate possible ties between Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign and Russia.

Trump has fed the theory that the media is out to get him, saying “no politician in history” has been treated more unfairly. On Thursday he tweeted that the probe of Russian collusion was “the single greatest witch hunt” in U.S. history.

“The overwhelming majority of conservatives and Republicans believe that whatever you may think of Donald Trump, this is clearly being driven by many quarters of the media that chose sides in the election and were very upfront about it and haven’t changed,” Republican consultant Keith Appell told Reuters.

Trump’s approval ratings have been low for a new president, remaining mired in the high 30s to low 40s. But 77 percent of Republicans approve of Trump’s performance, according to the most recent Reuters/Ipsos survey, a figure that has stayed relatively steady since his inauguration.

Bradd Bostick, a Reynoldsburg, Ohio, resident who started a Bikers for Trump group after the president’s inauguration in January, said he was not concerned about the recent controversies because “most of us do not believe anything we hear in the mainstream media.”

“The media thinks it’s about Trump, and it’s not,” said Steve Deace, an Iowa-based commentator for Conservative Review and a former talk-radio host who has been critical of Trump. “It’s not about Trump’s credibility, it’s about the media’s credibility.”

(Additional reporting by Steve Bittenbinder in Kentucky, Kim Palmer in Ohio, Michelle McManimon in Arizona and Kelly Arnold in Kansas; Editing by Jason Szep and Ross Colvin)

Trump faces diplomatic hurdles during 28 hours in the Holy Land

American and Israeli flags flutter in the wind atop the roof of the King David Hotel, in preparation for the upcoming visit of President Trump to Israel, in Jerusalem. REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun

By Luke Baker

JERUSALEM (Reuters) – U.S. presidential trips are an opportunity to project power and burnish statesmanship. But they come with diplomatic dangers and potential pitfalls, too. For Donald Trump, several of those await in Jerusalem and Bethlehem next week.

A nine-day tour taking in Saudi Arabia, Israel, the Palestinian territories, the Vatican and NATO would be a tall order for any president. But for Trump, under siege at home over questions about his administration’s links to Russia and his firing of FBI chief James Comey, it is a particularly demanding itinerary, especially for a first overseas venture.

During his campaign, Trump promised to be Israel’s “best friend” if elected, and signaled that it was okay for the Israeli government to go on building settlements on occupied land since he didn’t regard it as an obstacle to peace.

Since taking office, however, Trump has shifted tack, urging Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to “hold back” on settlements, and praising Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas at a White House meeting this month, part of an effort to bring the sides together and launch another attempt at Middle East peace.

It looks unlikely Trump will manage to get Netanyahu and Abbas to shake hands during his 28-hour visit to the Holy Land, and the prospects of him setting a timetable for a resumption of peace talks also look dim. But that doesn’t mean other diplomatic traps aren’t lying in wait.

Perhaps the most sensitive is what Trump ends up saying — or not saying — about a promise he made during the election campaign to move the U.S. embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

No country in the world has its embassy to Israel in Jerusalem since the status of the city remains disputed in the eyes of the international community. While Israelis call Jerusalem their “indivisible capital”, Palestinians want the capital of any future state in the east of the city.

Only once Jerusalem’s final status is agreed via direct negotiations between the Israelis and Palestinians are foreign countries likely to move their embassies to the city.

In the meantime, Trump has appointed as his envoy to Israel David Friedman, a devout Jew who insists the embassy must be moved and plans to work out of Jerusalem some days of the week.

CAREFUL STEPS

When Friedman arrived in Israel this week, his first act was to visit Jerusalem’s Western Wall, the holiest place where Jews are permitted to pray, a symbolic departure from usual protocol.

Trump intends to visit the Western Wall too, something past presidents have not done because of the political sensitivities.

The Wall stands in the Old City in the east of Jerusalem, which Israel captured during the 1967 Middle East war. Officially, the United Nations, the United States and others consider the Old City and East Jerusalem occupied territory and do not recognize Israel’s claim to sovereignty over it.

As a result, the U.S. State Department turned down a request for Netanyahu to accompany Trump and his family when they visit the site on Monday. Instead, the president will be accompanied by the rabbi of the Western Wall.

“This is the most appropriate way to show the proper deference to such a significant holy site,” a State Department official said.

Yet in an interview with Israel Hayom, a pro-Netanyahu paper, Trump said his plans “could still change” and suggested he might ask Netanyahu to join him, a last-minute move that would please Netanyahu but anger the Palestinians.

On Tuesday, Trump is scheduled to visit Abbas for an hour in Bethlehem, the birthplace of Jesus, which lies a few kilometers south of Jerusalem in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

To get there, the president’s convoy will have to pass through Israel’s high-security checkpoint and towering concrete barriers that cut the West Bank off from Jerusalem.

Both Palestinians and Israelis will be on alert to see what language Trump uses when he meets Abbas. While the president hasn’t clearly backed a two-state solution — Israel and a Palestinian state — he is expected to voice support for Palestinian “self-determination”, a phrase that nods in the direction of an independent Palestinian state.

After negotiating that diplomatic minefield, Trump is scheduled to visit Yad Vashem, Israel’s Holocaust Memorial. He has set aside 15 minutes for the visit, unlike previous presidents who spent an hour or more at the site.

(Editing by Catherine Evans)

U.S., Turkish leaders put best face on ties amid tensions

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan, accompanied by his wife Emine Erdogan, disembarks from a plane upon his arrival in Washington, U.S. May 15, 2017. Kayhan Ozer/Presidential Palace/Handout via REUTERS

By Ayesha Rascoe

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan told U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday his country would not accept Syrian Kurdish fighters in the region but stopped short of directly criticizing a U.S. decision to arm them.

At a White House meeting, Trump lauded Erdogan as an important ally in the “fight against terrorism” and did not mention Erdogan’s domestic crackdown after last year’s failed coup attempt.

“We’ve had a great relationship and we will make it even better,” Trump said in their joint appearance.

Erdogan said his visit would “mark a historical turn of tide” and hailed “outstanding relations” between the nations.

It was an especially positive tone considering the tensions over Washington’s decision to arm the Syrian Kurdish YPG militia that Ankara regards as an extension of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK).

Fighting erupted among protesters outside the Turkish ambassador’s residence, resulting in multiple injuries and two arrests – one for aggravated assault and one for assault on a police officer, a city police spokesman said.

The spokesman, officer Hugh Carew, said the origin of the melee was still under investigation. A local NBC television affiliate reported Erdogan was inside the building at the time.

The city fire department reported nine wounded were taken to a local hospital.

U.S. officials on May 9 disclosed Trump’s approval of plans to supply the YPG as it advances toward the Islamic State stronghold of Raqqa in Syria.

Turkey has been a partner in the U.S.-led coalition against Islamic State forces. The U.S. alliance with Turkey has proven pivotal in the battle against Islamic State in Syria, providing the coalition with access to Turkey’s Incirlik air base to wage strikes against the militants.

Erdogan had pledged to use the White House meeting to try to get Trump to change course on the YPG. Ankara regards the YPG as an extension of the PKK, which has fought an insurgency in southeastern Turkey since 1984 and is considered a terrorist group by the United States, Turkey and Europe.

“We support Turkey in the … fight against terror and terror groups like ISIS and the PKK, and ensure they have no safe quarter, the terror groups,” Trump said, using an acronym for Islamic State. “We also appreciate Turkey’s leadership in seeking an end to the horrific killing in Syria.”

The YPG, or People’s Protection Units, effectively serves as the military of the autonomous Kurdish-led regions that emerged in northern Syria with the retreat of state authority in 2011 that accompanied the outbreak of civil war.

The United States sees the YPG as distinct from the PKK and as a valuable partner in the fight against Islamic State.

The administration of Trump’s predecessor, Barack Obama, had criticized Erdogan’s crackdown on the Turkish press and academia after the failed coup in July 2016. Tens of thousands of Turkish citizens have since been detained and some Erdogan supporters sought to blame the United States for the coup attempt.

On Tuesday, Trump made no mention of Erdogan’s record on dissent and free speech.

Erdogan’s visit was further complicated by Turkey’s calls for the United States to extradite Turkish cleric Fethullah Gulen, who has lived in self-imposed exile in Pennsylvania. Erdogan blames Gulen supporters for the attempted coup. Gulen has denied involvement.

Erdogan’s spokesman, Ibrahim Kalin, said in a statement the two leaders discussed “possible steps against FETO,” referring to what Ankara calls the “Gulenist Terror Organization,” a term it uses to describe Gulen’s network. Kalin did not specify exactly what steps they discussed.

Turkey also has raised concerns about a U.S. criminal case against Reza Zarrab, a dual Turkish-Iranian national, arrested last year and charged with helping Iran process millions of dollar in transactions that violated U.S. sanctions against Tehran.

(Reporting by Ayesha Rascoe; Additional reporting by Tulay Karadeniz and Ece Toksabay in Ankara; Editing by Will Dunham and Howard Goller)

Following advice, potential FBI chiefs steer clear of job under Trump

FILE PHOTO: People protest against President Donald Trump's firing of FBI Director James Comey, on Trump's star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in Los Angeles, California, U.S. May 12, 2017. REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson

By Julia Edwards Ainsley

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The Trump administration’s search for a new FBI director hit roadblocks on Tuesday when two high-profile potential candidates, a moderate judge and a conservative senator, signaled they did not want the job.

Advisers to Judge Merrick Garland and U.S. Senator John Cornyn of Texas told Reuters they discouraged them from leading the Federal Bureau of Investigation, cautioning that they would be leaving important, secure jobs for one fraught with politics and controversy.

The advisers, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said the new FBI director would have little job security and heightened scrutiny by political observers following President Donald Trump’s abrupt firing of James Comey on May 9.

Garland and Cornyn distancing themselves from the selection process just three days before Trump has said he may make a decision, points to the difficulties the White House has in filling the FBI post amid turmoil in the administration.

Trump’s firing of Comey, the man in charge of an investigation into possible collusion between 2016 election campaign associates and the Russian government, outraged many lawmakers, including some Republicans.

Garland, the chief judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, “loves his job and is not interested in leaving the judiciary,” said one source familiar with the judge’s thinking.

Cornyn said in a statement that he had informed the White House that “the best way I can serve is continuing to fight for a conservative agenda in the U.S. Senate.”

White House spokesman Sean Spicer told reporters on Tuesday that an announcement on FBI director was still possible before Trump leaves on his first foreign trip on Friday. He said the U.S. Department of Justice was still interviewing candidates.

Several Republican senators had promoted Garland even though they had refused to give him a hearing when Republican Trump’s predecessor President Barack Obama, a Democrat, nominated Garland last year for a then-vacant seat on the U.S. Supreme Court. The Republicans’ reasoning appeared to be that Garland would be accepted by Democrats and help restore faith in the FBI as a nonpartisan agency.

In an interview on Bloomberg Television, Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell referred to Garland, a former federal prosecutor, as “an apolitical professional.”

A second Garland acquaintance who spoke on the condition of anonymity said Garland sought advice from those who told him he would be leaving his life-long position on the federal bench to take a job that could be terminated by Trump overnight.

A Republican Senate aide said Cornyn’s staff also worried that the third-term Texas Senator could cut his- and their own- careers short by going to the FBI.

An adviser to another candidate on the White House short-list, former New York City Police Commissioner Ray Kelly, 75, said Kelly is also being persuaded to step out of the running.

Kelly has not said that he would not consider the job, but so far he has not been interviewed.

Republican Representative Trey Gowdy, a former federal prosecutor whose name had been floated, said on Monday he was not interested in the director position.

The difficulty in filling key administration jobs is not just limited to the FBI director post.

Trump’s habits of contradicting his top aides, demanding personal loyalty and punishing officials who contradict him in public has discouraged a number of experienced people from pursuing jobs, said three people who declined to discuss possible positions with administration officials.

“It’s becoming increasingly difficult to attract good people to work in this administration,” said one senior official. “In other cases, veteran people with expertise are leaving or seeking posts overseas and away from this White House.”

(Reporting by Julia Edwards Ainsley, additional reporting by Lawrence Hurley, Mark Hosenball, Richard Cowan and Steve Holland; editing by Grant McCool)

Trump to visit Jewish, Christian holy sites in Jerusalem

President Donald Trump speaks at the National Peace Officers Memorial Service on the West Lawn of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, U.S., May 15, 2017. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque

(This May 16 story has been refiled to fix description of Western Wall, paragraph 3, Netanyahu’s title, paragraph four.)

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Donald Trump will visit the Western Wall in Jerusalem, Judaism’s holiest prayer site, the White House said on Monday amid controversy in Israel over reported comments by a U.S. diplomat that the wall was in the occupied West Bank.

Trump will say a prayer at the Western Wall, national security adviser H.R. McMaster said, as well as pay a visit to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, considered by Christians to be the site of Jesus’ tomb.

The wall, part of the perimeter of the Jewish Second Temple, sits on territory Israel captured in the 1967 Middle East war and has been a flashpoint of violence in the Israel-Palestinian conflict.

Israel will be the second stop on Trump’s first foreign trip, following Saudi Arabia. The Republican president will meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem and Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas in the West Bank city of Bethlehem.

The announcement of Trump’s visit to the Jewish holy site came amid the controversy in Israel over a report that a U.S. diplomat preparing Trump’s visit referred to the Western Wall as being part of the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

Israel’s Channel 2 reported that during a planning meeting between U.S. and Israeli officials, the Israelis were told that Trump’s visit to the wall was private, Israel did not have jurisdiction in the area and that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was not welcome to accompany Trump there.

Israel considers all of Jerusalem as its indivisible capital, a claim that is not recognized internationally.

An official in Netanyahu’s office said on Monday that Israel has contacted Washington about the matter.

Asked about the matter, a White House official told Reuters on Tuesday: “These comments were not authorized by the White House. They do not reflect the U.S. position and certainly not the president’s position.”

McMaster sidestepped questions on Tuesday about whether the Trump administration considers the Western Wall part of Israel.

“That sounds like a policy decision,” he said during a daily briefing.

(Reporting by Doina Chiacu; Additional reporting by Matt Spetalnick; Editing by Jonathan Oatis)

California governor proposes more money to fight Trump

FILE PHOTO - California Governor Jerry Brown speaks in Sacramento, California, U.S. on January 9, 2014. REUTERS/Max Whittaker/File Photo

By Dan Levine

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – California governor Jerry Brown on Thursday proposed a funding increase for the state attorney general to create more than 30 new positions dedicated to combating President Donald Trump’s policies.

Democratic attorneys general in states across the country have assumed lead roles in opposing some of the Republican president’s agenda. State attorneys general in Washington and Hawaii successfully sued to block Trump’s executive orders restricting travel from some Muslim-majority countries, and California attorney general Xavier Becerra has pledged to defend the state’s environmental standards and health care access.

Brown has been particularly outspoken against Trump’s policies. In budget revisions released on Thursday, Brown’s office proposed a $6.5 million increase for California’s Department of Justice, enough to fund 31 positions to address “various actions taken at the federal level that impact public safety, healthcare, the environment, consumer affairs and general constitutional issues.”

The department has expended over 11,000 hours of legal work in response to federal issues since Trump’s inauguration in January, according the governor’s office.

Brown’s proposals would have to be approved by California’s legislature, which is dominated by Democrats.

At a press conference, Brown repeatedly expressed the need to fight the Trump administration on health care reforms under discussion in Washington. The potential loss of funds for the state’s Medicaid program alone would be enough to fund the University of California system for a year, Brown said.

Given that backdrop, Brown said Becerra deserves “some latitude” in pursuing litigation.

A spokeswoman for Becerra could not immediately be reached for comment.

Brown’s budget also proposed a $15 million increase to expand legal services for immigrants seeking assistance securing legal status in the United States and fighting deportation.

(Additional reporting by Sharon Bernstein in Sacramento; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)

Illinois bill expands abortion coverage, faces governor’s veto

FILE PHOTO: Illinois Gov-elect Bruce Rauner speaks to the media after a meeting with U.S. President Barack Obama and other Governor-elects from seven U.S. states at the White House in Washington December 5, 2014. REUTERS/Larry Downing/File Photo

By Timothy Mclaughlin

CHICAGO (Reuters) – An Illinois bill that expands state-funded coverage of abortions for low-income residents and state employees passed the Democratic-controlled Senate on Wednesday but faces a likely veto by the state’s Republican governor.

The measure, which passed the Senate 33-22, also aims to keep abortions legal in Illinois if the U.S. Supreme Court follows President Donald Trump’s call to overturn its landmark Roe v. Wade ruling 44 years ago that made abortions legal.

Illinois’ Medicaid program covers abortions in cases of rape, incest and when a mother’s life or health is threatened. The expansion would enable poor women to obtain elective abortions. Also, the legislation would allow state employees to have the procedures covered under state health insurance.

The vote was a rare legislative victory for U.S. abortion-rights advocates at a time when foes have ratcheted up the heat with the election of Trump and a conservative Congress.

However, the victory will likely be short lived because Governor Bruce Rauner has promised to veto the legislation, saying Illinois should focus on less “divisive” issues and instead pass a full-year operating budget for the first time in nearly two years.

A spokeswoman for Rauner directed questions on Wednesday evening to previous statements where he said he did not support the measure. However, as a candidate in 2014, he supported expanding abortion access.

Republican lawmakers have criticized the bill as both burdensome to tax payers and immoral.

“We should be focused on ways to reduce costs—not advance costly controversial proposals that will cost the taxpayers even more,” Republican state senator Dan McConchie said in a statement on Wednesday.

A veto override would take 71 votes in the Democrat-led House, where the bill passed 62-55 in late April. It would take 36 votes in the Senate.

A veto by Rauner would be a sharp turn from his previous position, which political opponents are poised to exploit.

“We cannot allow Illinois to return to the days when women had so few options for reproductive care that they desperately resorted to back-alley quacks, poison, knitting needles, disappearing from public sight or suicide to deal with unwanted pregnancies,” state senator Daniel Biss, a Democrat, said in a statement after the bill passed on Wednesday.

(Additional reporting by Karen Pierog; Editing by David Gregorio)