Dems plan virtual convention
Democrats will hold an almost entirely virtual presidential nominating convention Aug. 17-20 in Milwaukee using live broadcasts and online streaming, party officials said Wednesday.
Former Vice President Joe Biden plans to accept the presidential nomination in person, but it remains to be seen whether a significant in-person audience will see it. The Democratic National Committee said in a statement that official business, including the votes to nominate Mr. Biden and his yet-to-benamed running mate, will take place virtually, with delegates being asked not to travel to Milwaukee.
Biden campaign manager Jen O’Malley Dillon said the altered convention won’t be an impediment. “Vice President Biden intends to proudly accept his party’s nomination in Milwaukee and take the next step forward towards making Donald Trump a one-term president,” she said, adding Mr. Biden’s campaign will continue to highlight Wisconsin as a battleground state.
U.S. forces move from Germany to Poland
President Donald Trump said Wednesday that some of the 10,000 American troops he’s pulling out of Germany will be moved to Poland on NATO’s eastern flank against Russian aggression.
“We’re going to be reducing our forces in Germany,” Mr. Trump said in the Rose Garden while standing alongside Polish President Andrzej Duda. “Some will be coming home and some will be going to other places, but Poland would be one of those other places in Europe.”
Mr. Trump has said he will cut the number of troops in Germany from about 35,000 to 25,000. Shifting forces out of the country is in line with Pentagon efforts to put more troops in the IndoPacific. But Mr. Trump suggested last week, and again Wednesday, the move is also tied to his anger over Germany’s failure to meet NATO defense spending goals.
Mr. Trump said unlike Germany, Poland is one of only eight members of the alliance fulfilling NATO’s target pledge of spending 2% of their gross national products on their own defense. He criticized Germany several times and said transferring the troops to Poland also sends a strong signal to thwart Russian aggression.
North: Kim halted action against S. Korea
North Korea said Wednesday that leader Kim Jong Un suspended a planned military retaliation against South Korea, in an apparent slowing of the pressure campaign it has waged against its rival amid stalled nuclear negotiations with the Trump administration.
Last week, the North declared relations with the South as fully ruptured, destroyed an inter-Korean liaison office and threatened unspecified military action to censure Seoul for a lack of progress in bilateral cooperation and for activists floating anti-Pyongyang leaflets across the border.
Analysts say North Korea, after weeks deliberately raising tensions, may be pulling away just enough to make room for South Korean concessions.
If Mr. Kim does eventually opt for military action, he may resume artillery drills and other exercises in front-line areas or have vessels deliberately cross the disputed western maritime border between the Koreas, the scene of bloody skirmishes in past years. Any action is likely to be measured to prevent full-scale retaliation from South Korean and U.S. militaries.