Trump expected to dump Iran deal
U.S. allies fear reinstating sanctions could lead to major conflict in the Middle East
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump is expected to announce Tuesday that he will not continue a waiver of sanctions against Iran, according to current and former U.S. and foreign officials, a major step toward ending the nuclear agreement he has called an “insane” deal that “never, ever should have been made.”
The decision follows the failure of last-ditch efforts by the three European signatories to the agreement to convince Trump that his concerns about “flaws” in the 2015 accord could be addressed without violating its terms or ending it altogether. While the deal itself contains no provisions for withdrawal, Iran has threatened to reactivate its nuclear program if the United States reneges on any of its obligations under the pact’s terms.
France and Germany, whose leaders visited Washington in recent weeks to appeal to Trump, have warned that nullification of the agreement could lead to all-out war in the Middle East. British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson, in Washington on Monday, said that as far as he knows, the administration has no clear “Plan B” for what to do next.
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump signaled a more confrontational legal strategy against the special counsel’s Russia probe on Monday, ripping into what he dismissed as an investigation into a “made up, phony crime.”
His series of tweets were fresh evidence that the cooperative approach with special counsel Robert Mueller that had been advocated by the president’s legal team for months has gone by the wayside. It also revealed the president’s anxiety about how the investigation could sway voters as they decide whether to keep congressional Republicans in power or force him to face an aggressive Democratic majority.
Trump’s new lawyer, former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, has used a string of media appearances over the past week to cast the probe as a “totally garbage investigation.” And Giuliani has called into question whether Trump would be treated fairly by Mueller’s prosecutors if he were to agree to an interview.
No decision has been made on whether to permit the president to sit for an interview, but a person familiar with the situation but not authorized to speak publicly on it told the Associated Press that the legal team hopes to resolve that question by May 17, the one-year anniversary of Mueller’s appointment. Giuliani earlier told The Wall Street Journal that the team hopes to decide by that date.
Mueller’s team is investigating Russian interference in the 2016 election and possible coordination with Trump associates as well as whether the president obstructed justice. So far, the special counsel’s office has charged 19 people — including four Trump campaign advisers — and three Russian companies.
On Monday, Trump seized on Giuliani’s message, focusing on what he sees as the conflicts of interest on Mueller’s team.
“The 13 Angry Democrats in charge of the Russian Witch Hunt are starting to find out that there is a Court System in place that actually protects people from injustice…and just wait ‘till the Courts get to see your unrevealed Conflicts of Interest!” he wrote.
Trump appeared to be drawing attention to a federal judge’s questioning last week of Mueller’s authority in a case against former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort. But it was unclear what legal action Trump was referring to that would touch on “unrevealed” conflicts of interest.
Mueller is a longtime Republican, but some members of his team have made political contributions to Democrats, including to Hillary Clinton, Trump’s Democratic opponent in the 2016 election.