Month: May 2018

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo spoke with VOA Persian Director Setareh Derakhshesh Thursday afternoon to discuss the Trump administration’s plans for a new security framework aimed at ending Iran’s nuclear program. They also discussed recent protests in Iran, and the administration’s efforts to free Americans being held by the government.

Setareh: Secretary Pompeo, thank you very much for doing this interview with us.

Pompeo: It’s wonderful to be with you.

Question: As secretary of state, you chose Iran as [the subject of] your first major foreign policy speech. Why Iran? Is it because of the urgency or the importance of it?

Pompeo: I think it’s both. It’s something that the president has viewed as a serious threat to Middle East stability and therefore to American national security and it also looks at the place that the Iranian people find themselves, and he thinks it’s a place America can help make a difference. He has long thought that the agreement that the previous administration entered into didn’t serve any of those interests – the interests of the Iranian people or Middle East stability or, frankly, for America. And so it was a priority for him and thus I wanted in the first weeks since the secretary of state to have an opportunity to lay out how President Trump thinks we can make things better in each of those three situations.

Question: What is the ultimate goal of the proposed new security framework, and how is it different – how does it differ from the initial JCPOA?

Pompeo: Yeah, so very different. Different in breadth and I think different in its goal. The first agreement was very narrow. It was an effort to say that the Iranian regime was spending a ton of money on its nuclear program and it wanted to halt that – a noble objective, a good goal, a worthy one. But the threat that Iran presents is so much greater than that, right. They’re taking – they’re launching missiles into Muslim countries. They’re taking the human rights away from their people.

All of these things I think President Trump cares deeply about, and so his vision is that if we begin again to set out what we think are pretty basic ideas, right. So these 12 things that I listed are all pretty straightforward. We’re not asking a lot from the Iranian leadership, just behave like normal leaders; don’t loot your people, don’t waste your people’s money on these adventures in Syria and Yemen and in Lebanon and in Iraq, the list goes on; lead your people, build a great nation, use the resources you have for that. That’s all we’re simply looking for.

Question: Is that going to be part of the new proposed security framework that Iran would stop or should stop meddling in other countries’ affairs?

Pompeo: Yeah, so we’ve asked for that. Look, we’ve asked them to stop spreading terror around the world, not to build out militias in Iraq, not to put Iranian dollars and Iranian citizens, who are losing their lives in Syria – it’s inappropriate for Middle East security and it’s bad for the country. So our aim is to set conditions where Iran will behave like a normal nation, right. And if they do that, if they – and this is not the Iranian people – this is the Iranian leaders who have taken control and done this damage. If we can create conditions where they’ll stop that, the Iranian people will have great success, and we will have Americans visiting there, and we’ll have all the great things that we do when there are friends and allies as opposed to folks who are presenting risk to our country.

Question: I’m going to get to the human rights issue also, sir. But if I may, I want to continue on the security framework if possible. How about a requirement for Iran to let inspections in the military sites? Is that going to be part of also the framework?

Pompeo: So it is. With respect to the use of nuclear material in Iran, just as we have in Saudi Arabia, just as we did with the United Arab Emirates, we don’t believe it’s appropriate for Iran to have the capacity to create fissile material, to enrich uranium or have a plutonium facility. If they want a peaceful nuclear energy program, fine, but they could import that material. And other countries do it; it works for many countries around the world. And in order for us to achieve that, to get comfortable that that’s the case, there will have to be inspections. That would include inspections at military sites and research laboratories and all the places that had been participants in previous iterations of Iran’s program.

Question: And you mentioned human rights. There are protests, anti-government protests, all around Iran. I wanted to get your take on that. What do you – how do you feel about these protests? And do you think that the United States can maybe support the protesters?

Pompeo: We can certainly provide moral support. I think importantly, the Iranian people will make these decisions for themselves. These protests have been ongoing now for months and months – some of them very small, some of them larger – often very much in sync with what I laid out this past week, their – how this wealth gets distributed to Qasem Soleimani and not the ordinary citizen in southeast Iran or in Tehran or wherever it might be. This wealth is being squandered so that ordinary Iranian citizens are both sending their young men off to fight and die and living lives that aren’t as secure and as wealthy as they could be if Iran would simply change its behavior.

So it’s not about – you asked about regime change. It’s not about changing the regime. It’s about changing the behavior of the leadership in Iran to comport with what the Iranian people really want them to do.

Question: So it is what earlier John Bolton had said, that the goal of the administration is not regime change in Iran?

Pompeo: That’s correct. Yes, ma’am.

Question: And how do you feel about the opposition groups in the United States and in Europe? Do you support their efforts?

Pompeo: Yes. They should be – so long as they’re working towards the same goal that we are. I’ve seen from time to time that wasn’t always the case with some of the groups, some of the smaller groups, frankly. So long as they’re working towards the same thing. We don’t want them advocating for regime change either. We want them working on behalf of the Iranian people, ordinary Iranian citizens who want nothing more than to live their lives, to be able to take their hijab off, to be able to go to work and raise their families and worship in the way they want to worship. This is for the Iranian people to do, and so if there are those on the outside who are working towards that goal, we certainly welcome it.

Question: Mr. Secretary, two years ago as a congressman you personally wanted to go to Iran, you were prepared to go to Iran, and you wanted to press the leadership – Khamenei and Zarif – to give you access to the American hostages. As secretary, are you going to press the Iranian leadership again to free the American hostages? And as you know, Bob Levinson disappeared more than 11 years ago.

Pompeo: I know the story of Mr. Levinson well. I pray for his safe return, and our team works for it every day. As for the other Americans, we hope that the Iranian leadership – Mr. Rouhani and Mr. Zarif, Ayatollah – all would see that it’s in their best interests to – and for nothing more than basic humanity – to allow these innocent Americans to return to their families. There are big, big issues out there, but it seems pretty basic to me that one ought not hold innocent people from returning to their loved ones.

So yes, we’ll work on it. We’ll pray for it. And we hope that one day, in the same way that we were blessed to have three Americans return from North Korea a few weeks past, we have that same kind of day for those that are being held by the Islamic Republic of Iran.

Question: I wanted to ask you about the chants, the slogans that we still hear inside Iran: “Death to America,” and “Death to Israel.”Before any type of agreement that Iran or Tehran and the United States would have about Iran, don’t you think that it should be a requirement for Iran to stop that?

Pompeo: Yeah, their leaders most especially. In America, people say all kinds of things. We have a wide-open democracy. There are people who like President Trump and who don’t. I find that just fine. I am untroubled by that.

When you have senior leaders, when you have others fomenting these sort of fake gatherings to do nothing but come after and talk – chant, “Death to America” or “Death to Israel,” the Iranian leadership ought to stop. They ought to stop that because it’s not the right thing for their people.

I think most Iranians – I think most Iranians look at what we’ve been able to accomplish here in America and how blessed we’ve been, and think that that’s a model that works in the sense of we’ll certainly adopt a different form of democracy, and we’ll have a different form of government, and we’ll have different values and beliefs across a certain set of things, we’ll have different religions, and that – that’s all fine. But the basic common understanding of humanity, that you treat every human being with dignity and respect, that you don’t export violence around the world, that you don’t steal and plunder from your people, those core values that are civilizational, they’re historical – I think the Iranian people share those in the same way that the American people do.

Question: Mr. Secretary, I want to go back to something that you said, part of your speech. You stressed that – stressed, and you just mentioned it, that “no more wealth creation for Iranian kleptocrats.” What is your take on congressional efforts to expose the hidden wealth of the corrupt leaders of Iran, from Ayatollah Khamenei to the president? And if there is such a bill that would pass Congress, would the administration support this exposure?

Pompeo: We would. We think it’s very important. It’s just as important as an informational matter. The Iranian people deserve the truth. You have senior leaders that are pocketing money, using businesses that are nominally fronts, and frankly, just stealing. To the extent we can prove that and demonstrate that, I’d welcome the chance to expose it so the Iranian people can judge for themselves whether these are the individuals they want to lead their country.

Derakhshesh​: Mr. Secretary, thank you very much.

Pompeo: Thank you very much, ma’am. It was great to be with you.

Derakhshesh​: We appreciate it very, very much.
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A coalition of conservation groups sued the Trump administration on Thursday, accusing the government of slashing protections for migratory birds.

At issue is the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, which the National Audubon Society and other plaintiffs say has been undermined. In the past, the act helped hold parties responsible for actions that killed or injured migratory birds.

But in December, the Trump administration said energy companies and other businesses that accidentally kill migratory birds will no longer be criminally prosecuted.

“As you can imagine, many causes of bird fatalities — including oil spills — could fall into this ‘unintentional’ category, so we’re taking the administration to court,” David Yarnold, president and CEO of the National Audubon Society, a plaintiff in the lawsuit, said in a statement.

Plaintiffs also include the American Bird Conservancy, the Center for Biological Diversity, and Defenders of Wildlife. The lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.

Defendants are the U.S. Department of the Interior, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Daniel Jorjani, the Interior Department’s principal deputy solicitor.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, representing the government in the lawsuit, declined to comment. Representatives for the Fish and Wildlife Service, interior and justice departments also declined comment.

The Trump administration’s December move, in a legal memo from the Interior Department, reversed a longstanding practice at the agency and a last-minute rule implemented by the outgoing Obama administration. It came after several appeals courts ruled that the government was interpreting a century-old law aimed at protecting birds too broadly.

In the legal opinion, Jorjani said that a 1918 law that officials have used to prosecute those who kill birds “incidentally” as part of doing business was really aimed at preventing poaching and hunting without a license.

The Migratory Bird Treaty Act “applies only to direct and affirmative purposeful actions that reduce migratory birds, their eggs, or their nests, by killing or capturing, to human control,” Jorjani wrote.

The memo is already being followed, the lawsuit said, and one or more companies constructing natural gas pipelines were told they may cut down trees with nesting birds during the breeding season.

The conservation groups request that the court vacate the memo and declare the defendants “revert to their prior, correct longstanding interpretation and policy,” the lawsuit said.
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Editor’s note: With four people working on (im)migration stories every day, we still struggle to keep up with all of the relevant news. So, we wanted a way to keep you updated with the top immigration, migration, and refugee stories every week — the ones that will most affect you, our international readers, viewers and listeners. We want you to know what’s happening, why, and how it could impact your life, family or business.

Questions? Comments? Email the VOA immigration team: ImmigrationUnit@voanews.com

Gangs of New York

​MS-13 is one of roughly 33,000 gangs in the U.S. and Puerto Rico, and it’s not even the largest — yet President Donald Trump latches onto the group as an example of violence perpetrated by immigrants. In one New York community, residents struggle with wanting safer neighborhoods, while eschewing what they see as deep anti-immigrant sentiment.​

Should I Stay or Should I Go?

Solid legal advice can make or break the case for an immigrant facing deportation in the U.S., but a program to help them may be on the chopping block.

2 names + 11 days = DACA vote?

Lawmakers inched closer this week in their push for immigration legislation and a deal on Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA). Just two more Republicans need to sign on for the process to move forward. But Congress has started an 11-day break, so a DACA vote is on hold … again.

Refugee Resurgence

The U.N. refugee agency clanged the alarm bells on two upticks in the refugee movement this week: Central African Republic and Central America. Meanwhile, Ethiopian refugees at a camp in Kenya are trying to figure out if it’s safe enough to return home.

​’Beauty Comes and Goes’

We watched the creation and destruction of a sand mandala by a former Buddhist monk and refugee, from the intricately woven, boldly colorful lines to its final status as a brownish heap of sand. 
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U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday issued a posthumous pardon to boxer Jack Johnson, the first African-American heavyweight champion who was jailed a century ago after having a relationship with a white woman.

“I believe Jack Johnson is a worthy person to receive a pardon, to correct a wrong in our history,” Trump said.

In a case that came to symbolize racial injustice, Johnson was arrested in 1912 with Lucille Cameron, who later became his wife, for violating the Mann Act. The law was passed two years earlier and made it a crime to take a woman across state lines for immoral purposes.

Johnson died in 1946.

Actor Sylvester Stallone, famous as the star of the “Rocky” boxing-movie franchise, and boxer Lennox Lewis flanked Trump for the pardon in the Oval Office. In April, Trump tweeted that he was considering the pardon after talking to Stallone.

Earlier on Thursday, Stallone posted a photo of himself at the White House on Instagram with the caption “Waiting for the moment to go into the oval office for the pardon.”
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The International Atomic Energy Agency said Thursday Iran is complying with restrictions on its nuclear program in accord with the 2015 international agreement. The inspectors’ assessment is the first since U.S. President Donald Trump withdrew the United States from the pact.

The United Nations atomic watchdog said Tehran is staying within limits on the level to which it can enrich uranium, the size of its stock of enriched uranium and other strictures. But it chided Iran for limiting “complementary access” inspections.

The U.N. assessment came as the U.S. imposed new sanctions on Iran in an effort to force the Islamic Republic back to the bargaining table to negotiate new terms of the nuclear agreement, curb its ballistic missile tests, end its military advances in the Middle East.

The U.S. says in coming months, it will reimpose sanctions it and other countries dropped when Tehran agreed to restrain its nuclear program — measures that hobbled the Iranian economy. But the five other signatories to the Iran nuclear accord — Britain, France, Germany, China and Russia — all have said they continue to support the deal.

Thursday’s sanctions targeted nine individuals and companies for providing support to Iranian airlines that previously had been blacklisted.

The U.S. Treasury Department said Tehran-based Mahan Air was cited for playing a “critical role in exporting the Iranian regime’s malign influence,” saying it has “routinely” flown fighters and supplies to Syria in support of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

In a statement, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said, “Countries and companies around the world should take note of the risks associated with granting landing rights and providing aviation services to the airlines used by Iran to export terrorism throughout the region.”

“The deceptive practices these airlines employ to illegally obtain services and U.S. goods is yet another example of the duplicitous ways in which the Iranian regime has operated,” Mnuchin said.

The U.S. sanctions also targeted three other Iranian carriers, Caspian Air, Meraj Air, and Pouya Air, as well as Turkish nationals and entities for assisting the Iranian airlines.

The sanctions are aimed at preventing Iran from buying U.S.-export controlled components to sustain their air fleets.
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Senior U.S. intelligence and law enforcement officials are set to give separate briefings to two sets of lawmakers Thursday in connection with the investigation into Russia’s meddling in the 2016 election.

In the first session, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, White House Chief of Staff John Kelly, National Intelligence Director Dan Coats and FBI Director Christopher Wray will meet with House Speaker Paul Ryan, House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes and Oversight and Government Reform Chairman Trey Gowdy.

The White House arranged those talks with the three Republican lawmakers who want more information about an FBI informant who had contact with Trump campaign officials during the 2016 race.

Democrats complained the meeting was inappropriate and asked for an expanded session that would include the so-called Gang of Eight bipartisan group of senior members of both parties.

That request was granted, but not in place of the first talks, and will instead take place a few hours after the Republican-only session.

Expanded talks

The expanded talks will include Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer, House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi, Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Richard Burr, and the ranking Democrats on the Senate and House intelligence committees, Sen. Mark Warner and Rep. Adam Schiff, according to the Justice Department.

Trump has seized on the FBI’s use of Stefan Halper to talk to three of his campaign associates as part of the Russia probe, claiming Halper was working to “spy for political reasons” in order to help Democrat Hillary Clinton win the election.

“Starting to look like one of the biggest political scandals in U.S. history. SPYGATE – a terrible thing!” Trump said Thursday on Twitter.

Halper is an American foreign policy scholar at Britain’s University of Cambridge, and worked as a secret informant to report on foreign affairs conversations he had with the three Trump advisers — Carter Page, Sam Clovis and George Papadopoulos. Decades ago, Halper served in three Republican U.S. administrations in various domestic policy roles.

The FBI, at the time it used Halper as an informant, was probing Trump campaign links to Russian interests during the latter stages of the 2016 campaign, part of what eventually became special counsel Robert Mueller’s ongoing criminal investigation. Papadopoulos has pleaded guilty to lying to investigators about his contacts with Russians.

Trump’s collusion denial

Trump has repeatedly denied any collusion between his campaign and Russia.

Last year, the U.S. intelligence community assessed Russia carried out an influence campaign meant to disrupt the election and help Trump’s chances of winning.

After Trump earlier this week demanded the FBI and the Justice Department disclose confidential records about the use of Halper, Rosenstein and Wray agreed to Thursday’s meeting with Nunes and Gowdy to show them the information.

Trump told White House reporters he was not “undercutting” the Justice Department by making his demand for the information about Halper.

“We’re cleaning everything up. This was a terrible situation,” he said. “I want total transparency … because this issue supersedes Republicans and Democrats.”

Clapper: no spying on Trump’s political operations

In his Thursday tweet, Trump claimed that former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, who served under former President Barack Obama, “has now admitted that there was Spying in my campaign. Large dollars were paid to the Spy, far beyond normal.”

But Clapper said in television interviews this week there was no spying on Trump’s political operations. Rather, he told CNN, “What it was about was trying to determine what the Russians were doing. We should all be concerned about that.”

It has not been disclosed how much the FBI paid Halper. But U.S. financial records show that since 2012 Halper has had contracts with the Defense Department for more than $1 million for research and development in the social sciences and humanities, although the money did not go solely to him. He hired other academics to help with the research and prepare reports.

Trump said in Wednesday tweet, “Follow the money! The spy was there early in the campaign and yet never reported Collusion with Russia, because there was no Collusion. He was only there to spy for political reasons and to help Crooked Hillary win,” Trump’s oft-repeated pejorative for his 2016 Democratic challenger, former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

Rosenstein has also asked the Justice Department’s inspector general to investigate the FBI’s use of Halper.

“If anyone did infiltrate or surveil participants in a presidential campaign for inappropriate purposes, we need to know about it and take appropriate action,” Rosenstein said.
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NFL owners opted on Wednesday to approve a policy for player conduct during the national anthem. Players, coaches and personnel on the field must stand when the anthem is played, or will be fined and disciplined.

The decision could tee up players and owners for litigation.

Players claim they were not consulted and immediately threatened to challenge the policy. In a terse statement from the NFLPA, players claimed the NFL and its owners went rogue in establishing anthem guidelines after an effort to work together with players.

“The NFL chose to not consult the union in the development of this new ‘policy.’ NFL players have shown their patriotism through their social activism, their community service, in support of our military and law enforcement and yes, through their protests to raise awareness about the issues they care about,” the NFLPA statement read, underlining that players kneeling was not a protest of the national anthem.

“The vote by NFL club CEOs today contradicts the statements made to our player leadership by Commissioner Roger Goodell and the Chairman of the NFL’s Management Council John Mara about the principles, values and patriotism of our League.

“Our union will review the new ‘policy’ and challenge any aspect of it that is inconsistent with the collective bargaining agreement.”

Goodell said owners unanimously approved the anthem policy, but at least one owner, Jed York of the San Francisco 49ers, abstained. York said he felt the need to seek additional player input.

New York Jets chairman Christopher Johnson said he supported the measure out of obligation to the membership, but said players can take a knee or perform another type of protest without fear of repercussion from the team. He will pay their fines.

“I do not like imposing any club-specific rules,” Johnson said.

“If somebody [on the Jets] takes a knee, that fine will be borne by the organization, by me, not the players,” he said. “I never want to put restrictions on the speech of our players. Do I prefer that they stand? Of course. But I understand if they felt the need to protest. There are some big, complicated issues that we’re all struggling with, and our players are on the front lines. I don’t want to come down on them like a ton of bricks, and I won’t. There will be no club fines or suspensions or any sort of repercussions. If the team gets fined, that’s just something I’ll have to bear.”

On the final day of league meetings in Atlanta, owners prioritized establishing team and league protocol for the national anthem, which became a polarizing issue over the past two seasons due to peaceful protests started by former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick, now out of the league.

“We are dedicated to continuing our collaboration with players to advance the goals of justice and fairness in all corners of our society. The efforts by many of our players sparked awareness and action around issues of social justice that must be addressed. The platform that we have created together is certainly unique in professional sports and quite likely in American business. We are honored to work with our players to drive progress,” commissioner Roger Goodell said Wednesday. “It was unfortunate that on-field protests created a false perception among many that thousands of NFL players were unpatriotic. This is not and was never the case. This season, all league and team personnel shall stand and show respect for the flag and the Anthem. Personnel who choose not to stand for the Anthem may stay in the locker room until after the Anthem has been performed.”

The policy, released in full by the NFL on Wednesday, reads: … All team and league personnel on the field shall stand and show respect for the flag and the Anthem.

• The Game Operations Manual will be revised to remove the requirement that all players be on the field for the Anthem.

• Personnel who choose not to stand for the Anthem may stay in the locker room or in a similar location off the field until after the Anthem has been

performed.

• A club will be fined by the League if its personnel are on the field and do

not stand and show respect for the flag and the Anthem.

• Each club may develop its own rules, consistent with the above principles,

regarding its personnel who do not stand and show respect for the flag and the Anthem.

• The Commissioner will impose appropriate discipline on league personnel who do not stand and show respect for the flag and the Anthem.

A player choosing to kneel for the anthem would be fined. It was unclear  Wednesday whether players holding a fist above their head while standing during the anthem would be a fineable offense.

Dallas Cowboys vice president Stephen Jones said there is no fine schedule established from the league level on anthem issues. Asked to define disrespect, he said owners would know it when they see it.

“Maybe this new rule proposal that is being voted on is a ‘compromise’ between the NFL office and club CEOs on various sides of the issue, but certainly not with player leadership; we weren’t there or part of the discussions,” wrote George Atallah, NFLPA executive director of external affairs via Twitter.

Eagles safety Malcolm Jenkins and defensive end Michael Bennett, last year with the Seahawks, and Rams cornerback Marcus Peters (with the Chiefs in  2017) all protested by standing with their right fist raised.

Steelers owner Art Rooney said Wednesday that raising a fist or players linking arms would be viewed by his franchise as disrespect.

“I think any form of protest is a form of protest. We didn’t define exactly what you have to be doing to be out there, but I think everybody understands what it means to be respectful during the anthem,” Rooney told the Detroit Free Press.

President Donald Trump caused an uproar from players in 2017 with inflammatory comments objecting to player protests during the anthem.

This week, he praised NASCAR for its universal policy in which drivers and crew stand during the pre-race playing of the national anthem. “And I will tell you — one thing I know about NASCAR, they do indeed, stand for the playing of the national anthem,” Trump said.

ESPN reported Wednesday that owners view the policy change as compromise, while not allowing player protests during the anthem.

In 2017, Houston Texans owner Bob McNair said in a private meeting of owners that the league does not want “inmates running the prison,” a reference to players protesting. McNair apologized and in April said he regretted the apology. McNair, in an attempt to clarify, claimed he was referring to team executives overstepping their bounds in dealing with owners last year, rather than kneeling players, when he said the word “inmates.”

Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said last year his players “will always stand” for the national anthem.

Jerry Jones pointed to concern about sponsors being turned off by anthem protests.

York said Wednesday his team will consider closing concessions during the anthem.

“I don’t think we should be profiting if we’re going to put this type of attention and focus on the field and on the flag,” he said.

Kaepernick has not played since 2016 and filed a collusion case against NFL owners alleging a concerted effort was made to keep him out of football.

Former teammate Eric Reid, a safety with the 49ers and unrestricted free agent, is following suit.

Reid, who joined Kaepernick in kneeling to bring attention to social injustice, visited only one team — the Cincinnati Bengals — and was asked if he would continue to kneel during the anthem by team ownership.

Kaepernick had a visit scheduled with the Seattle Seahawks — the only team to host Kaepernick in 2017 — but it was postponed because management wanted greater clarity on Kaepernick’s intentions during pregame.
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Lieutenant General Scott Miller is the expected nominee to command U.S. and international forces in Afghanistan, a U.S. official with knowledge of the process told VOA.

U.S.-led international forces in Afghanistan are currently being commanded by U.S. General John Nicholson. He has served as commander since March 2016.

Miller’s consideration must be finalized by a White House nomination, followed by confirmation by the Senate.

The general currently leads the military’s secretive Joint Special Operations Command.

If nominated and confirmed, Miller will be the ninth American general in 17 years to oversee the Afghanistan war. The Pentagon declined to confirm Miller’s selection.

“We have nothing to announce at this time,” Pentagon spokesman Adrian Rankine-Galloway told VOA.

Miller, a decorated special operations soldier, earned a Bronze Star for his service in Somalia and has also served in Afghanistan and Iraq.

The Wall Street Journal first reported Miller’s selection as the expected nominee.

VOA’s Jeff Seldin contributed to this report.
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President Donald Trump says the U.S. will know by next week whether his summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un will be held on June 12 in Singapore as scheduled.

“It could very well be June 12th,” Trump said Wednesday. “If we go, it’ll be a great thing for North Korea.”

North Korea has indicated it might call off the meeting due to disagreements on conditions by the United States for unilateral denuclearization.

Trump on Tuesday, during a meeting with visiting South Korean President Moon Jae-in, said the summit might not be held next month.

“If it doesn’t happen, maybe it will happen later,” Trump said.

The president said, “There are certain conditions that we want. I think we will get those conditions.”

Asked about the conditions, Trump replied, “I’d rather not say.” But he stated that the denuclearization of North Korea “must take place.”

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who has twice met with Kim in Pyongyang in preparation for the Singapore summit, said Wednesday, “Our posture will not change until we see credible steps taken toward the complete, verifiable denuclearization of the Korean peninsula.”
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