Page 14 - Interagency Process News Today

March 31. between now and then, i will address a few administrative matters relative to my departure and work towards a smooth and orderly transition for mike pompeo. im encouraging my policy planning team and undersecretaries and assistant secretaries, those confirmed, as well as those in acting positions, to remain at their post and continue our mission at the state department and working with interagency process. i will be meeting by members of my front office team and policy planning later t...

The iran deal that was successful and conclude that had theres partisanship that comes out in cases like this. in this case, i dont think democrats should be rooting for donald trumps failure. we should be rooting for his success. diplomacy is a positive thing west should want this to be successful. i think the skepticism, not just from democrats but those familiar with negotiations, youre kind of putting the cart before the horse here. and there are big components to make this successful includ...

You just described a process to me before that that said that youve done inner agency stuff and researching it behind the scenes. but no negotiations with china. no negotiations with these other countries. why? >> we certainly have had discussions with china. their big advisor to mr. xi was in washington that very same day. we had mar-a-lago session with china. we had another session in november back in beijing. theres been plenty of discussion. >> how many people tried to stop the president fro...

Gary cohn reportedly has threatened to resign over this. whats your understanding about this? >> i dont know anything about gary resigning. gary was certainly part of the interagency process. president likes to have dissenting views, likes to hear every side of everything because that way it makes sure that his final decision is the best informed. >> hard to find a republican supportive of this decision on capitol hill. hard to find many people in business thats not a -- perhaps somebody in stee...

The paper work hasnt gone through a legal process. theres no interagency process. this stuff was planned out for weeks and weeks in advance and were still being litigated among this trade team. this is not a small decision. 25% tariff on steel. we dont know whether there are carve outs. 25% on aluminum. this is something that was opposed on national security grounds that its being if voekd on national security ground. mattis said it will do us harm because who do we get our aluminum from? actual...

What is your sense of this situation? is he frustrated there? >> well, ive talked to a lot of people up there. most of them are frustrated. i think for anyone try to staff the trying to play the role of the consigliere which is what mcmaster is supposed to do, it is an impossible position. you have a president that doesnt listen to advise and changes his mind and im not surprised there is a lack of clarity out of the white house on what may or may not happen on a major personnel move. >> what ha...

Elements of things he was working on that were relevant out of the pdb. so i wouldnt completely fault the president or the process for that, but now that hes no longer -- >> let me interrupt you. >> -- cleared -- then you have to reconsider this. >> juan, how do you defend a process that had the most sensitive intelligence that exists in the united states of america in the hands of someone who not only hadnt cleared an fbi background check but was informed he likely wouldnt? if the rob porter sc...

North korea has expectedly condemned the latest round of u.s. sanctions, adding that the new plan reportedly by the u.s. and its allies to widen the crackdown on ships suspected of violating sanctions would be considered, quote, an act of war. now, curiously it was the presidents daughter and adviser ivanka who briefed president moon on the sanctions despite prevailing questions on her own security clearance status and her background in korean diplomacy. >> first let me say, ivanka trump has bee...

Steve mnuchin saying that ivanka trump was briefed. >> ivanka trump has been briefed on this, part of the team. she had dinner with president moon. they had a private discussion in advance about this occurring. this has been an interagency process. >> now, the sanctions target the shipping industry and try to crack down on the vessel-to-vessel activity that allows north korea to engage in shipping activities. at the press conference, president trump was asked, well, what happens if the new round...

Would presume he has no attorney-client privilege and that would be fought out before a judge. its not uncommon for anybody in the white house when theres an investigation ongoing to claim some kind of privilege to get out of the hassle and the risk of talking about it. but well to see -- he wanted his attorney -- why do you think he needed that kind of protection? >> thats a great question. someone should ask him. maybe thats in that new michael wolf book. i dont know. the point is that the att...