Ahead of the launch of President Trump's Israeli-Palestinian peace plan, the White House has been engaging with Evangelical leaders to reassure them about the plan.
Why it matters: Evangelicals are a crucial part of Trump's political base and senior officials in his administration, like Vice President Pence and Secretary of State Pompeo, are Evangelicals. Most U.S. Evangelicals are strong supporters of Israel, and many Evangelical leaders are stanch allies of Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu.
Today at a closed door meeting of the UN Security Council, President Trump's Middle East envoy, Jason Greenblatt, defended Israel's decision to withhold Palestinian tax revenues over the Palestinian Authority's payments to families of terrorists, U.S. officials told me.
"The time has come to make it clear that the Palestinian Authority, if it aspires to the status of a government, it must behave like one. It is unacceptable for the Palestinian Authority to pay these terrorists and their families a reward for criminal acts."
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi held a press conference at the National People's Congress Friday to discuss China's diplomatic work.
Details: Xinhua English's lead story reports on Wang's comments...
The establishment of Xi Jinping Thought on Diplomacy as the fundamental guideline for China's diplomatic work is an epoch-making milestone in the diplomatic theory of New China, Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi said Friday...
At the Central Conference on Work Relating to Foreign Affairs in 2018, the guiding status of Xi Jinping Thought on Diplomacy was established, setting a fundamental guideline for China's diplomatic work and point the way for navigating through the complex array of issues in today's world, Wang said.
I have been hearing throughout this week that a U.S.-China trade deal may not be as close as some expected, and that the mooted March summit between President Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping is in jeopardy.
What's new: Two articles in the last 24 hours confirm the chatter.
North Korea’s Sohae rocket launch site is back to “normal operational status” just 1 week after the Hanoi summit ended in “no deal,” according to an analysis of satellite images by 38 North.
Backstory: North Korea has in recent days been repairing the site, which it partially destroyed following the Singapore summit last year. Joel Wit of 38 North said at a Stimson Center event this week that the regime had poured a lot of money and effort into Sohae, viewed its partial destruction as "above and beyond the call of duty," and felt the U.S. was refusing to make any concessions in return.
