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Office of Vice President Biden Intelligence Briefing


*From:* Bulletin Intelligence <Biden@BulletinIntelligence.com>
*Sent:* Thursday, June 14, 2018 7:52 AM
*To:* Biden@BulletinIntelligence.com
*Subject:* Office of Vice President Biden Intelligence Briefing for
Thursday, June 14, 2018


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<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018061401biden&r=email-94c3&l=000-18c&t=c>
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[image: Image removed by sender. Office of Vice President Biden
Intelligence Briefing]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018061401biden&r=email-94c3&l=001-3ba&t=c>

*To: Vice President Joe Biden*

*Thursday, June 14, 2018 8:00 AM EDT*
Today's Table of Contents

*Biden in the News <#SECTION_1>*

• Biden Brings “American Promise Tour” To Charlotte. <#S1>

• Brower: Biden Talks Regularly With Pence, Steers Foreign Leaders To Him.
<#S2>

• Rob Reiner: Biden Could “Right The Ship” In 2020. <#S3>

• Trio Of Newark-Area High School Students Win Beau Biden Memorial
Scholarship. <#S4>

*Leading the News <#SECTION_2>*

• Trump: “There Is No Longer A Nuclear Threat From North Korea.” <#S5>

*Foreign Policy <#SECTION_3>*

• Trump’s North Korea Summit Raises Calls In Iran For Similar Talks. <#S6>

• Trump Says When He Left G7 Summit, It Wasn’t “Rocky,” It Was “Great.”
<#S7>

• Trump Criticizes OPEC Over High Oil Prices. <#S8>

• Saudi-Led Coalition Launches Offensive On Yemen’s Hodeida. <#S9>

• Green: Administration Committed To Assisting Iraq’s Persecuted Religious
Groups. <#S10>

• Kushner Will Travel To Israel, Egypt And Saudi Arabia Next Week. <#S11>

• US Sanctions High-Ranking Cambodian Official Accused Of Human Rights
Abuses. <#S12>

• White House Moves To Stop Congress From Overriding ZTE Settlement. <#S13>

*Domestic Policy <#SECTION_4>*

• Ryan: Trump Backs Compromise Immigration Bill That Includes His “Four
Pillars.” <#S14>

• Media Analyses: Midterm Primaries Showing GOP Has Become Party Of Trump.
<#S15>

• In Southern Baptist Convention Speech, Pence Touts Administration
Accomplishments. <#S16>

• ABC News: Cohen “Likely” To Cooperate With Federal Investigators. <#S17>

• Former Senate Staffer Wolfe Pleads Not Guilty To Lying To FBI In Leak
Probe. <#S18>

• Conservative Groups Seek Reversal Of Obama-Era School Discipline Policy.
<#S19>

• Sanders Takes Issue With Report That She’s Planning To Leave White House.
<#S20>

*Cancer Research <#SECTION_5>*

• New York Gives Providers $43.8M In Five-Year Grants For Free Cancer
Screenings. <#S21>

• NCI Appeals To Neuroscientists To Help Gain Better Understanding Of
“Chemobrain.” <#S22>

*Editorials/Op-Eds <#SECTION_6>*

• New York Times. <#S23>

• Washington Post. <#S24>
Biden in the News
Biden Brings “American Promise Tour” To Charlotte.

In a brief broadcast, WCCB-TV[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018061401biden&r=email-94c3&l=002-fce&t=c>
Charlotte, NC (6/13) reported that former Vice President Joe Biden on
Wednesday visited “Charlotte as part of the ‘American Promise’ book tour.
Former Charlotte mayor and Secretary of Transportation Anthony Foxx joined
him at the Belk Theater,” where Biden “talked about his political career
and his memoir.” In another brief broadcast, Charlotte (NC) Spectrum
News[image:
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<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018061401biden&r=email-94c3&l=003-9c4&t=c>
(6/13) reported Biden’s “tour is in support of his memoir, ‘Promise Me,
Dad: A Year of Hope, Hardship and Purpose.’” WCNC-TV[image: Image removed
by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018061401biden&r=email-94c3&l=004-122&t=c>
Charlotte, NC (6/13) reported that Biden spoke “about several big moments
of his political career, as well as personal challenges he’s faced,
including the death of his son, Beau.” In its brief broadcast story,
WBTV-TV[image:
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<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018061401biden&r=email-94c3&l=005-7bc&t=c>
Charlotte, NC (6/13) reported, “Some say Biden is exploring a potential
presidential run in 2020.”

The Charlotte (NC) Observer
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018061401biden&r=email-94c3&l=006-1e2&t=c>
(6/14, Janes) reports that “as he makes these rounds in these cities on
this tour that ostensibly is about promoting” his book, a “question
persists: Will Biden run in 2020?” Biden “has not said a word one way or
the other. However, while addressing the idea of hope as his short visit to
Charlotte drew to a close on Wednesday night, he turned to the audience and
said 12 words that shifted the tone: ‘I’ve tried not to make this book tour
be about politics, but...’” Biden then went on to make “the case that
America doesn’t need to be made great again, because it’s already great.”
As Biden ended the event, there was “one giant question hanging in the
auditorium – and several stacks of books available for purchase out in the
lobby.”

*Biden To Visit St Louis Today. *This morning, KTVI-TV[image: Image
removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018061401biden&r=email-94c3&l=007-d95&t=c>
St. Louis (6/14) reports that Biden “is visiting St. Louis today as part of
his ‘American Promise Tour.’ Biden will be at the Peabody Opera House
tonight at 7:30 pm, where he’ll be discussing the big political moments of
his career, life-altering choices he made, and the traits that have helped
him persevere through challenges.”
Brower: Biden Talks Regularly With Pence, Steers Foreign Leaders To Him.

Kate Andersen Brower, author of “First in Line,” discussed her book during
a Wednesday appearance on MSNBC’s Andrea Mitchell Reports[image: Image
removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018061401biden&r=email-94c3&l=008-113&t=c>
(6/13), saying, “I was really surprised that Joe Biden and Mike Pence are
talking at least once a month – that Biden is kind of acting as a conduit
for foreign leaders. He told me he speaks to about a dozen of them, who are
worried about Trump. And he puts them in touch with Pence and says, you
know, ‘Trump doesn’t have the bandwidth to deal with foreign affairs. So,
talk to Pence.’ And I think it’s unusual to see this level of outreach from
a vice president to former vice president. And you don’t see Trump doing
that with Obama.”
Rob Reiner: Biden Could “Right The Ship” In 2020.

In its “In The Know” blog, The Hill
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018061401biden&r=email-94c3&l=009-36e&t=c>
(6/12, Kurtz) reported that director Rob Reiner said during an interview
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this week that former Vice President Joe Biden “could ‘right the ship’ with
a 2020 White House bid.” Said Reiner, “I think the ship is foundering right
now and someone with his experience could come in and right the ship.” The
Hill added that Reiner also mentioned New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu (D)
and Sen. Kamala Harris (D) as possible 2020 Democratic hopefuls “he’d root
for.”
Trio Of Newark-Area High School Students Win Beau Biden Memorial
Scholarship.

The Newark (MD) Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018061401biden&r=email-94c3&l=00b-8d8&t=c>
(6/14) reports, “Three Newark-area students recently won the Beau Biden
Memorial Scholarship from the I Could Do Great Things Foundation.” Delaney
Doran “received the Scholarship’s Gold Award of $10,000,” while Marigrace
Ferrill and Nicole Kennedy were “co-recipients of the Silver Award, each
receiving $5,000. All three will attend the University of Delaware this
fall. Named in honor of former Delaware Attorney General Beau Biden, who
died in 2015 at age 46, the scholarship was established by the I Could Do
Great Things Foundation, an independent Delaware-based philanthropy. The
scholarship honors college-bound high school seniors from Delaware ‘who
embody the virtues of Beau Biden, who exhibited qualities of leadership,
community, civility, respect, and a strong moral compass.’”
Leading the News
Trump: “There Is No Longer A Nuclear Threat From North Korea.”

President Trump’s diplomatic efforts toward North Korea continue to receive
very skeptical media reviews, which take strong issue with his claims that
the summit produced tangible results toward denuclearization. The AP
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018061401biden&r=email-94c3&l=00c-24d&t=c>
(6/13, Flaherty, Lederman), for example, calls Trump’s claims “dubious,”
saying the summit “produced no guarantees on how or when Pyongyang would
disarm.” The Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018061401biden&r=email-94c3&l=00d-03d&t=c>
(6/13, Wagner) reports Trump “amped up claims of a highly successful
summit” but “Democrats – and even some Republicans – grew increasingly
skeptical about what had been accomplished,” and CNN political analyst
Kirsten Powers said on CNN’s The Lead[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018061401biden&r=email-94c3&l=00e-273&t=c>
(6/13), “It is hard to know what [Trump is] trying to do here. Because if
you look at it, it seems like he gave away a lot and didn’t really get
anything in return.”

Trump tweeted
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018061401biden&r=email-94c3&l=00f-04a&t=c>
yesterday that “everybody can now feel much safer than the day I took
office. There is no longer a Nuclear Threat from North Korea. Meeting with
Kim Jong Un was an interesting and very positive experience. North Korea
has great potential for the future!” Added
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018061401biden&r=email-94c3&l=010-b64&t=c>
Trump, “Before taking office people were assuming that we were going to War
with North Korea. President Obama said that North Korea was our biggest and
most dangerous problem. No longer – sleep well tonight! ...
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018061401biden&r=email-94c3&l=011-45d&t=c>
So funny to watch the Fake News, especially NBC and CNN. They are fighting
hard to downplay the deal with North Korea. 500 days ago they would have
‘begged’ for this deal-looked like war would break out. Our Country’s
biggest enemy is the Fake News so easily promulgated by fools!”

CNN Senior Media Correspondent Brian Stelter said on CNN’s
Situation Room[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018061401biden&r=email-94c3&l=012-de3&t=c>
(6/13), “It is no wonder why most Americans think this President is not fit
to serve. Tweets like this suggest he doesn’t know what has made America so
great for over 200 years. That is the check and balance system between the
executive and the judiciary and the press.” In his opening monologue on Fox
News’ Hannity[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018061401biden&r=email-94c3&l=013-5c3&t=c>
(6/13), however, Sean Hannity said, “Your mainstream, corrupt media, the
destroy-Trump media has reached a new low. Despite so much success at home
on the economy and abroad, not including this week here in Singapore, the
President has been overwhelmingly portrayed negatively in the press.” And
now “the President is fighting back.”

At any rate, media skepticism was widespread. The AP
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018061401biden&r=email-94c3&l=014-be2&t=c>
(6/13, Pennington, Lederman) says “Trump stretched credulity at home and
abroad” with his “chest-thumping tweet,” which “seemed reminiscent of the
‘Mission Accomplished’ banner flown behind President George W. Bush in 2003
when he spoke aboard a Navy ship following the US invasion of Iraq.” As
Kevin Corke put it on Fox News’ Special Report[image: Image removed by
sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018061401biden&r=email-94c3&l=015-05b&t=c>
(6/13), meanwhile, Trump “unleash[ed] a tweet storm of optimism,” but he
returned to Washington “amid strong headwinds of skepticism.” ABC World
News Tonight[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
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(6/13, story 2, 3:20, Muir) reported that Kim “still has his nukes,” and
“the joint statement he signed in Singapore did not indicate how and when
he would give them up. It also did not say that denuclearization would be
‘verifiable’ and ‘irreversible.’ ... Some saying the President gave a lot
more than he got.”

The New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018061401biden&r=email-94c3&l=017-7c6&t=c>
(6/13, Baker, Sang-Hun) reports Trump “made his claims even though North
Korea has not given up any of its nuclear warheads or missiles, nor
dismantled any of its 141 known sites devoted to the production or use of
weapons of mass destruction other than blowing up a test site.” Asked
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, “What planet is the president on?”
The Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018061401biden&r=email-94c3&l=018-db7&t=c>
(6/13, Warrick) remarks on the “hundreds” of facilities “that exist across
a North Korean weapons complex that has shown itself capable not only of
making sophisticated nuclear and chemical weapons, but also of expertly
hiding them from public view.” That is “why weapons experts around the
world expressed astonishment Wednesday at...Trump’s claim.”

Later yesterday, Trump sat down for an interview with Fox News’
Special Report’s Bret Baier, who told him the North has agreed to things
before and gone back on their word, to which Trump responded[image: Image
removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018061401biden&r=email-94c3&l=019-e88&t=c>,
“That’s with a different president. And nobody has taken it this far, and
presidents have never met with anybody from North Korea. It’s been
delegated to other people. ... This is something that should have been done
years ago” before the North had its nuclear weapons. Trump later said[image:
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<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018061401biden&r=email-94c3&l=01a-f4f&t=c>
he is “totally confident” that a verification system will be set up to
ensure the North gets rid of its nuclear weapons – “and if we can’t, we
can’t have a deal. It has to be verified.” Baier asked Trump why he thinks
Kim “raced to complete his nuclear program and then decided to give it up.”
Trump responded, “I think psychologically he felt it was important and I
understand that.”

Asked if he thinks China thinks they got what they want out of the
summit, Trump replied[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018061401biden&r=email-94c3&l=01b-708&t=c>,
“I think China would really like to see no nuclear weapons” in the region.
He added, “Whether you are semi-friendly with a nation or not, when they
have nuclear weapons, it can’t be a positive feeling, it just can’t be.” He
added that China has been “very helpful.”

Trump was also asked[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
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about human rights and how “you call this relationship really good and that
[Kim] was a very talented person,” even though “he’s executing people.”
Trump said that “when you take over a...tough country...I don’t care who
you are” or “how much of an advantage you have. If you can do that at 27
years old, that’s one in 10,000 that can do that. So he’s a very smart guy.
He’s a great negotiator.” When Baier replied that Kim has “still done some
really bad things,” Trump said back: “But so have a lot of other people
done some really bad things.”

Sen. James Lankford said CNN’s Situation Room[image: Image removed
by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018061401biden&r=email-94c3&l=01d-191&t=c>
(6/13), “I think the President is being optimistic and it is just his
nature that he walks in with a negotiation and expect everyone will live up
to their part of the deal,” but added, “if they change he responds rapidly
to say you broke the deal and flips everything back over. So my assumption
is the President is being consistent and that he will assume Kim Jong-un
will keep up his part of the deal. If he doesn’t, then we certainly will
respond to that.” Lankford also said, “We’ve seen words and words are a
good first step but that is by far not the last step.”

Fox News national security strategist Sebastian Gorka said on Fox
News’ Hannity[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018061401biden&r=email-94c3&l=01e-097&t=c>
(6/13), “Donald Trump could not have achieved more than 24 hours, 25 hours
he was awake. What more could he have achieved? At the end of the day, he
is solving the problems other people left for him. This isn’t just about
the Obama Administration. This is about the last 25 years, from Bill
Clinton onwards, the situation in this part of the world on the peninsula
was getting worse and worse by the year. The nuclear capability, detonating
nuclear warheads, launching ballistic missiles over the sea of Japan with a
range of more than 2,000 miles. Those are not problems created by the Trump
Administration. But guess was trying to solve it? Donald Trump. It’s just
facts.”

A Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018061401biden&r=email-94c3&l=01f-660&t=c>
(6/13) editorial says many of Trump’s “false statements regarding North
Korea and his summit meeting with” Kim “may be harmless,” and some are even
“justifiable in the context of a nascent diplomatic process.” His remark
that North Korea “does love him,” however, “is obtuse, offensive and
harmful,” according to the Post, which explains, “No one in North Korea may
criticize Mr. Kim and expect to survive.” The Post concludes in writing
that the thousands of people who have “looked to America and its democratic
allies to stand for their dignity and freedom as human beings will feel a
bit less hopeful about their future. They will feel betrayed. They will be
right to feel that way.”

Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018061401biden&r=email-94c3&l=020-195&t=c>
(6/13) columnist E.J. Dionne Jr. also rejects the “deeply flawed but
predictable arguments that have been offered in defense of Trump’s lovefest
with North Korea’s brutal dictator and the president’s approach to
negotiation.” Specifically, Dionne writes, Trump touted a “flimsy piece of
paper” that “guaranteed absolutely nothing and contained far weaker
promises than those wrung out of North Korea by earlier administrations –
promises, by the way, that the ‘very honorable’ regime broke.”
Additionally, Dionne says, “Trump did not simply overlook the astonishing
brutality of North Korea’s regime” – he “heaped praise on Kim.” Finally,
Dionne writes, Trump “made real concessions to North Korea – beginning with
the legitimacy that the Singapore extravaganza conferred on Kim and Trump’s
decision to call off joint military exercises with South Korea – without
winning anything concrete in return.”

*Poll: “Just Over Half Of All Americans,” 30% Of Democrats Approve
Of Trump On North Korea. *Reuters
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018061401biden&r=email-94c3&l=021-c48&t=c>
(6/13, Milliken) reports that according to a new Reuters/Ipsos poll, “just
over half of all Americans” approve of how Trump “has handled North Korea,
but only a quarter think that his summit...will lead to the
denuclearization of the Korean peninsula.” According to Reuters,
“Thirty-nine percent believe the summit has lowered the threat of nuclear
war between the United States and nuclear-armed North Korea, slightly more
than the 37 percent who said they did not believe it changed anything.”
Reuters notes that although on 12% of Democrats approve of Trump’s job
performance, “about 30 percent said they approved of his handling of North
Korea.”.

*Pompeo Calls Media Query “Insulting And Ridiculous And Frankly
Ludicrous.” *In its lead story, the CBS Evening News[image: Image removed
by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018061401biden&r=email-94c3&l=022-777&t=c>
(6/13, lead story, 2:40, Dickerson) reported that when asked why the words
“verifiable and irreversible” weren’t included in the agreement Trump and
Kim signed, Secretary of State Pompeo “told reporters...’I find that
question insulting and ridiculous and, frankly, ludicrous,’ arguing they
are ‘implied.’” The Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018061401biden&r=email-94c3&l=023-3b9&t=c>
(6/13, DeYoung) notes that when “asked specifically about verification of
Pyongyang’s denuclearization and whether it will be irreversible...Pompeo
said: ‘The modalities are beginning to develop. There will be a great deal
of work to do. There’s a long way to go. There’s much to think about. ...
But don’t say silly things. No, don’t. It’s not productive.’”

*Pompeo Hits Back At Framework Critics, Says “Major Disarmament”
Achievable By 2021. *Reuters
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018061401biden&r=email-94c3&l=024-ba9&t=c>
(6/13, Brunnstrom) reports that Pompeo also said the US “hopes to achieve
‘major disarmament’ by North Korea within the next 2-1/2 years.” Speaking
to reporters in Seoul, Pompeo “was asked if he would like to accomplish
major nuclear disarmament within Trump’s current term.” Pompeo answered,
“Oh yes, most definitively. Absolutely ... you used the term ‘major,’
‘major disarmament,’ something like that? We’re hopeful that we can achieve
that in the 2-1/2 years.” According to Reuters, Pompeo “bristled at a
question about why the words ‘verifiable’ and ‘irreversible’ were not in
the summit joint statement, in the context of denuclearization.” Pompeo is
quoted as saying, “It’s in the statement. You’re just wrong about that...
Because complete encompasses verifiable and irreversible. I suppose you
could argue semantics, but let me assure you that it’s in the document.”

The AP
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018061401biden&r=email-94c3&l=025-b02&t=c>
(6/13) reports that Pompeo also said that he is “confident that US talks
with North Korea will resume ‘sometime in the next week.’” The Washington
Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018061401biden&r=email-94c3&l=026-4f5&t=c>
(6/13, DeYoung) notes that asked “specifically about verification of
Pyongyang’s denuclearization and whether it will be irreversible,” Pompeo
said, “The modalities are beginning to develop. There will be a great deal
of work to do. There’s a long way to go. There’s much to think about.” The Wall
Street Journal
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018061401biden&r=email-94c3&l=027-64e&t=c>
(6/13, Gordon, Nasaw) says Pompeo said North Korea vowed to work toward
“complete denuclearization” of the Korean peninsula,’ adding, “Let me
assure you that ‘complete’ encompasses verifiable in the minds of everyone
concerned. One can’t completely denuclearize without validating,
authenticating – you pick the word.”

The Hill
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018061401biden&r=email-94c3&l=028-c5d&t=c>
(6/13, Manchester), Washington Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018061401biden&r=email-94c3&l=029-1e8&t=c>
(6/13, Taylor), Politico
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018061401biden&r=email-94c3&l=02a-2ca&t=c>
(6/13, Nelson), New York Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018061401biden&r=email-94c3&l=02b-a3c&t=c>
(6/13, Moore), and Townhall
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018061401biden&r=email-94c3&l=02c-27b&t=c>
(6/13, Pavlich), among other news outlets, also note Pompeo’s comments.

*Graham: “If My Democratic Friends Get Behind” Trump, “We May
Actually Get A Peace Deal.” *Responding to Pompeo’s statement in Seoul,
Sen. Lindsey Graham said on Fox News The Ingraham Angle[image: Image
removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018061401biden&r=email-94c3&l=02d-fec&t=c>
(6/13), “A very important statement that South Korea, Japan, and the United
States through the summit went well and are together behind...Trump. Now if
my Democratic friends get behind...Trump, we may actually get a peace
deal.”

Rep. Eric Swalwell said on CNN’s Situation Room[image: Image
removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018061401biden&r=email-94c3&l=02e-77e&t=c>
(6/13) that he hopes the summit “produces denuclearization, but” he also
hopes it’s not just the US “giving up our security presence in the region
and getting nothing in return.” Swalwell added that Pyongyang “has a long
record of deceiving US officials when it comes to denuclearizing.” He
argued that Trump is “giving too much credibility to a ruthless dictator
who needs to be confronted with a forceful leader who is willing to help
them rejoin the table of nations, but not somebody who’s his new pal.”

Sen. James Lankford said on CNN’s Situation Room[image: Image
removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018061401biden&r=email-94c3&l=02f-a7a&t=c>
(6/13) that, as Trump has done with “trade or other things,” he seems to
walk into a negotiation “optimistic and assumes everyone keeps their word.
And if they change he responds rapidly to say you broke the deal and flips
everything back over.” When asked if he thinks the North’s nuclear threat
is over, Lankford said, “I don’t...because we’ve not seen denuclearization
or dismantlement of weapons or a change in posture. we’ve seen words and
words are a good first step but that is by far not the last step.” When
asked whether there’s a “system” to verify denuclearization, Lankford
replied, “We know how to do that. We worked with Iran...with the JCPOA and
with other countries, and we know how to do verification.” Meanwhile,
Lankford said it’s “reasonable” for the US to delay military exercises with
South Korea.

*Japan Working To Arrange Abe-Kim Summit. *Reuters
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018061401biden&r=email-94c3&l=030-8fe&t=c>
(6/13) reports “Japan is working on arranging a meeting between Prime
Minister Shinzo Abe and...Kim,” with “one possibility including the
premier’s visit to Pyongyang around August, the Yomiuri newspaper reported
on Thursday.” Reuters adds that “citing multiple government sources, the
paper said officials from the two countries had been in contact several
times in recent months to negotiate a possible meeting between the two
leaders.”

*NYTimes: Allies Worry Trump Signaling US Pullback From
Asia-Pacific. *The New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018061401biden&r=email-94c3&l=031-742&t=c>
(6/13, Rich) reports that the Trump-Kim summit left US allies in the region
“with new anxieties.” Trump’s “concessions to North Korea exacerbated their
fears about the United States’ long-term commitment to safeguarding the
region.” Trump suspension of military exercises with South Korea and his
hope to remove the 28,000 US troops “blindsided American allies, including
South Korea itself. It also raised questions about whether Mr. Trump’s
outreach to the North actually signaled a broader American retreat from the
region.” The AP
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018061401biden&r=email-94c3&l=032-ebd&t=c>
(6/13, Wong, Bodeen) reports that Ryan Hass, who directed China policy for
the National Security Council under President Obama, says China “wants to
see a reduction in foreign military forces in Northeast Asia and for the
gap between Washington and its allies and partners to widen.” Hass said,
“Beijing is now on track to achieve these objectives at little cost.”

*Kim Praises Trump As North Korean Media Claims US Made Major
Concessions. *The Washington Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018061401biden&r=email-94c3&l=033-470&t=c>
(6/13, Boyer) reports that Kim “is praising...Trump’s ‘realistic’ approach
to negotiations with Pyongyang, North Korea’s leading state-run newspaper
reported Wednesday after the landmark summit between the two leaders.” The
newspaper Rodong Sinmun said “Kim ‘highly praised the president’s will and
enthusiasm to resolve matters in a realistic way through dialogue and
negotiations, away from the hostility-woven past.’”

USA Today
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018061401biden&r=email-94c3&l=034-efe&t=c>
(6/13, Maresca) reports, meanwhile, that the Korean Central News Agency’s
coverage “underscor[ed] the meeting’s propaganda value for a regime long
isolated from the international community.” ABC World News Tonight[image:
Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018061401biden&r=email-94c3&l=035-88b&t=c>
(6/13, story 2, 3:20, Muir) noted Pompeo’s comments on disarmament and the
wording of the agreement, but reported that “just as the President was
declaring victory, so, too, was North Korea.” Brian Todd reported on CNN’s
Situation Room[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018061401biden&r=email-94c3&l=036-07b&t=c>
(6/13) that North Korean state media is proclaiming Kim’s summit “a
resounding success.” The North’s official wire service cast it as “a huge
win for Kim that...Trump has agreed to end the military exercises with
South Korea,” and “even spun the summit to say that...Trump expressed his
intent to lift sanctions against Kim’s regime. The President and his team
actually say sanctions will remain in place for now.”

The New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018061401biden&r=email-94c3&l=037-130&t=c>
(6/13, Choe) reports that North Korea “wasted no time on Wednesday spinning
the results in its favor, claiming it had won major concessions” from the
US. State media said Trump “promised to eventually lift sanctions against
the North and to end joint military drills with South Korea. It also said
the United States had agreed to a phased, ‘step-by-step’ denuclearization
process for the North, rather than the immediate dismantling of its nuclear
capability.” The Wall Street Journal
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018061401biden&r=email-94c3&l=038-70a&t=c>
(6/12, Cheng), Los Angeles Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018061401biden&r=email-94c3&l=039-807&t=c>
(6/12, Kim), and Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018061401biden&r=email-94c3&l=03a-c0b&t=c>
(6/13, Murphy), among other news outlets, run similar stories this morning.

*Body Language Expert Says Trump Dominated Kim At Summit. *The Daily
Caller
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018061401biden&r=email-94c3&l=03b-298&t=c>
(6/13, Athey) reports “body language expert” Chris Ulrich “appeared on CNN
Wednesday” and “said that President Donald Trump clearly dominated North
Korea’s Kim Jong Un during their historic summit.” He “noted that Kim Jong
Un had the upper hand in the first photo-op with Trump because he was
standing on the left side of the photo, but added that Trump put his hand
on Kim Jong Un’s upper arm during their hand shake as a way of
‘reestablishing dominance.’” Ulrich said Trump then “does something very
interesting,” when he “pats [Kim Jong Un] on the back and guides him out –
again, he’s establishing dominance.”

*Norwegian Lawmakers Nominate Trump For Nobel Peace Prize. *The New
York Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018061401biden&r=email-94c3&l=03c-86c&t=c>
(6/13, Moore) reports Christian Tybring-Gjedde and Per-Willy Amundsen, two
Norwegian lawmakers and members of the Progress Party, nominated Trump for
the Nobel Peace Prize. The two lawmakers said Trump has “taken a huge and
important step in the direction of the disarmament, peace and
reconciliation between North and South Korea,” according to Norway’s NTB
news agency.

*French Foreign Minister: Trump “Practically Hugged” Kim. *The
Washington
Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018061401biden&r=email-94c3&l=03d-ad9&t=c>
(6/13, Taylor) reports that French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian told
a television station that while the meeting “was ‘an undoubted step
forward,’ he was concerned about the erratic nature of U.S. foreign
policy.” Le Drian said, “In the space of just a day you see President Trump
attacking [Canadian Prime Minister Justin] Trudeau, who is a historic ally,
and you see President Trump breaking with his collective allies after the
G-7 meeting in Quebec, and the next day practically hugged a dictator born
into a communist dictatorship, which just a few days ago he said he was
completely opposed to.”

*CNN’s Acosta Defends Questioning At Singapore Summit. *The Daily
Caller
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018061401biden&r=email-94c3&l=03e-90a&t=c>
(6/13, Athey) reports that on Wednesday, CNN chief White House
correspondent Jim Acosta defended “his decision to shout questions at Kim
Jong Un during this week’s historic summit between the U.S. and North Korea
in Singapore.” The CNN correspondent “faced near-universal backlash after
shouting questions at President Trump and Kim Jong Un while the two leaders
were walking past reporters, and then again when they were signing an
agreement at the end of the summit,” when he “repeatedly asked Kim Jong Un
if he was going to give up his nuclear weapons to strike a deal with
Trump.”

The Washington Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018061401biden&r=email-94c3&l=03f-f80&t=c>
(6/13, Chasmar) reports that “Acosta, who already has a strained
relationship with the Trump White House, was ripped as ‘annoying’ and
‘attention-seeking’ by conservatives after he was heard repeatedly
questioning the two leaders as they signed a joint agreement to broker
peace on the Korean peninsula.” After Trump’s 2020 campaign manager, Brad
Parscale, “renewed his call for Mr. Acosta’s press credentials to be
revoked over the exchange,” Acosta “fired back” on Twitter, “saying taking
away his press credentials would be behavior suited for a dictator.” Acosta
“also defended himself on ‘New Day,’ telling his CNN colleagues that the
summit was a “golden opportunity” to ask Mr. Kim directly whether he
planned to give up his nukes.” Acosta asserted, “There’s a dictator in
front of you who has nuclear weapons – why on earth wouldn’t you ask that
question?”
Foreign Policy
Trump’s North Korea Summit Raises Calls In Iran For Similar Talks.

In an analysis, the New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018061401biden&r=email-94c3&l=040-2d7&t=c>
(6/13, Erdbrink) says in the wake of President Trump’s summit with North
Korean leader Kim Jong-un, many Iranians are suggesting “that perhaps
Iran’s leaders should make a move similar to Mr. Kim’s and propose a
meeting.” Trump has said he is open to “direct talks with Iran’s leaders to
renegotiate the Iran deal,” but “Iran’s leaders are ideologically opposed
to talking to the United States.” Furthermore, the Times says, “President
Trump’s withdrawal from the 2015 nuclear agreement vindicated the
America-hating hard-liners in Iran,” who “now say that the decision to
enter into direct talks with the Obama administration, under the umbrella
of the nuclear negotiations, has brought only pain.” Nonetheless, “it is
that pain – of a faltering economy, rising prices and the restoration of
old sanctions – that is causing some Iranians to say there is no other way
out of the decades of tensions with Washington but through direct talks.”

*Khalilzad: Trump Administration Signaling Openness To Negotiations
With Iran. *In a Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018061401biden&r=email-94c3&l=041-b97&t=c>
(6/13) op-ed, former US Ambassador to the UN Zalmay Khalilzad says the
Trump Administration’s approach to Iran “has a reasonable chance of
succeeding,” because it has “indicated a willingness to enter into
negotiations, even as it escalates pressure against Iran through sanctions.
And a policy of maximum pressure, followed by negotiation and deal-making,
means that a comprehensive agreement between the two countries is not out
of the question.” Khalilzad notes that Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has
“invited Iran to ‘look at our diplomacy with North Korea’ as evidence of
the administration’s willingness to engage adversaries in negotiations on
very complex issues.”

*Iran Arrests Human Rights Lawyer. *Reuters
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018061401biden&r=email-94c3&l=042-742&t=c>
(6/13, Dehghanpisheh) reports Iranian security forces “arrested prominent
human rights lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh on Wednesday, her husband said in a
Facebook post.” Reza Khandan said in the post, “A few hours ago Nasrin was
arrested at home and sent to the court at Evin. I once told investigators
in the investigation room: ‘Of all the things that a government must do for
its country, you only know one, arresting people.’” The story notes that
Sotoudeh “recently represented a number of women who have removed their
headscarves, or hijab, in public to protest against Iran’s mandatory dress
code for women, according to the Center for Human Rights in Iran, a New
York-based advocacy group.”

*Austria’s Oberbank To Withdraw From Iran Over Threat Of US
Sanctions. *Reuters
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018061401biden&r=email-94c3&l=043-604&t=c>
(6/13, Knolle, Schwarz-Goerlich) reports Austria’s Oberbank announced today
that it will “withdraw from Iran because of increased risk for European
companies in light of potential U.S. sanctions.” Oberbank had “signed a
deal with Iran” to “finance new ventures there,” but the “outlook has
changed” since President Trump withdrew from the P5+1 nuclear deal.
Trump Says When He Left G7 Summit, It Wasn’t “Rocky,” It Was “Great.”

President Trump was asked in an interview on Fox News’ Special Report[image:
Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018061401biden&r=email-94c3&l=044-8c5&t=c>
(6/13) about the G7 summit getting “a little rocky,” with Fox showing a
reporter at an earlier press conference asking Trump about him “having
determined that [Canadian] Prime Minster Justin Trudeau is ‘weak and
dishonest.’” When Fox cut back to its interview, Trump was shown saying,
“It really wasn’t rocky when I left, it was great. In fact I just spoke to
[Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo] Abe recently, I just told him about what
happened, and he said it’s amazing because when you left, it was, like,
fine.” Trump continued: “I negotiated a different kind of deal than they
wanted, but I was okay with it. And then I saw what took place at this news
conference and I said that is not what really happened.”

*Trump Explains Why He Wants To Reverse Booting Russia From G8. *Trump
also discussed[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018061401biden&r=email-94c3&l=045-eb9&t=c>
(6/13) his comment about allowing Russia back in to make it the G8 again.
He said, “We spend probably 25% of our time talking about Russia,” so
“wouldn’t it be better if they were here?” Trump continued: “If Vladimir
Putin were sitting next to me today instead of one of the others...I could
say, ‘Would you do me a favor? Would you get out of Syria? ... Would you
get out of Ukraine?’ ... I think I would probably have a good relationship
with him or I would be able to talk to him better than if you call somebody
on the telephone.” Trump added that he’s “not sticking up for anybody, I’m
just saying he didn’t respect or leadership. ... Look what he did to Obama
with Crimea. ... He took Ukraine.” Baier then said that was why Russia was
kicked out of the G8. Trump replied, “But he didn’t respect our leadership”
back then.

*German FM Says Trump Has Created “Worldwide Vacuum.” *Bloomberg
News
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018061401biden&r=email-94c3&l=046-49f&t=c>
(6/13, Jennen, Delfs, Donahue) reports that on Wednesday, “German Foreign
Minister Heiko Maas called on the European Union to unite and fill the void
left by the U.S. drawback from global agreements that have underpinned
trans-Atlantic relations for decades.” The German diplomat asserted, “The
Atlantic has gotten wider under President Trump,” whose “isolationist
policy has opened a huge worldwide vacuum. Therefore our common response
today to ‘America First’ must be ‘Europe United.”’ Bloomberg says “Maas’s
warning that the post-World War II order ‘no longer exists’ signals that
Germany is starting to confront a president who seems to delight in
challenging allies on issues from security to exports.” Also on Wednesday,
“German Economy Minister Peter Altmaier, a close ally of [German Chancellor
Angela] Merkel, vowed to defend the country’s steel industry against the
effects of U.S. tariffs.”

*Former Ambassador McFaul Says Trump’s Russia Policy “Is Pretty
Good.” *Townhall
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018061401biden&r=email-94c3&l=047-061&t=c>
(6/13, Benson) political editor Guy Benson summarizes his interview with
Amb. Michael McFaul, the US Ambassador to Russia under former President
Obama, “about his new book, which details his views on Vladimir Putin – a
man he’s known and studied in various capacities since 1991.” Benson says
in a discussion on “President Trump’s almost pathological aversion to
criticizing Putin,” he “pressed McFaul on whether Trump’s words matter more
than his administration’s actions.” McFaul responded: “I actually think the
Trump administration’s policy towards Russia is pretty good. I support
it...Actions are more important than the words. That’s true. But, the
rhetoric gets in way of other policies.” Benson says he “agree[s] with
McFaul: While the words can be confounding and maddening and
counterproductive, the actual policies being carried out under Trump’s
auspices ought to count for a lot more than many critics are willing to
admit.”

*Mattis Defends Addition Of Low-Yield Nuclear Warheads To US
Arsenal. *The Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018061401biden&r=email-94c3&l=048-f66&t=c>
(6/13, Sonne) reports that the “House and Senate versions of the annual
defense policy bill authorize $65 million to convert some of the high-yield
W76-1 nuclear warheads deployed on Ohio-class submarines into the
smaller-yield variants known as W76-2 warheads.” The Administration
“believes the W76-2 would convince Russia that any such attempt would
result in a reciprocal low-yield nuclear attack,” but the proposal
triggered “an outcry from anti-nuclear advocates and attempts by Democratic
lawmakers to defund or limit their introduction.” In what the Post calls
“his most detailed justification of the new low-yield W76-2 warhead” yet,
Defense Secretary “Mattis said in a letter to Senate Majority Leader Mitch
McConnell (R-Ky.) that Russia had increased the number and diversity of its
nuclear weapons and issued veiled nuclear threats to U.S. allies.” Mattis
stressed that President Trump “has said that nuclear weapons would be
employed only in extreme circumstances to protect our vital interests and
those of our allies and partners.”
Trump Criticizes OPEC Over High Oil Prices.

President Trump took to Twitter
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018061401biden&r=email-94c3&l=049-795&t=c>
yesterday to write, “Oil prices are too high, OPEC is at it again. Not
good!” The Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018061401biden&r=email-94c3&l=04a-965&t=c>
(6/13, Wagner) notes the tweet “comes in advance of a meeting of the
Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and Russia planned for
June 22 in Vienna to discuss easing supply caps that have been in place
since the beginning of 2017.” The Post notes that “in April, Trump also
blasted OPEC on Twitter, accusing the group of ‘artificially’ raising oil
prices.” Politico
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018061401biden&r=email-94c3&l=04b-9f9&t=c>
(6/13, Nelson) indicates “oil prices have risen roughly 60 percent over the
past year, according to a Reuters report, thanks in part to a move by OPEC
and other oil producers, including Russia, to reduce output.” However, “the
International Energy Agency said on Wednesday that it believes oil prices
are unlikely to rise as sharply as they have in recent months.”

*Iranian Official: US Sanctions To Blame For Rising Price Of Oil. *
Reuters
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018061401biden&r=email-94c3&l=04c-d90&t=c>
(6/13, Heavey) reports that Trump and the Iranian government “exchanged
sharp words over oil prices,” with Tehran “accusing him of stoking
volatility after he withdrew last month from a global nuclear arms deal
with Iran.” Iran’s OPEC governor, Hossein Kazempour Ardebili, said, “You
cannot place sanctions on two OPEC founder members and still blame OPEC for
oil price volatility. ... This is business, Mr. President – we thought you
knew it.” Ardebili was referring to US sanctions on Iran and Venezuela.

*US, Saudi Arabia, Russia All Seeking Increased Oil Production. *The
New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018061401biden&r=email-94c3&l=04d-273&t=c>
(6/13, Krauss) reports on the “unusual” situation of the United States,
Saudi Arabia, and Russia apparently trying “to achieve common energy policy
goals,” which “is taking the edge off the yearlong rise in oil and gasoline
prices” reducing the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries’
influence. “Rarely – if ever – has” US efforts to reduce oil prices “been
so blunt and public” as President Trump’s criticism of OPEC on Twitter. Yet
“two of the biggest players in the global oil market – Saudi Arabia and
Russia – appear to have already calculated that it is in their immediate
interest to crank up production.” However, “oil price relief could be
modest and short-lived,” especially as Trump “is pursuing several policy
goals that cut against each other.,” such as seeking “to squeeze Iran and
Venezuela with sanctions, which would inevitably lower the amount of oil on
the world market.”
Saudi-Led Coalition Launches Offensive On Yemen’s Hodeida.

The Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018061401biden&r=email-94c3&l=04e-54b&t=c>
(6/13, Fahim, Ryan) reports the Saudi-led coalition and its allies
“launched a long-anticipated offensive” against the Iranian-backed Houthi
rebels “on the Yemeni port city of Hodeida early Wednesday, opening a new
front in the country’s intractable civil conflict.” Aid agencies maintain
the offensive will “almost certainly deepen” the humanitarian crisis “at a
time when a third of Yemen’s citizens are on the brink of famine.” The
Administration “had asked the Emirates to hold off on beginning an
operation until after UN envoy Martin Griffiths presented a new plan for
jump-starting peace talks,” but when “it became clear the Emirates would
not hold back its allied Yemeni forces, US officials said they were focused
instead on trying to ensure that the operation did not damage key
infrastructure” or target civilian sites. In a letter to Secretary of State
Pompeo and Defense Secretary Mattis, a bipartisan group of senators
expressed their “grave alarm” over what they deemed “unacceptable
consequences.”

The AP
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018061401biden&r=email-94c3&l=04f-dca&t=c>
(6/13, Gambrell) reports the Saudi-led operation is “the biggest offensive
of the years-long war in the Arab world’s poorest nation for the main entry
point for food in a country already teetering on the brink of famine.”
According to the AP, the “attack on the Red Sea port aims to drive out
Iranian-aligned Shiite rebels known as Houthis,” but “the fear is that a
protracted fight could force a shutdown of Hodeida’s port at a time when a
halt in aid risks tipping millions into starvation.” The AP says “some 70
percent of Yemen’s food enters via the port, as well as the bulk of
humanitarian aid and fuel supplies.” The New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018061401biden&r=email-94c3&l=050-70a&t=c>
(6/13, Coker, Schmitt) also says the attack is “threatening to worsen what
is already the world’s most severe humanitarian disaster by disrupting the
pipeline that millions of Yemenis rely on for food and other supplies.” The
Times says the US estimates that “eight million of Yemen’s estimated 28
million people are at risk of starvation,” while “about a quarter of a
million people in Hudaydah, a city of 600,000, are in danger of injury or
death in an urban assault.”

The Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018061401biden&r=email-94c3&l=051-4d5&t=c>
(6/13) editorializes that “the United Nations and every major humanitarian
agency have warned of dire consequences for the 22 million Yemenis who
already depend on outside assistance, including 8 million on the brink of
famine,” but the offensive “nevertheless went ahead early Wednesday after
receiving what amounted to passive assent from the Trump administration.”
To the Post, this means the US “will be complicit if the result is what aid
officials say it could be: starvation, epidemics and other human suffering
surpassing anything the world has seen in decades.” The Post argues that
the Administration “could have prevented the assault on Hodeida; instead,
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo equivocated, thereby allowing it to go
forward.” The Post urges Congress to halt US “support for the intervention”
and suspend “further arms sales” until “humanitarian assistance flows
freely and peace talks are underway.”

A New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018061401biden&r=email-94c3&l=052-e08&t=c>
(6/12) editorial similarly accuses President Trump of emboldening “Saudi
and emirati leaders,” arguing that because Trump shares “their antipathy
for Iran,” he “will sell them virtually any weapon they want.” The Times
also blames the Administration for supplying the Saudi-led coalition with
“intelligence, refueling capabilities and other assistance,” and for
sending “mixed signals.” The Times urges the Administration to “speak with
one voice to its Arab allies, making clear that an attack” on the port
“would be a disaster and that even considering such action reveals how
futile their policy in Yemen has been.” To the Times, “[w]orking with the
Houthis and the United Nations on a cease-fire and a deal for neutral
control of the port could be the first step to a political settlement that
is the only hope for peace.”
Green: Administration Committed To Assisting Iraq’s Persecuted Religious
Groups.

In a Wall Street Journal
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018061401biden&r=email-94c3&l=053-d46&t=c>
(6/13, Green) op-ed, USAID Administrator Mark Green outlines his agency’s
efforts to develop aid projects and deliver assistance to Iraq’s minority
groups, including Christians and Yazidis, and adds that he will present to
President Trump a comprehensive assessment of challenges that have
prevented the expedient delivery of such aid. Green stresses the need to
act now on behalf of the Middle East’s persecuted religious communities,
and reiterates the Administration’s commitment to tirelessly addressing any
barriers that stand in the way of working on behalf of these communities.

*Turkey, Iran Discussing Possible Anti-PKK Operation In Northern
Iraq. *Reuters
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018061401biden&r=email-94c3&l=054-2d2&t=c>
(6/13, Erkoyun) reports Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said
Ankara is “in contact with Iran about conducting a possible military
operation against Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militants in the northern
Iraq region of Qandil, close to the Iranian border.” Cavusoglu said, “We
are in contact with Iran. PKK is a threat to them as well. Qandil is very
close to the Iran border...We will improve cooperation with Iran.”
Kushner Will Travel To Israel, Egypt And Saudi Arabia Next Week.

The AP
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018061401biden&r=email-94c3&l=055-c26&t=c>
(6/13, Lee) reports that the National Security Council announced today that
White House senior adviser Jared Kushner and special representative for
international negotiations Jason Greenblatt will travel to Israel, Egypt
and Saudi Arabia next week as the White House “finalizes its as-yet
unveiled Israeli-Palestinian peace plan.” According to the AP, “officials
say the Trump administration is near completion of the plan with an eye on
a possible release this summer.” The AP notes that the duo will not visit
any Palestinian-controlled territory.

Barak Ravid Of Israel’s Channel 10 News says in a piece for Axios
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018061401biden&r=email-94c3&l=056-760&t=c>
(6/13) that “Palestinian President Abbas’ aides have said the U.S. peace
plan will be ‘dead on arrival’ and claimed the U.S. team has essentially
been carrying Netanyahu’s water for the last year and a half.” The US, for
its part, “has been trying to pass messages to the Palestinians in public
and in private through several Arab countries, asking them not to reject
the peace plan out of hand.” Ravid explains that “the White House believes
there might be a chance to renew contacts with the Palestinians after the
plan is launched and as Arab and Western countries see what’s in it and
urge them to engage.”

*General Assembly Accuses Israel Of Using Excessive Force Against
Gaza Protesters. *On Wednesday, the United Nations General Assembly
“overwhelmingly passed a resolution that basically blamed the Israelis for
the casualties in 10 weeks of clashes,” reports the New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018061401biden&r=email-94c3&l=057-909&t=c>
(6/13, Gladstone). The resolution “deplored ‘excessive use of force’ by
Israel” and “requested recommendations to protect Palestinians,” but “did
not explicitly criticize Hamas, the militant group that controls Gaza,
which Israel and the United States have accused of instigating the
clashes.” The US and Israel “voted against the resolution,” calling “it
blatantly one-sided and unhelpful.” Ambassador Haley said in remarks before
the vote, “The nature of this resolution clearly demonstrates that politics
is driving the day.” She added, “Such one-sided resolutions at the U.N. do
nothing to advance peace between Israel and Palestinians.”

*West Bank Palestinians Protest Abbas’ Sanctions On Gaza Strip. *
Reuters
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018061401biden&r=email-94c3&l=058-bcd&t=c>
(6/13, Sawafta) reports that on Wednesday, security forces loyal to
Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas “used tear gar and batons”
against hundreds of Palestinians protesting “in the West Bank city of
Ramallah” to demand that Abbas “end financial sanctions on their fellow
Palestinians in Gaza.” The Western-backed Palestinian Authority “has sought
to use financial measures to isolate its chief rival Hamas, the Islamist
movement which controls Gaza,” but Palestinian activists argue “that
ordinary Gazans have been caught up in the power struggle between Fatah and
Hamas.” The activists “have held rallies in the West Bank demanding that
Abbas restart the full payment of government salaries and services in
Gaza,” prompting Abbas’ government to ban “such rallies earlier in the
day.”
US Sanctions High-Ranking Cambodian Official Accused Of Human Rights Abuses.

The Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018061401biden&r=email-94c3&l=059-646&t=c>
(6/13, Mahtani) reports the Treasury Department “announced Tuesday that it
will sanction Hing Bun Hieng,” the commander of Cambodian Prime Minister
Hun Sen’s “bodyguard unit, for carrying out ‘serious acts of human rights
abuse against the people of Cambodia.’” The Post says “Cambodia’s democracy
has been in increasing trouble in recent months,” and Tuesday’s move
signals “that the U.S. government is paying attention” to Hun Sen’s
dissolution of Cambodia’s main opposition party and crackdown on
independent media. Hun Sen’s “government was quick to criticize the
sanctions,” and the Post says it “is likely to cite the sanctions as
further evidence of U.S. bias against his government.”
White House Moves To Stop Congress From Overriding ZTE Settlement.

The Wall Street Journal
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018061401biden&r=email-94c3&l=05a-cae&t=c>
(6/13, Bender, Hughes) reports that the White House will move to try to
block Congressional efforts to undo a Trump-brokered agreement on Chinese
telecom giant ZTE. According to Reuters
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018061401biden&r=email-94c3&l=05b-3a1&t=c>
(6/13), the Administration “wants to change legislative language in a
defense spending bill before the Senate, but will intervene later in the
legislative process.” The New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018061401biden&r=email-94c3&l=05c-ef5&t=c>
(6/13, Rappeport, Tejada) reports that members of Congress “have been
working to attach legislation on ZTE to an upcoming National Defense
Authorization Act measure,” but White House Deputy Press Secretary Hogan
Gidley “suggested that such a move would undermine the authority of the
executive branch.” Gidley is quoted as saying, “The administration will
work with Congress to ensure the final N.D.A.A. conference report respects
the separation of powers.”

The AP
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018061401biden&r=email-94c3&l=05d-25d&t=c>
(6/13, Colvin) notes Gidley “pointed to ‘massive penalties’ imposed on ZTE
as part of what he described as “an historic enforcement action” by the
Commerce Department,” which he said “will ensure ZTE pays for its
violations and gives our government complete oversight of their future
activity without undue harm to American suppliers and their workers.”
The Washington
Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018061401biden&r=email-94c3&l=05e-de1&t=c>
(6/13, Dinan, Boyer) and USA Today
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018061401biden&r=email-94c3&l=05f-184&t=c>
(6/13, Fritze), among other news outlets, also report the story.

Fred Wertheimer, president of Democracy 21, Eliot A. Cohen, who
served as the counselor of the Department of State in the George W. Bush
Administration from 2007 to 2009, and Norman L. Eisen, a senior fellow at
the Brookings Institution, criticize the ZTE deal in an op-ed in the New
York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018061401biden&r=email-94c3&l=060-8dc&t=c>
(6/13, Eisen, Cohen, Wertheimer), arguing that “the Senate must hold its
ground: Not only does ZTE pose a unique threat to American security, but
Mr. Trump’s kid-glove treatment of the company raises questions about
possible links between it and Trump family businesses.”

*US Could Announce China Tariffs As Early As Friday. *The Wall
Street Journal
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018061401biden&r=email-94c3&l=061-348&t=c>
(6/13, Davis, Wei) reports that Administration could, as early as Friday,
announce new tariffs on tens of billions of dollars of Chinese goods, which
the Journal predicts would lead to Chinese retaliation. However, senior
trade officials in the White House, Commerce and Treasury departments, and
the US Trade Representative’s office said that President Trump, who has yet
to approve the tariffs, could rethink applying such pressure to China when
the US is seeking Beijing’s help in getting North Korea to denuclearize.
Politico
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018061401biden&r=email-94c3&l=062-764&t=c>
(6/13, Palmer) reports that the “long list of goods that could get more
expensive after President Donald Trump slaps 25 percent tariffs on a list
of Chinese imports” is expected to include “a wide range of U.S. consumer
favorites,” including birth control pills, lawnmowers, and flat-panel
televisions. While “U.S. trade officials said they went through a
multi-step process to ensure any product hit with the tariffs will have a
minimal impact on consumers,” Politico reports that “many industries are
pushing back.”

*Trump Hints At “Clamping Down On Trade” With China But Touts
Relationship With Xi. *President Trump said on Fox News’ Special Report[image:
Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018061401biden&r=email-94c3&l=063-6e2&t=c>
(6/13) that China may “be a little upset...because we are very strongly
clamping down on trade.” When asked to elaborate, Trump said “you will see
over the next couple of weeks. You man understand what we’re doing. With
that being said, I have a very good relationship with [Chinese] President
Xi [Jinping].” Trump called Xi an “incredible guy,” adding that Xi is
“essentially president for life. That’s pretty good.”

*Powell Emphasizes Lack Of Evidence Trade Frictions Affecting
Corporate Behavior. *Peter Eavis writes in the New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018061401biden&r=email-94c3&l=064-8a9&t=c>
(6/13, Eavis) “DealBook” column that Federal Reserve Powell “seemed to go
out of his way to emphasize that there was no evidence that the trade
frictions were weighing on corporate behavior.” The comments “are likely to
go down well with supporters of President Trump’s increasingly belligerent
trade policies,” but “top Fed officials are often more circumspect when
discussing threats to the economy, especially those that could soon become
real.” Eavis speculates that Powell may have been “sending a message to the
White House that the Fed would not speak out about the Trump
administration’s trade actions. “

*AP Fact Check: US Dairy Farmer Woes Mainly Due To Milk
Overproduction. *In a “Fact Check,” the AP
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018061401biden&r=email-94c3&l=065-17a&t=c>
(6/13, Wiseman, Rugaber) reports that whil