President Barack Obama was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday “for his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples”, making him the third U.S. sitting president to win the Prize. Click the audo link below to listen to the President’s full remarks regarding the award. (5:53)
The President, speaking just a few minutes ago, calls today‘s historic nuclear talks with Iran “constructive,” but says it’s just a beginning. The next steps, Obama says, are up to Tehran.
Speaking in the Diplomatic Reception, the President said Iran has just 14 days to allow inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) into its uranium-enrichment facility near Qum. He added Iran must follow up by being more transparent. The entire international community, Mr. Obama claimed, “is united” on this matter.
But during today’s talks in Geneva between Iran and the so-called P5+1 (the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council and Germany), Iran gave no indication that it is willing to back down on its nuclear program.
At the talks, which included the highest-level bilateral discussions between the U.S. and Iran in years, Tehran also agreed to an additional meeting later this month.
Asked whether the additional talks are merely an attempt by Tehran to stall the West, presidential press secretary Robert Gibbs said: “The Iranians need to understand that we mean business.” If talks do not yield fruitful results soon – and by soon, the White House means Dec. 31 – then tougher sanctions will be on the table, Gibbs said.
What kind of sanctions is Obama considering? The President is said to be weighing the cutoff of gasoline supplies to Iran, the thought being that this would further weaken the wobbly Iranian economy. Why does Iran – the world’s 4th biggest oil producer – have to import gasoline in the first place? Because existing sanctions have choked its refineries of spare parts needed to process enough crude to meet its needs – it is estimated that Tehran imports about 25% of its gas.
These sanctions have, in fact, appeared to have an impact. The CIA has reported that fuel shortages forced the regime to ration fuel in July 2007 and impose a stiff fuel tax in October of last year. Both moves, intelligence analysts say, “were met with stiff resistance and violent protests.”
– TRNS Staff
We’re about to get President Obama’s reaction to today’s talks in Geneva between Iran and the so-called P5+1; the president will speak in the Diplomatic Reception room at 3:05 Eastern.
As for the talks themselves, there has been no indication that Iran is willing to back down on its nuclear program. But Tehran has agreed to allow international nuclear inspectors into its uranium-enrichment facility near Qum – no word on when – it also claims that last week’s disclosure of the facility means that Iran has now disclosed all of its nuclear facilities to the West.
At the talks, which included the highest-level bilateral discussions between the U.S. and Iran in years, Tehran also agreed to an additional meeting later this month.
Asked whether the additional talks are merely an attempt by Tehran to stall the West, presidential press secretary Robert Gibbs said: “The Iranians need to understand that we mean business.” If talks do not yield fruitful results soon – and by soon, the White House means Dec. 31 – then tougher sanctions will be on the table, Gibbs said.
What kind of sanctions is Obama considering? The President is said to be weighing the cutoff of gasoline supplies to Iran, the thought being that this would further weaken the wobbly Iranian economy. Why does Iran – the world’s 4th biggest oil producer – have to import gasoline in the first place? Because existing sanctions have choked its refineries of spare parts needed to process enough crude to meet its needs – it is estimated that Tehran imports about 25% of its gas.
These sanctions have, in fact, appeared to have an impact. The CIA has reported that fuel shortages forced the regime to ration fuel in July 2007 and impose a stiff fuel tax in October of last year. Both moves, intelligence analysts say, “were met with stiff resistance and violent protests.”
– TRNS Staff
White House Update
Thursday, April 23
The President’s meeting today with 13 executives from the credit card industry underscores one of the administration’s most vexing dilemmas: trying to stabilize the banks while getting the struggling U.S. economy back on its feet.
Here’s the dilemma: the White House acknowledges that a sound banking system is one of the bedrocks of the American economy. To be sound, banks have to have, and are shoring up, their capital position. But at the same time, they’re being asked to step up lending.
Obama told the executives today that the interest rates and fees they charge are “unfair” and says they need to be more “consumer friendly.” The banking industry’s response – although they didn’t say this to the President’s face today – has been along these lines: “We HAVE been consumer friendly; TOO consumer friendly. We flooded the market with cheap credit for much of this decade and now a lot of customers can’t pay it back.”
The President himself knows all too well about credit card debt. At the White House news briefing this afternoon, Press Secretary Robert Gibbs told reporters that up until recently – obviously before the multi-million dollar book sales – Obama himself was in the red.
But the high levels of credit delinquency, personal bankruptcies, auto repossessions and, of course, mortgage foreclosures, appear to support the banks’ point. No question, millions of Americans are hurting – but for people with a proven inability to pay, who are already up to their necks in debt, is more debt the answer?
In short, that is the banking industry’s position – and the President’s dilemma.
WITHER IRAN?
Another dilemma for the West Wing – surprise, surprise: the Middle East. During talks Tuesday with Jordan’s King Abdullah, the President said he wants to see Israel, the Palestinians and neighboring Arab countries – like Jordan – to step efforts to forge some kind of peace agreement. The White House envoy to the region, former Senate Majority Leader and architect of the Northern Ireland peace agreement, George Mitchell, says he is cautiously hopeful.
To nudge things along, Obama will invite Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak to the White House for talks in the next few weeks. But not all at once.
But Obama’s priorities are not Israel’s. Netanyahu said earlier this week that he will not participate in talks until the President makes headway on Israel’s number one issue: stopping Iran’s nuclear program. To drive that point home this morning, the President was told by Israeli Ambassador Sallai Meridor to confront Iran “before it’s too late.”
Meridor made the comments at a Holocaust memorial service on Capitol Hill. Also speaking: a top official of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, Joel Geiderman, who was even more blunt, reminding Obama about Iran’s pledge to destroy Israel. He warned the President to ignore that threat at America’s “own peril.”
The White House also faces a dilemma with the Palestinians. Abbas’ Fatah faction has seen its power eroding, to the benefit of the Islamist militant group Hamas. Hamas controls the Gaza Strip, but the administration has so far maintained the Bush policy of refusing to deal with – branding it a terrorist group.
TORTURE LATEST
At the briefing, Gibbs appeared to distance himself from comments made this morning by Defense Secretary Robert Gates, who said he supported the release of sensitive memos on detainee interrogation methods. Gates said he viewed the disclosure as inevitable.
Gibbs’ response: “I have not seen Secretary Gates’s full remarks.” Gibbs inferred that a lot of people have different opinions on the subject. He added “The problem…isn’t the existence of a paragraph or a term in a memo…It is the very existence of their use.”
FIRST 100 DAYS (94 and counting)
Conflicting editorials in the Wall Street Journal and Washington Post.
The Post’s David Broder says Obama has gotten off to a good start: The “President has shown – and it is important – a mastery of the art of managing the presidency.” He lauds Obama’s He lauds his “good organizational and management skills” and says in sum, “A bravura performance on Obama’s part.”
The Journal’s Daniel Henniger counters, focusing on the president’s grip-and grin with Venezualan President Hugo Chavez as symbolic of White House weakness. He writes: “The weirdly ebullient Mr. Obama did not…show reserve.” He adds: “The Obama people seem to believe that talking top guy to top guy is the yellow brick road to progress” and that “There appears to be no coherent strategy beyond “talk to our enemies.”
WEST WING NOTES
…the President will hold a prime-time news conference next Wednesday at 8pm, EDT; it is the 100th day of his presidency.
…it was “Take Your Daughters to Work Day” at the White House, but Malia and Sasha Obama didn’t make the 60-secnd commute to the Oval Office with Dad. First Lady Michelle Obama did speak to 160 kids – of administration, household and Secret Service employees. Mrs. Obama said: She doesn’t miss cooking, the new dog, Bo, is “crazy” and says one of the best parts about being First Lady is that she gets to do a lot of “fun stuff.”
Immigration Redux
Immigration is regarded as a “second-tier” issue in the West Wing (education, health care and energy being the administration’s top priorities), but the president still wants a “comprehensive solution” to the problem and a bill to be crafted this Fall. The centerpiece of any legislation would be putting the estimated 12 million illegals in the U.S. on the path to eventual citizenship. But Press Secretary Robert Gibbs told reporters this afternoon that illegals would be put in “the back of the line” and made to wait. Gibbs also suggested that they learn English. The White House also warned that it wants to step up the crackdown on employers who flaunt the law by hiring illegals. If all of this sounds familiar, it is: President George W. Bush tried, and failed, to pass comprehensive immigration legislation in 2007. Analysts warn with the economy in rough shape, the task of passing a sweeping immigration bill may prove to be infinitely more daunting.
War Funding Flip Flop?
The President is also asking for an additional $83.4 billion for military and diplomatic operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. Obama opposed such funding two years ago when he was in the Senate. The request would finance the additional 17,000 troops for the Afghan theater bringing the number of American servicemen and women there to 55,000, a 59% increase. Meantime: the Congressional Research Service says the funding request would push the costs of both wars to nearly $1 trillion since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
Housing Confab
President Obama claims that his administration’s policies (along with actions by the Federal Reserve) have lowered mortgage rates to historic lows, giving millions of Americans the opportunity to refinance their homes. Critics say the rates are artificially low, but the administration says it will do whatever is necessary to get the housing industry moving again. Meeting in the Roosevelt Room with the president was Treasury Secretary Geithner, Housing and Urban Development Secretary Donovan – and homeowners from the Washington DC area who seemed pretty nervous in their high-powered surroundings. Reporters asked about the Somali pirate situation and were rebuffed by the president: “Guys, we’re talking about housing now…”
Quick Hits
…Did the President bow when meeting Saudi King Abdullah at last week’s G20 summit? “No,” Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said. “He bent over to shake his hand…”
…Next Thursday (Apr. 23) the White House sponsors “Bring Your Child to Work Day.” Will Malia and Sasha accompany Dad on his 60-second commute to the Oval?
…The East Wing has released the White House Easter egg design. They have an environmental theme…
…First Lady Michelle Obama was seen puttering around in the new White House garden this afternoon. With her: Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, a White House chef and students from Bancroft Elementary. They planted seeds – 55 kinds of fruits and vegetables, except for beets. The President doesn’t like beets…
The latest incarnation of the “special relationship” between the United States and Great Britain was on display Tuesday, as President Obama welcomed British Prime Minister Gordon Brown to the White House for a two-day visit.
Obama said ties between Washington and London were strong and would stay that way, calling it “a
a bond that will not break.” He said it was critical to the security and economic well being of both nations.
For his part, Brown said “It’s a partnership of purpose that is driven forward now by the need for us all to work together in unity to deal with the world economic problems.”
Those problems – which have engulfed the global economy – dominated the meeting between the two men, their first since Obama’s inauguration. White House officials said the two leaders have begun to outline a new set of financial regulations that they hope will help stabilize the global economy. Brown, in fact, has called for a new Bretton Woods agreement, referring to the 1944 conference that established global monetary and financial order after World War II.
The meeting laid the stage for next month’s Group of 20 Summit meeting, which Brown will host in London. The G20 is comprised of financial ministers and central bankers from 19 countries and the European Union.
STRAINED TIES DENIED
Reports the two men would hold a formal joint news conference were unfounded, causing some correspondents to wonder if somehow Brown was being slighted – pointing out that President Bush always held news conferences with Brown and his predecessor, Tony Blair. A top White House aide denied it, and Obama appeared to address the issue directly saying “I’d like to think our relationship is terrific.”
RUSSIA AND IRAN
Meantime, Obama knocked down a New York Times report saying he had offered an explicit deal to Russia in which the United States would halt the deployment of an anti-missile shield in Poland in return for Kremlin help in getting Iran to stop its “commitment to nuclear weapons.”
Obama admitted sending Russian President Dimitri Medvedev a letter, but said the Times “didn’t accurately characterize” it.
The president said the letter, which was “very lengthy,” dealt with a broad range of issues of concern to both Washington and Moscow, including Afghanistan, terrorism. He added there was nothing in the letter that he hadn’t spoken of publicly, “which is that the missile defense that we have talked about deploying is directed towards not Russia but Iran. That has always been the concern, that you had potentially a missile from Iran that threatened either the United States or Europe.”
Russia has deep business ties with Iran, including Kremlin assistance in building two nuclear reactors for Iran at Bushehr; Moscow is also weighing the sale of its sophisticated S-300 surface-to-air missile to Tehran. A Russian newspaper reported in February that the sale is on hold, at least until the G20 meeting in London, when Obama and Medvedev will meet for the first time.
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Looking relaxed and jovial, Presidential Press Secretary Robert Gibbs had his first briefing with the White House press corps Thursday. Raucous at times, with every seat filled and some five dozen additional journalists crammed into the small briefing room, Gibbs was pelted with questions ranging from Guantanamo and the TARP to the how the First Family is settling into their new digs.
Most of the questions centered around Guantanamo, namely the series of executive orders signed by the president this morning ordering the closure of the U.S. Navy’s detention facility there.
The orders, signed at a West Wing ceremony, specify the closure should occur within 12 months. Obama is also ending what the new administration believes are harsh interrogation techniques used previously. Obama has said the United States will fight terrorism “in a manner consistent with our values and ideals.”
The move means the clock is ticking on figuring out just what to do with the 245 detainees being held at Gitmo. Among them: Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the alleged mastermind of the September 11, 2001 attacks.
A senior administration official says detainees will eventually be classified into various groups, ranging from those who could be released, to those who cannot. The official said that some detainees could still be “in detention for years,” but added “but not without due process.”
Among the options at the administration’s disposal for detainees: repatriation to their home country or a willing third country, civil trials in the U.S., or a special civil or military process. The official told reporters that prisoners would be released or transferred on a rolling basis, based on how their individual cases are determined. The administration is now in contact with foreign governments to take detainees who may be released at a future date.
ECONOMIC BRIEFING
Gibbs also said that in addition to his daily intelligence briefing, President Obama is now being briefed each morning on the troubled U.S. economy. At this morning’s meeting: chief economic advisor Larry Summers, Vice-President Joe Biden, Office of Management and Budget Director Peter Orszag, Domestic Policy chief Melody Barnes and Jared Bernstein, Biden’s economic advisor.
Gibbs, who repeated Obama’s campaign pledge that fixing the economy is priority one, wouldn’t talk about the $825 billion stimulus plan under consideration on Capitol Hill, or just what the administration would do with the remaining $350 billion from the Troubled Assets relief program, or TARP, passed by Congress last Fall. Some analysts on Wall Street are warning the money isn’t enough.
Obama has ordered pay freezes for all White House staff making $100,000 or more. But Gibbs demurred on whether the president – whose $400,000 salary is set by law – would set an example for others by taking a pay cut.
LIVING “ABOVE THE STORE”
Meantime, how are the Obamas settling in at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue? Gibbs said the president “looks comfortable in his surroundings” and “enjoys living above the company store.”
“They have a routine that works,” Gibbs said, “and you have to give credit to (First Lady) Michelle for making it work for everyone, especially their kids.”
KEEPING THE BLACKBERRY
And the president gets to keep his beloved BlackBerry. Gibbs, pointing to an exemption in the presidential records act that allows for it, says Obama will use it to communicate with a “small group” of senior staff and friends. The BlackBerry will have “enhanced security features,” Gibbs said.
“What’s his address?” someone asked.
Gibbs smiled and said “See you all tomorrow.”
Moving to make good on one of his key campaign pledges, President Obama this morning signed a series of executive orders to close the detention facility at the U.S. Navy base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
The orders, signed at a West Wing ceremony, specify the closure should occur within 12 months. Obama is also ending what the new administration believes are harsh interrogation techniques used previously. Obama has said the United States will fight terrorism “in a manner consistent with our values and ideals.”
The timetable means the clock is ticking on figuring out just what to do with the 245 detainees being held at Gitmo. Among them: Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the alleged mastermind of the September 11, 2001 attacks.
A senior administration official says detainees will eventually be classified into various groups, ranging from those who could be released, to those who cannot. The official said that some detainees could still be “in detention for years,” but added “but not without due process.”
Among the options at the administration’s disposal for detainees: repatriation to their home country or a willing third country, civil trials in the U.S., or a special civil or military process. The official told reporters that prisoners would be released or transferred on a rolling basis, based on how their individual cases are determined.
The administration is now in contact with foreign governments to take detainees who may be released at a future date. The official said detainees would not be sent to countries with a reputation for torturing prisoners; he did not say what countries were under consideration. No countries have stepped forward and volunteered to accept anyone to date; the official said “We hope some will help us.”
Future interrogations of detainees will be done within the parameters of the Geneva Conventions, the official said, and will use only techniques listed in the Army Field Manual – a reference to waterboarding, which will be discontinued.
The administration’s review process for detainees will be overseen by a high level committee comprised of the Attorney General, the Secretaries of Defense, State, Homeland Security, the Director of National Intelligence and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
President Bush’s farewell address to the nation tonight – his final public event until Inauguration Day – is being billed as a look back at his tenure and a look ahead at the challenges he says the United States will face.
The speech — scheduled for 8:00 pm Eastern time — will run 10 to 15 minutes and be delivered not from the Oval Office, but the East Room of the Executive Mansion. Bush has invited a small audience to join him, comprised, the White House says, of people chosen for their stories of personal courage.
Bush leaves office with one of the lowest approval ratings on record, and the president is now clearly focused on shaping his legacy. His farewell press conference Tuesday was a spirited defense of his handling of Hurricane Katrina, Iraq and the economy; tonight’s address will undoubtedly feature more of the same.
Meantime, Republican strategist Ed Gillespie says Bush is in a good mood as the clock winds down.
“He’s got a ton of energy, he’s gotten winsome, I think, looking back at the last eight years,” Gillespie said. “I wouldn’t say he’s emotional, but everyone here has gone through a lot together, and there’s a great sense of appreciation for what everyone has done.”
Like presidents before him, Bush plans to leave a private note in his Oval Office desk for Barack Obama. What will it say? Perino said Bush would probably write it Tuesday morning — perhaps one of the last things he’ll do as the 43d President of the United States.
As the CEOs of once-mighty General Motors, Ford and Chrysler appear on Capitol Hill to ask for an estimated $34 billion in loans and credit lines from the federal government, the Bush administration seems lukewarm to the restructuring plans put forth by the struggling automakers.
“I think it’s too early to give these plans a grade,” White House spokeswoman Dana Perino told reporters.
Besides, Perino added, the automakers have to sell their plan to skeptical lawmakers in Congress first.
“Since the Democratic leadership invited the automakers to come to Washington to testify today and tomorrow, we should allow them to do that.”
GM’s Rick Wagoner and Chrysler’s Robert Nardelli – making their second appearance on the Hill in as many weeks – say without federal assistance, they could go under in a matter of weeks. Ford’s Alan Mulally says his company isn’t as desperate, but is requesting $9 billion anyway. The three executives are appearing before the Senate Banking Committee today; tomorrow they’ll go before the House Finance Committee.
Perino said today the administration is open to giving more aid to the automakers – on top of $25 billion already approved in loan guarantees – but continued to stress the automakers should not receive funds from the Treasury department’s $700 billion Troubled Assets Recovery Program, or TARP.
