The Trump administration is considering sending 24,000 assault rifles to Israel that had been held up at the State Department on the orders of Antony J. Blinken, the former secretary of state, a U.S. official said. Mr. Blinken had asked the State Department not to move forward with fulfilling Israel’s request, which comprises three tranches … Read more
President Trump’s sweeping executive order to halt foreign aid threatens to freeze a U.S. program supporting security forces inside a notorious camp in the Syrian desert that holds tens of thousands of Islamic State members and their families, Syrian and U.S. officials said. The order has also wreaked havoc on another U.S. organization in Syria … Read more
The U.S. State Department office that funds the clearance of unexploded munitions around the world has asked humanitarian demining organizations funded by the department to cease operations “effective immediately,” according to a surprise announcement early Saturday. The email, sent at 6:26 a.m. by Karen R. Chandler, head of the State Department’s Office of Weapons Reduction … Read more
When the career staff of the National Security Council popped onto a video call at 11:30 on Wednesday morning, a sense of dread had already settled in. They knew exactly what President Trump thought of the council: that it was the core of the deep state, whose employees, almost all drawn from the State and … Read more
Secretary of State Marco Rubio walked into the State Department on Tuesday for the first time in his new job, taking the reins of the main agency carrying out U.S. foreign policy at a time of violent global crises and as other nations begin engaging with President Trump. After greeting employees at a ceremonial gathering, … Read more
The Senate confirmed Senator Marco Rubio, Republican of Florida, on Monday as America’s 72nd secretary of state, putting a former political rival of President Trump at the helm of American diplomacy. Mr. Rubio, 53, was unanimously confirmed in a 99-to-0 vote, becoming the first Latino to occupy the job and Mr. Trump’s first cabinet secretary … Read more
A transition team for President-elect Donald J. Trump has asked scores of senior career diplomats to resign from their positions on Monday, as soon as Mr. Trump takes office, and many of those asked to step down intend to do so, two U.S. officials said. The practice is common when a presidential transition occurs, but … Read more