Besieged at home, Trump sets off for ‘do-or-die’ foreign trip

“The only people who will benefit are the drug traffickers” if USA aid is cut, Juan Carlos Pinzon, the Colombian ambassador in Washington, told reporters before Santos’ visit.

Then there is the treacherous nature of the issues he must confront, from Middle Eastern power politics, Israeli-Palestinian peace talks, the future of North Atlantic Treaty Organisation which he savaged on the campaign trail and European concern about the impact of his protectionist trade policies.

Delays may spark complaints about government slowness from the rebels, who are in special camps handing over their weapons.

“Welcome to the White House overseas”, said Ari Fleischer, President George W. Bush’s former press secretary.

Comey’s view of Trump’s intent in their conversations is nuanced, sources say. Earlier this month, the USA formally approved $450 million in aid promised to Colombia previous year by former President Barack Obama. That news may have been a welcome relief for Santos.

“He strongly believes that it is the strength of the faith of people in these religions that will stand up and ultimately be victorious over these forces of terrorism”, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said.

Santos is the third Latin American leader to meet with Trump since he took office, after the leaders of Peru and Argentina.

“The best wall that you can build is economic development in Central America and South America”, Santos responded when asked for his thoughts on the wall.

The 1999 “Plan Colombia”, which was defined by former United States president Bill Clinton and former Colombian President Andres Pastrana to curb drug trafficking has failed embarrassingly. He said his administration was taking a “carrot and stick” approach – not only eradicating coca plants, but offering farmers the opportunity to plant substitute, legal crops.

He’d previously said he might announce his nominee before he left.

Santos, in response, said that Colombia was working to reduce coca production and combat drug trafficking networks.

President Santos was in accordance with Trump’s comments, making reference to the U.S. and Colombia’s long relationship, their joined efforts in fighting drug cartels in South America, as well as their continued cooperation in diplomatic relations in the region.

“That’s not easy after so many years of war”, Trump said during a joint press conference with Santos at the White House Thursday, adding there’s “nothing tougher than peace and we want to make peace all over the world”.

Trump also had a very brief answer when asked about former FBI director James Comey’s claim that he was asked to drop the investigation into Michael Flynn.

Yates, who drew the ire of Trump for issuing instructions to the Department of Justice not to defend his first travel ban executive order, said during her testimony that she had two in-person meetings with White House Counsel Don McGahn to discuss concerns about Flynn.

She asked, “How did he spell witch hunt?” a reference to Trump’s frequent misspellings on Twitter. That seems far, far less likely to me than a much more characteristic explanation for Trump actions: He was just shooting off his mouth without having any idea about potential consequences.