U.S. Officials: Trump Mulls Declaring Jerusalem as Israel’s Capital

A picture taken on January 20, 2017 shows the exterior of the US Embassy building in the I
JACK GUEZ/AFP/Getty

The LA Times reports: President Trump is preparing to formally declare Jerusalem the capital of Israel and order a review of the best way to move the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv, two officials said Thursday, actions that would reverse decades of U.S. policy and international peacemaking efforts, and could inflame the Arab world.

The White House hosted a high-level meeting Monday to discuss plans for transferring the embassy to the ancient holy city and to discuss a deadline Friday that requires the administration to notify Congress every six months if it will order the move — or issue a waiver, as previous administrations have done.

To the surprise of senior officials in attendance, Trump crashed the meeting with his own detailed agenda, according to a person familiar with White House deliberations. A scheduled 30-minute meeting on waiving the 1995 law that requires the U.S. to move the embassy stretched to two hours, and Trump stayed for nearly half of that. He asked detailed questions, saying delaying the move indefinitely was unacceptable, and demanded options other than issuing a waiver.

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