(Above: President Donald Trump chairs the United Nations Security Council briefing)
UNITED NATIONS (AP) – The Latest on President Donald Trump’s appearance at the U.N. General Assembly (all times local):
10:40 a.m.
For the first time, President Donald Trump is calling to order a meeting of the U.N. Security Council for a meeting on countering nuclear, chemical and biological weapons.
Trump, seated at the center of an arc-shaped table, immediately uttered tough words against Iran, saying that a government with Iran’s track record “must never be allowed to obtain” a nuclear weapon.
At the same time, he thanked Iran, Russia and Syria for slowing their attack on Idlib province in Syria. Last week, Russia and Turkey reached a deal to avert an offensive against Idlib, the last major rebel-held stronghold in Syria.
He also said China was interfering in the U.S. midterm elections, but offered no details about the claim except to say that Beijing opposes his trade policy.
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9:50 a.m.
President Donald Trump is endorsing a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. He says that while he’s with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “100 percent,” Israel will have to do something that is good for the other side.
While meeting with Netanyahu on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly Wednesday, Trump said “deals have to be good for both parties,” but that he thinks the Palestinians “actually want to do something.”
Last week, eight European Union nations urged Israel to reconsider its planned demolition of a Palestinian community on the West Bank and said they will not give up on a negotiated two-state solution with Jerusalem as the capital of both Israel and a new Palestinian state.
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9:30 a.m.
President Donald Trump says all U.S. options are on the table to help end the political, economic and humanitarian chaos in Venezuela – even the “strong ones.”
As he arrived Wednesday for a third day at the United Nations, reporters pummeled Trump with questions about whether the U.S. would ever intervene in the South American country. Venezuela’s inflation and homicide rates are among the highest in the world and more than 2 million people have fled the violence and conflict in recent years.
The Trump administration on Tuesday slapped financial sanctions on four members of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro’s inner circle, including his wife and the nation’s vice president, on allegations of corruption.
Asked if he would meet with Maduro, Trump said he would meet with anybody if it would help ease the suffering in Venezuela, which he described as a “disgrace.”
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12:20 a.m.
More meetings with world leaders are on tap for President Donald Trump at the United Nations.
His schedule for includes Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and later in the day the leaders of Japan and Britain. Trump is also set to chair a U.N. Security Council briefing on counterproliferation.
Trump’s address to the General Assembly on Tuesday criticized what he called the “ideology of globalism” while heaping praise on his own administration’s achievements. The self-congratulations drew headshakes and even mocking laughter.
Since taking office, Trump has removed the U.S. from the Paris climate accord, promoted protectionist tariffs and questioned the value of NATO.
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