White House

KONFRONTASI - White House trade adviser Peter Navarro says President Donald Trump has given one last chance to China’s telecom giant ZTE, stressing that Washington would shut down the company if it is caught violating US laws again.

"It's going to be three strikes, you're out on ZTE," Navarro was quoted as saying by media. "If they do one more additional thing, they will be shut down."

ZTE originally was fined $1.3 billion in 2017 for making sales to Iran and North Korea in violation of US sanctions.

KONFRONTASI-The White House is denying the claim that a US National Security Council (NSC) official suggested that a preemptive strike on North Korea could help the Republican Party in the midterm elections.

KONFRONTASI - James Schultz, a White House ethics lawyer, has stepped down after spending nearly a year working on financial disclosure issues, according to a report.

Schultz said he had discussed his resignation with White House counsel Don McGahn “very early on,” Politico reported on Monday.

"That was something Don and I discussed very early on," Schultz told the news outlet.

KONFRONTASI - The White House press secretary escalates the feud between her boss, US President Donald Trump, and a top Republican opposing him on foreign policy, particularly the administration’s approach towards the Iran nuclear deal.

KONFRONTASI- The resignation of national security adviser Michael Flynn raises deep, unresolved questions about President Donald Trump's relationship with Russia and whether America's longtime adversary tried to tilt the election in his favor.

The leap from Flynn's actions to some broader conspiracy remains huge. But the lingering concerns could develop into a legal minefield for the White House, as congressional inquiries unfold and calls mount for an independent criminal probe, lawyers and scholars say.

KONFRONTASI-Direct contacts between the White House and the Kremlin have not been established since U.S. President Donald Trump took office, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Thursday.

"Contacts at the level of the administrations are not taking place at the moment, there haven't been any yet, such contacts are yet to be established," Peskov told a conference call with reporters.

KONFRONTASI - Outgoing US President Barack Obama will not be able to close the US military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, before the end of his second term in office, the White House has admitted.

KONFRONTASI-The US government has pledged to move ahead with the transfer of inmates out of the military prison at Guantanamo Bay, rejecting President-elect Donald Trump's demand for a freeze.

With President Barack Obama set to leave office on January 20, White House spokesman Josh Earnest put Trump on notice on Tuesday that more inmates would be moved.

"I would expect, at this point, additional transfers," he said.

Earnest's comments came just hours after Trump tweeted that "there should be no further releases from Gitmo".

KONFRONTASI-The United States said on Thursday it was concerned about reports that Russia is moving more military equipment into Syria to bolster President Bashar al-Assad, with a truce in tatters and peace talks in meltdown.

A U.S. official separately said Russia has been repositioning artillery to northern Syria - a move that may suggest the Syrian government and its allies are preparing another assault on the divided city of Aleppo.

KONFRONTASI - US National Security Adviser Susan Rice says Washington expects China to support new sanctions on North Korea over its rocket launches and nuclear tests.

"I think it unlikely that China wants to be seen by the international community as the protector of North Korea given its recent outrageous behavior," Rice told reporters at a briefing on Monday.

"Given that, I expect that they will indeed come on board with significant new sanctions and we're working toward that end," Rice said.