It has been a bleak winter for Europe’s long-suffering left. In the span of less than two months, Francois Hollande, Matteo Renzi and Sigmar Gabriel, the centre-left leaders of France, Italy and Germany, have all fallen on their swords.

Britain’s Labour Party has turned its infighting into a public spectacle.

And in Brussels, the left has ceded the presidency of the European Parliament to a conservative, handing the centre-right control of the top three EU jobs in Brussels.

But after struggling to articulate a clear vision for the better part of a decade, European leftists may have finally found their saviour, a leader who can restore their sense of purpose and, if they play their cards right, halt a dizzying electoral tailspin.

His name is Donald Trump.

No one expects the new US president to change the arc of European politics, which has been bending towards the populist fringes over the past year and away from mainstream parties of both the left and right.

But analysts and officials say Trump’s victory - and the defeat of his Democratic rival Hillary Clinton - can teach Europe’s left some important lessons and help guide their campaigns at the start of a busy election year in which Dutch, French, German and probably Italian voters will go to the polls.

Both Emmanuel Macron, the 39-year-old former French economy minister who has emerged as a contender for the presidency, and Social Democrat Martin Schulz, who will challenge Germany’s Angela Merkel in the autumn, are expected to run campaigns that double down on anti-Trump themes of "Europe" and "values". "The left needs a narrative and in the current context of Trump and Brexit it can offer an alternative vision," said Henning Meyer, editor of Social Europe and a research associate at the London School of Economics.

"If you style yourself as the intellectual opposition to Trump, there is a real opportunity."

What has gone wrong with the European left? After the fall of the Berlin Wall and collapse of the Soviet Union killed the socialist dream, centre-left politicians such as Tony Blair and Gerhard Schroeder pursued a "third way", ditching ideology for a more transactional kind of politics that accepted neo-liberal economic orthodoxy.

This worked well in the 1990s when times were good.

But it became a liability as the new millennium dawned and economic inequalities began to rise, sowing deep divisions within the German SPD, the French Socialists and Britain’s Labour Party.

When the global financial crisis hit in 2008/9, voters viewed the left as complicit.

Blue-collar workers and jobless younger voters, who saw little difference between mainstream parties on the left and right, began turning to the fringes.

In Austria’s presidential run-off election in December, 85 percent of blue-collar workers backed the far-right populist Norbert Hofer.

And in the constitutional reform referendum in December that forced Renzi out as Italian prime minister, it was younger voters that helped seal his defeat.

"When the left has been in government, it hasn’t been able to fundamentally shift policy in a more leftist, growth- and social-oriented direction," said Italy’s Europe minister Sandro Gozi.

Michael Broening of the left-leaning Friedrich Ebert Foundation in Berlin says the centre-left in Europe is "fighting for its very survival".

Some officials now say there are lessons from the decline of the past decade that fit well with those emanating from Trump’s victory an ocean away.

The first is that authenticity and a compelling narrative count in a world where voters have grown weary of poll-driven politicians who try to please everyone.

And second, new faces that can articulate a fresh vision are better than old ones.

A fear of becoming Europe’s Hillary Clinton may have convinced the deeply unpopular Hollande not to run for a second term as French president, and Gabriel to make way for Schulz, the former president of the European Parliament who is a relative unknown on the German domestic political scene.

"The lesson for Europe from Trump’s victory in the United States is that putting an outsider against the establishment works," said Pascal Lamy, the former president of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and a top aide to French Socialist Jacques Delors when he was president of the European Commission.

"This is what is giving Macron a lift.

He’s a new face, younger and fresher than Marine Le Pen or Francois Fillon," Lamy said, referring to the far-right and centre-right candidates for the presidency.

Talking up the virtues of Europe and liberal values in an age where nationalism and cultural divisions are spreading may seem like a poor strategy for winning elections.

And while Macron, who is running as an independent, may have a legitimate shot of winning in France, Schulz is expected to struggle to make headway against Merkel, whose conservatives are some 15 points ahead of the SPD in opinion polls.

But anecdotal evidence suggests the SPD will benefit from sending an unabashed pro-European into the race instead of Gabriel, who has a history of bending with the political winds. In the 48 hours after it chose Schulz, 450 people rushed to join the SPD, the party says.

And a poll on Wednesday showed Schulz, a former bookseller who left high school before receiving his diploma, level with Merkel in a hypothetical direct vote for chancellor.

"The left needs a narrative, a vision," said Meyer of Social Europe.

"Trump established his authenticity, his relationship with the people, and everything else followed from that.

There is a lesson there."

Donald Trump could be tonic for Europe’s ailing left was posted in World of TheNews International - https://www.thenews.com.pk on January 28, 2017 and was last updated on January 28, 2017. This news story is related to Print/182305-Donald-Trump-could-be-tonic-for-Europes-ailing-left/ - breaking news, latest news, pakistan ne. Permanent link to the news story "Donald Trump could be tonic for Europe’s ailing left" is https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/182305-Donald-Trump-could-be-tonic-for-Europes-ailing-left.</s>It's President Donald Trump’s diplomatic debut. And the world is holding its breath.

Trump’s meeting on Friday with British Prime Minister Theresa May — his first sit-down with a foreign leader as president — comes with high stakes for the normally cozy “special relationship” of the two allies. It also represents a major test for an erratic and untested politician on the global stage, a day after he inflamed relations with Mexico’s president on Twitter.

Story Continued Below

“The unpredictability of it is unnerving. She does not know how it’s going to go,” said Julianne Smith, a former national security aide to Vice President Joe Biden.

Foreign governments, which have been bewildered by Trump and unclear about his intentions, will be monitoring the meeting for clues. Will he go off-script and embarrass May or put his guest on the spot? Or will his White House staff choreograph the event smoothly?

“We’ll be watching this meeting very closely” to judge its execution, said one official from a major U.S. ally whose leader will likely meet with Trump soon.

European officials are carefully watching to see how the leader of a country that recently voted to leave the European Union plays her relationship with a new U.S. administration that has shown sympathy with right-wing populists movements on the continent.

The differences between Washington and London often don’t go much fyrther than pronunciation. But as May’s forceful remarks Thursday to congressional Republicans in Philadelphia made clear, she and Trump may be speaking different languages when it comes to dealing with Russia and the future of the European Union.

“It's a trap to be too aligned with Trump” right now, said a European diplomat. “This guy is a total unknown.”

“At the same time, it's difficult for her to be too independent,” given Britain’s looming departure from the EU, he added.

Privately, the British leader may not relish sitting down with Trump, whose condemnations of Muslims she has called “divisive” and whose coarse talk about women she labeled “unacceptable.”

But both the White House and Downing Street are sending positive signals about the meeting, and diplomatic insiders in both Washington and London said that the two leaders both stand to gain from a smooth and friendly confab. Trump is eager to show that he is a credible world leader. May wants to demonstrate that Britain’s strategically invaluable alliance with the U.S. endures in a changing world order.

May began seeking Trump’s favor even before he was sworn in. Officials from her Conservative Party government have paid regular visits to Trump Tower — including Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson, who came despite having said last year that he was “genuinely worried” Trump might become president and joking that he would avoid Manhattan due to “the real risk of meeting Donald Trump.”

Most striking was a kick to the shins her government delivered to Secretary of State John Kerry in December after he criticized Israeli settlement building in a speech. May’s spokesman called the speech, which infuriated Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, not “appropriate.”

That startled Kerry aides but pleased Trump officials — especially Trump’s son-in-law and senior adviser, Jared Kushner, an Orthodox Jew and strong Netanyahu supporter.

May’s remarks to congressional Republicans sent more positive signals to Trump, including a passage that drew parallels between Trump’s election and her country’s “Brexit” vote to leave the EU.

Just as the U.S. is “renew[ing] your nation just as we renew ours,” May said, adding: “We have the opportunity to lead, together, again.”

But May is hardly in perfect alignment with Trump.

When President Barack Obama first met with May’s predecessor, David Cameron, in March 2009, Obama noted the “shared set of values and assumptions between us.”

Eight years later, that set is substantially reduced.

While May is critical of the EU, for instance, she does not hope for its demise the way Trump adviser Stephen Bannon does. “It remains in our interests, and those of the wider world, that the EU should succeed," May said.

Although May is overseeing Brexit’s implementation, she opposed her nation’s decision to withdraw from the EU, which Bannon and other nationalist thinkers denounce for smothering state sovereignty and heritage.

“The days of the United States backing the European project are over,” said Nile Gardiner, director of The Heritage Foundation’s Margaret Thatcher Center for Freedom.

May’s address to Republicans also urged caution on the question of rebooting relations with Moscow — something Trump has called one of his top foreign policy goals. “We should not jeopardize the freedoms that President [Ronald] Reagan and Mrs. [Margaret] Thatcher brought to Eastern Europe by accepting President Putin’s claim that it is now in his sphere of influence,” May said.

The British leader also hinted at her discomfort with Trump’s rhetoric about Muslims. While calling for a campaign to defeat Islamic radicalism, she added that “we should always be careful to distinguish between this extreme and hateful ideology, and the peaceful religion of Islam and the hundreds of millions of its adherents” — echoing Obama administration language that many conservatives found too conciliatory.

The White House and No. 10 Downing Street have each signaled that the leaders will talk about a new trade deal between Washington and London, one of many bilateral agreements Britain will need to strike in the aftermath of its departure from the EU’s economic network.

The subject of trade also has political resonance: During a visit to London last April, President Barack Obama warned that Britain would be “in the back of the queue” for a trade deal with Washington if it voted to leave the EU.

Trump clearly doesn’t agree and appears happy to reward British voters for defying Obama, as well as their own political and financial elites.

But any boastful talk of a new economic partnership will be just that for now. By law, Britain can’t even begin direct trade negotiations with another country until it has exited the EU, a process expected to take years.

“The U.K., and the U.K. media, will be looking for evidence that it will indeed be possible to deliver a U.S.-U.K. trade agreement in short order,” said Peter Westamacott, who served as British ambassador to Washington from 2012 to 2016.

“The reality is that complex trade agreements cannot be delivered overnight, unless one side is prepared to settle for an unbalanced deal. In practice, they take years to complete,” he added. “And in this case, there are plenty of really difficult issues in financial services, agriculture and so on, which are likely to prove contentious.”

“Trump will be eager to promise her the moon,” Smith said. “But I think they’re essentially kidding themselves if they think they’re going to have big breaking news on the trade front.”</s>WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump is set to meet his first world leader since taking office — British Prime Minister Theresa May, a friendly ally who hopes to nudge the populist president toward the political mainstream.

The visit Friday comes a day after Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto called off his own trip to Washington, planned for next week, amid wrangling over who will pay for Trump’s planned wall along the U.S.-Mexico border. Trump’s spokesman said the president would seek a 20 percent tax on Mexican imports to pay for the barrier, then later clarified that such a tax would be a possible approach.

May’s meeting with the president in the Oval Office is being hailed by the British government as a sign that the trans-Atlantic “special relationship” is valued by the new administration.

The White House said late Thursday that May and Trump would hold talks, followed by a press conference and a working lunch — in a statement that misspelled the prime minister’s first name as Teresa. It was later corrected.

May’s visit, so soon after Trump’s inauguration, has been criticized by her political opponents, and risks being overshadowed by the flood of announcements, plans and proposals coming out of the White House. On Thursday May was repeatedly asked about Britain’s stance on torture — the U.K. condemns it — after Trump said he thinks torturing terrorism suspects works.

Trump is something of a mystery to world leaders, many of whom expected Democrat Hillary Clinton to win the election. His administration’s main interlocutors with foreign governments so far — including son-in-law Jared Kushner and senior adviser Steve Bannon, a conservative media executive — are also unknown to many of their counterparts.

So May is a bit of a scouting party — or guinea pig — among global politicians.

She has strong reasons for wanting the relationship to work. Britain is set to leave the European Union and its 500 million-person single market. A trade deal with the U.S., Britain’s biggest export market, is a major prize.

Trump has drawn parallels between Britain’s choice to leave the EU and his own success, using the Brexit vote to bolster his derision of the 28-nation bloc and his preference for striking bilateral agreements.

That puts May in an awkward spot. She wants a good relationship with Trump, but does not share his disdain for the EU, saying it’s in Britain’s interests that it succeed.

Trump and May both addressed a Republican retreat Thursday in Philadelphia, though their visits did not overlap. During his remarks to lawmakers, Trump bemoaned the fact that Wilbur Ross, his nominee to be commerce secretary, would not be confirmed in time for a visit that was expected to focus heavily on trade.

“I don’t have my commerce secretary,” Trump said. “They want to talk trade. So I’ll have to handle it myself.”

May’s speech alternated between saluting Trump’s vision for what she called American “renewal” and reminding him, and his Republican colleagues, of the United States’ global responsibilities.

May urged the U.S. to join Britain and embrace “the responsibility of leadership in the modern world.” She mentioned the trans-Atlantic alliance during World War II and afterward, when the U.K. and the U.S. set up the United Nations and NATO — organizations Trump has strongly criticized.

She joined in Trump’s criticism of previous U.S. governments’ foreign policy, saying that “the days of Britain and America intervening in sovereign countries in an attempt to remake the world in our own image are over.”

But May also said Britain supported a strong European Union and considered NATO the bulwark of global security.

May praised Trump’s dedication to fighting the Islamic State group and Islamist extremism, but stressed the need not to tarnish “the peaceful religion of Islam and the hundreds of millions of its adherents.”

May acknowledged the need to engage with Russia to end the war in Syria, yet cautioned that the West’s approach to President Vladimir Putin should be “engage but beware.”

There are few obvious similarities between the brash businessman Trump and the quiet, diligent May.

In her speech, May referred several times to Republican President Ronald Reagan and Conservative Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher — politicians from very different backgrounds who forged an alliance that helped transform their parties, and the world.

And, she said aboard her plane, “sometimes opposites attract.”</s>Whoopi Goldberg Says Donald Trump Is Not A Savior For Blacks

Donald Trump will not be here to save black folks!

Van Jones recently welcomed Whoopi Goldberg on CNN’s “The Messy Truth” this week where they discussed race relations and Chicago violence under President Donald Trump.

Jones discussed Trump’s inaugural address, where he touched on black on black crime: “The crime and the gangs and the drugs that have stolen too many lives and robbed our country of so much unrealized potential.”

“This guy is the President of the United States. He wants to put the issue on the table. Couldn’t this guy end up being the savior for black folk?”

Do you think Cheeto-in-Chump will be the savior that all black people can count on?</s>Jill Lawless and Darlene Superville, The Associated Press 

 



WASHINGTON -- U.S. President Donald Trump and British Prime Minister Theresa May appeared chummy as they faced a curious world together for the first time Friday, pledging allegiance to the special relationship between their countries while trying to mask stark differences on some major issues.

It was Trump's first White House meeting with a foreign head of state, a hastily arranged confab held precisely one week after the businessman and reality TV star, who remains a largely unknown figure to European audiences, was sworn into office as president.

Trump sought to charm May from the outset, showing her the bust of Prime Minister Winston Churchill that he's using to decorate the Oval Office. He then opened a joint news conference by noting that his late mother was born in "Stornoway, which is serious Scotland." Scotland is part of Great Britain.

Trump and May were seen briefly holding hands as they walked along the White House colonnade after leaving the Oval Office. Their talks continued in the State Dining Room over lunch of iceberg wedge salad, braised beef short ribs with potato puree and salted caramel creme brulee.

For her part, May congratulated Trump on his "stunning election victory," and announced that he had accepted the queen's invitation for a state visit with his wife, first lady Melania Trump, later this year.

But the attempts at mutual flattery didn't completely mask the leaders' differences over some issues, including NATO and Russia.

May tried to push Trump toward positions she supports, noting that he had assured her he was "100 per cent" behind NATO, a world body he has dismissed as "obsolete." Trump did not contradict May as they stood together and answered journalists' questions in the White House East Room.

May also took a tougher stance on sanctions against Russia.

When asked how close the U.S. is to lifting penalties that were imposed on Russia after its incursion into Ukraine, Trump said it was "very early to be talking about that." May said sanctions should remain until a 2015 cease-fire agreement for Ukraine is fully implemented.

Trump has been less critical of Russia and its leader, President Vladimir Putin, than his predecessor and some lawmakers, including fellow Republicans. He has cast doubt on findings by U.S. intelligence officials that Russia interfered in the presidential election to help him win the White House, and has praised Putin's leadership. Trump's stance has fueled speculation that he could ease or remove the sanctions against Russia.

Trump also reiterated his belief that torture works. Britain takes a vocal stand against it.

The appearance alongside May was more amiable than Trump's most recent public appearance with a foreign leader: a joint news conference with Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto last August. Trump was more staid and serious then, and read from lengthy prepared remarks.

Coincidentally, Trump and May met a day after Pena Nieto cancelled his own trip to Washington next week amid disagreement with Trump over which of their countries will pay for the wall Trump wants to build along the U.S.-Mexico border. Trump says Mexico will pay; Mexico says it won't.

Trump is somewhat of a mystery to world leaders, many of whom expected Democrat Hillary Clinton to win the election. They also don't know his administration's main interlocutors with foreign governments, including son-in-law Jared Kushner and senior adviser Steve Bannon, a conservative media executive.

So May was on a bit of a scouting mission.

She has strong reasons for wanting the relationship to work. Britain is set to leave the European Union and its 500 million-person single market, and is eager for a bilateral trade deal with the U.S. The United States is Britain's biggest export market, and such a trade deal would be a major prize.

Trump has drawn parallels between Britain's choice to leave the EU and his own success, using the Brexit vote last June to bolster his derision of the 28-nation bloc and his preference for striking bilateral agreements.

Often combative in the presence of journalists, Trump seemed relaxed and humorous alongside May. At one point, after a British journalist asked whether people should be alarmed by his past statements, Trump joked: "This was your choice of a question? There goes that relationship."

He backed May's determination to make Britain strong and prosperous once it leaves the European Union, saying he thought Brexit would be "a tremendous asset and not a tremendous liability."

And when asked whether the two very different leaders had found common ground, Trump said they had.

"I think we're going to get along very well," he said. "I am a people person. I think you are also, Theresa."

Associated Press writer Jill Colvin contributed to this report.</s>On Saturday morning, comedian Rosie O’Donnell got right to the point when criticizing the President of the United States.

“FUCK YOU DONALD TRUMP YOU SOULESS WASTE OF SPACE,” O’Donnell wrote on Twitter.

RELATED: Donald Trump took a shot at Rosie O’Donnell during a presidential debate, and the reaction was fierce

O’Donnell’s Twitter feed has been filled with critiques of the president for many months. For over a decade, the two have been embroiled in a very public war of words.

Most of the time, when O’Donnell tweets about the president, it’s relegated to critiques of his policy and character, or a call for others to resist. On Saturday, O’Donnell clearly felt that wasn’t enough.

Earlier in the day, O’Donnell shared several articles, and called on congress to “IMPEACH THIS MADMAN.”</s>PHILADELPHIA, PA (AP) — Congressional Republicans are hoping for a message of unity and focus from President Donald Trump in his first appearance before them as president.

Trump was to speak Thursday to House and Senate GOP lawmakers at their annual policy retreat. Despite a rocky start to his administration, many lawmakers are optimistic about delivering change in a new era of GOP control over Washington.

They would like to see a Trump committed to their agenda and results, not a president who veers off course into conspiracy theories about voter fraud or who keeps litigating the size of his inaugural crowds.

Before Trump’s appearance, House Speaker Paul Ryan sketched out an ambitious agenda to lawmakers that includes sending Trump a health care repeal bill by March and a rewrite of tax laws by summer’s end.

Also in the first 200 days Congress intends to confront paying for Trump’s newly announced border wall, which Ryan confirmed could cost $8 billion to $14 billion, and will work on a public works bill that Trump requested be added to a crowded agenda.

“I’m just so excited we finally have a chance to do this because we have the House and the Senate and a president who is with us,” Ryan told MSNBC on Wednesday about plans to overhaul the tax system, eliminating what critics say are loopholes and lowering corporate rates to 20 percent or even the 15 percent sought by Trump.

“If you can clean up the cesspool of the tax code and give us a pro-growth tax code, that is how you grow the economy, that is how you take power and money out of Washington and give it back to the people,” he said.

Lawmakers were generally enthusiastic to see Trump take quick action on immigration, oil pipelines and other issues via executive order, even though they criticized Barack Obama for overusing such administrative tools when he was president. This time, Republican lawmakers justify it by saying Trump, in many cases, is undoing what Obama did.

Yet there were signs that Congress might not easily go along with fronting the money for Trump’s border plan, which he continues to insist Mexico will ultimately pay for, though without explaining how.

Sen. Cory Gardner, R-Colo., would not commit to approving the billions Trump is seeking.

“Look, I haven’t seen cost estimates, I don’t know what exactly he’s talking about,” Gardner told CNN on Thursday. He said making good on border security was “an issue of trust with the American people.”

For the GOP conference, Trump was visiting a city that he has singled out and criticized for supposed voter fraud. And the mayor has pledged to protect immigrants who are in the country illegally, in face of Trump’s crackdown on “sanctuary cities.”

Still, said GOP Sen. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, “People are more optimistic, the stock market’s rising, companies are deciding to build, folks look at him approving the Keystone XL pipeline. He said he wanted to create jobs. I think there’s a sense that he’s working hard to create jobs and I think that’s incredibly positive.”

As for Trump’s fixation on supposed illegal voting by 3 million to 5 million people, which is untrue, and the attendance at his inauguration: “Those are distractions, and it’s dwelled upon. I particularly don’t care about it,” Cassidy said.

Most Republicans are taking Cassidy’s approach of playing down the distractions. But others said there was real concern that Trump could be the GOP’s own worst enemy at the very moment they’ve seized full control of Washington and believe they have a mandate to usher in sweeping change, starting with repealing and replacing Obama’s health care law.

Lawmakers also were to hear from Vice President Mike Pence and British Prime Minister Theresa May. Lawmakers said it was a chance to showcase the relationship with Britain in the visit from May, who vaulted to power as a result of the surprise vote to leave the European Union; many saw that as a precursor to Trump’s own victory.

Her speech was coming on the same day when Trump was expected to sign executive orders starting work on bilateral trade deals to take the place of the sweeping multilateral Asia-Pacific pact negotiated under the Obama administration, which Trump announced the U.S. is discarding.</s>WASHINGTON — U.S. President Donald Trump had an hourlong discussion Saturday with Russian President Vladimir Putin — the first since Trump assumed office last week — raising questions over the fate of U.S. sanctions against Moscow and whether the two will look to enhance military co-operation against the Islamic State group.

The White House provided a thin readout on the call between the two leaders, saying it was “a significant start to improving the relationship between the United States and Russia that is in need of repair.”

The two leaders discussed “a range in topics from mutual co-operation in defeating ISIS to efforts in working together to achieve more peace throughout the world including Syria,” the White House statement said, using an acronym for the militant group.

Contrary to the statement from the White House, the Kremlin emphasized that the two leaders addressed the importance of “restoring mutually beneficial trade and economic ties between business circles of the two countries,” hinting that the two men discussed the sanctions, implemented by the Obama administration as a consequence of Russia’s actions in Ukraine.

The Kremlin also said that Putin and Trump spoke in particular about international issues, including the fight against terrorism, the Arab-Israeli conflict, Iran’s nuclear program, the situation on the Korean peninsula and the Ukraine crisis.

Moscow has applauded Trump’s promises to rebuild U.S.-Russian relations, which have been pushed to their worst level since the Cold War by the Ukraine crisis, war in Syria and allegations of Russian meddling in U.S. elections. Trump signed a presidential memorandum on the plan to defeat the Islamic State group Saturday, including in it the possibility of teaming up with “new coalition partners,” suggesting that pairing up with Russia on counterterrorism issues isn’t off the table.

Trump was noncommittal about whether he was considering lifting the economic sanctions ahead of the call, telling reporters Friday: “We’ll see what happens. As far as the sanctions, very early to be talking about that.”

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment on whether sanctions were discussed on the call.

In 2014, Russia annexed Ukraine’s Crimea region and backed separatists fighting government forces in eastern Ukraine, drawing widespread condemnation in Europe and the United States.

In response, sanctions were implemented against sectors of Russia’s economy, including financial services, energy, mining and defence. The Obama administration also sanctioned people in Putin’s inner circle.

Shortly before leaving office, President Barack Obama also ordered sanctions on Russian spy agencies, closed two Russian compounds in the United States and expelled 35 diplomats that he said were really spies. These sanctions followed an assessment by U.S. intelligence that Moscow meddled in the 2016 election to help Trump become president.

Trump’s tempered approach to U.S.-Russia relations has already raised concern among several European allies who believe keeping Russia in check is essential to regional security.

British Prime Minister Theresa May, whose country — as part of the European Union — also has punished Russia for its provocations in Ukraine, voiced the view of many in Europe, telling reporters in Washington on Friday: “We believe the sanctions should continue.”

Vice-President Mike Pence and other senior advisers joined Trump for the call with Putin, including his national security adviser, retired Gen. Michael Flynn, chief of staff Reince Priebus and senior strategist Steve Bannon. Trump also spoke on Saturday with the leaders of Japan, Germany, France and Australia.

Two Republican senators — Arizona’s John McCain, chairman of the Armed Services Committee, and Ohio’s Rob Portman, a member of the Foreign Relations Committee —warned the White House about easing any punishments on Moscow and they pledged to turn the sanctions into law.

“I hope President Trump will put an end to this speculation and reject such a reckless course,” McCain said in a statement. “If he does not, I will work with my colleagues to codify sanctions against Russia into law.”

Portman said lifting the sanctions “for any reason other than a change in the behaviour that led to those sanctions in the first place would send a dangerous message to a world already questioning the value of American leadership and the credibility of our commitments after eight years of Obama administration policies.”

McCain has emerged as a frequent critic of Trump among Capitol Hill Republicans. He takes a dim view of trying to reset relations with Moscow and says Trump should remember that Putin is “a murderer and a thug who seeks to undermine American national security interests at every turn.”

“For our commander in chief to think otherwise would be naive and dangerous,” McCain said.

McCain and Portman are part of a bipartisan group of senators who have introduced legislation designed to go beyond the punishments against Russia already levied by Obama and to demonstrate to Trump that forcefully responding to Moscow’s meddling isn’t a partisan issue.

The bill would impose mandatory visa bans and freeze the financial assets of anyone who carries out cyberattacks against public or private computer systems and democratic institutions.

The legislation also mandates sanctions in Russia’s all-important energy sector and on investments in the development of civil nuclear projects to rebuke Moscow for its provocations in eastern Ukraine and military support for Syrian President Bashar Assad.

Associated Press writer Howard Amos in Moscow contributed to this report.</s>Prime Minister Theresa May is holding talks at the White House with US President Donald Trump.

They posed for photographs in front of a bust of Sir Winston Churchill - which Mr Trump pointed to, saying it was "a great honour" to have it back.

The new president had the bust restored to the Oval Office after it was removed by former president Barack Obama.

Mrs May smiled and told him: "Thank you, we were very pleased that you accepted it back."

They will spend about an hour together during the first visit by a foreign leader since Mr Trump became president.

Strengthening US-UK ties, trade and foreign affairs are likely to be high on the agenda.

Although the UK cannot begin to negotiate trade deals until it leaves the EU, Mr Trump has said he wants a "quick" deal after that.

Image copyright PA

Chancellor Philip Hammond stressed the UK would abide by EU rules on trade talks, when he arrived in Brussels for talks on Friday.

"Of course we want to strengthen our trade ties with the very many partners we have around the world but we are very mindful of our obligations under the treaty and we will follow them precisely," he said.

Mrs May laid a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknowns at Arlington National Cemetery ahead of her talks with President Trump.

In a speech to US Republicans on Thursday, Mrs May said she wanted to "renew the special relationship" between the UK and America.

She said the two countries "must always stand up for our friends and allies in democratic countries that find themselves in tough neighbourhoods too", to applause from her audience.

But she told US Republicans the UK and US could not return to "failed" military interventions "to remake the world in our own image".

Tony Blair's former chief of staff Jonathan Powell said Mrs May "seemed to contradict herself" by warning against foreign intervention, but then saying the US and UK must uphold their values around the world.

He said "it would be a mistake to encourage Donald Trump to be isolationist" when he was already talking about "America first", he said.

National interest

But Defence Secretary Sir Michael Fallon told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "What she's made clear, in future, is that where we are going to commit British troops, there has to be a very real threat to our country.

"It has to be in the British national interest that we intervene in these countries... We should not simply embark on foreign adventures for the sake of it."

Analysis

By BBC political editor Laura Kuenssberg

Last night Theresa May signalled a turn away from US and British foreign policy of recent years - military interventions into countries like Afghanistan and Iraq.

But also, she urged President Trump not to turn America's back on the world and not to allow the rise of Asian nations to "eclipse the West".

For the president who has vowed again and again to put "America First", it was an effort to persuade - if not outright criticism. Yet she also heaped praise on Donald Trump's victory.

Well aware of the dangers, Theresa May is nothing if not ambitious for her relationship with her new political friend.

US Congressman Kevin Cramer, who was in the audience for Mrs May's speech on Thursday, told the BBC: "As I was watching her, and listening to her, I thought, 'Is this Donald Trump's long lost sister?'

"There were real similarities, while at the same time, clearly a different take on certain global issues."

The speech followed comments by UK Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson to a House of Lords committee on Thursday that Bashar al-Assad should be allowed to run for election to remain in power in Syria - a reversal of UK foreign policy.

Image copyright Getty Images Image caption Theresa May laid a wreath at the tomb of the Unknown Soldier

Mr Johnson told the committee that Britain might have to "think afresh" about how to handle the Syrian crisis and had failed to enforce its "mantra" that "Assad must go".

He said: "I see downsides and I see risks in us going in, doing a complete flip flop, supporting the Russians, Assad.

"But I must also be realistic about the way the landscape has changed and it may be that we will have to think afresh about how to handle this."

On Thursday, the prime minister also spoke in support of Nato - which Mr Trump has called "obsolete" - and the Iran nuclear deal, which Mr Trump threatened to scrap during his campaign.

On dealing with Russia's President Putin, Mrs May said: "My advice is to engage but beware."

For Labour, Shadow Health Secretary Jonathan Ashworth said Mrs May had not ruled out including health services in any future trade deals.

He added: "Labour will oppose any attempt to sell off our health service. The prime minister needs to urgently confirm that a rushed trade deal with President Trump will not be a Trojan horse for NHS privatisation."

Asked about whether the NHS was off the table in any trade talks, Mrs May told journalists: "As regards the NHS, we're very clear as a government that we're committed to an NHS that is free at the point of use."

The visit comes amid controversy over comments by President Trump about waterboarding.

He told ABC News on Wednesday that after he asked intelligence officials if torture "works" he was told, "'Yes, absolutely.'"

Mrs May has said the UK condemns torture and told journalists: "My view on that won't change - whether I am talking to you or talking to the president."</s>Walk into a Nando's restaurant in Washington, D.C. and you'll find much more than a grilled chicken menu.

To mark the inauguration of Donald Trump as U.S. president last week, the South African company launched a campaign with the hash tag #everyoneiswelcome.

It has printed posters describing Nando's as "an immigrant employing‚ gay loving‚ Muslim respecting‚ racism opposing, equal paying, multicultural restaurant."

The Afro-Portuguese themed restaurant chain famous for its flame-grilled, peri-peri sauce covered chicken began life in Johannesburg in 1987. Since then it has become one of South Africa's biggest corporate success stories.

President Trump is a fan of fast food. And his pick for labor secretary, Andrew Puzder, is CEO of the company that operates the Hardee's and Carl's Jr restaurant chains.

But Nando's culture clashes with Trump's plans for immigration and some of Puzder's views. The nominee has described employees hired at his restaurants as "the best of the worst" available.

By taking its message to the White House (there are two restaurants within easy reach), Nando's is staying true to its tradition of edgy political campaigns that have sometimes got it into trouble.

Its "last dictator standing" advert poking fun at Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe was withdrawn. South African President Jacob Zuma has also been on the receiving end of its cheeky adverts.

Nando's political flare can be traced back to its South African roots.

The company has exported the country's "constitutional values," said Thebe Ikalafeng, CEO at Brand Africa.

Since the end of apartheid, South Africa has portrayed itself as the "rainbow nation," a showcase for diversity and unity.

Emphasizing its South African identity has helped Nando's compete against big global brands, Ikalafeng added.

Nando's now has more than 1,000 outlets in 21 countries. The company started operating in the U.S. in 2008 when it opened up in Washington. It has 38 restaurants in the U.S. and even sells its signature peri-peri sauce in selected retailers across the country.

The business is still owned by the Enthoven family and co-founder Robert Brozin, but some of its restaurants in South Africa, New Zealand and Australia are run as franchises.
British Prime Minister Theresa May meets with U.S. President Donald Trump at the White House in Washington, D.C.. This is the first visit by a foreign leader since Trump's inauguration last Friday.