Trump’s Mideast peace bid running on empty

Balance of Power From FOLLOW US SUBSCRIBE   President Donald Trump says there's a "good chance" of achieving peace in the Middle East. It doesn't look that way on the ground. True, Secretary of State Michael Pompeo said the U.S. would be ready to negotiate with Iran without preconditions, softening the administration's tone. But in the Arabian Sea, an American fighter bomber and aircraft carrier practiced strike operations, and an Iranian military official warned that all U.S. forces in the Gulf were within range of his country's missiles. In Syria, President Bashar al-Assad's forces have shelled Idlib, the final rebel stronghold, risking spillover. Assad's attacks pit Turkey against Russia and — in a sign of U.S. concern — drew a rebuke from Trump. So what of the White House push for Israeli-Palestinian peace led by Jared Kushner? In a weekend interview with Axios, the president's son-in-law declined to promise Palestinians an independent state, saying they aren't yet able to govern themselves. The Palestinians said they'll boycott Kushner's economic conference in Bahrain this month, billed as a first step in his peace plan. Israel is in political gridlock and heading for fresh elections/ No wonder Kushner didn't say when the long-awaited peace plan will be released. — Alan Crawford Kushner and his wife, Ivanka Trump, attend a wreath-laying ceremony at Westminster Abbey in London yesterday. Photographer: Luke MacGregor/Bloomberg Global Headlines An American abroad | Trump again called for stronger trade links with the U.K. this morning at the start of the second day of his European tour. Look for the U.S. president to wade further into Britain's fraught politics today, having already dangled the promise of a trade deal if his hosts push on with Brexit. At a press conference with Prime Minister Theresa May, Trump's likely to field questions ranging from the race to succeed her to intelligence sharing and Huawei's role.   Trump and Queen Elizabeth II toast during last night's state banquet at Buckingham Palace. Click here for more pictures from Trump's visit. Photographer: WPA Pool/Getty Images Europe Tech under fire | Fresh from its attack on Chinese behemoth Huawei, Washington is scrutinizing Silicon Valley's best-known names: Google, Apple, Amazon, and Facebook. As David McLaughlin reports, the Trump administration and Congress plan wide-ranging probes into whether their dominant positions are harming competition in digital markets, a move that's sent shares tumbling and raised the prospect of a drawn-out fight with the government. Cautious journey | China issued an advisory for citizens traveling to the U.S., citing recent dangers including shootings, robberies and thefts. The Foreign Ministry blamed difficulties encountered by Chinese nationals while stateside, as trade tensions worsen between Washington and Beijing and the Trump administration intensifies its scrutiny of Chinese students and researchers already in the U.S. Going green | Democratic presidential front-runner Joe Biden has proposed achieving 100% clean energy and net-zero carbon emissions by 2050 as part of a $5 trillion climate plan that would be paid for by undoing Trump's signature tax cuts. Calling climate change "an existential threat," Biden pledged to go "well beyond" the policies embraced by the Obama administration with a series of executive orders starting on his first day in office.  Hanging on | German Chancellor Angela Merkel's coalition won a temporary reprieve after the Social Democrats decided leaving would be more costly than staying. Led by an interim triumvirate, the party is expected to vote on a permanent leader by mid-October in a ballot that will focus on whether they'll ditch their ruling pact — a decision that could trigger snap elections — or stay with Merkel until her mandate ends in 2021. Bit player | The Trump administration is being marginalized in diplomatic efforts to find a way out of the Venezuelan crisis as the U.S.-led drive to dislodge the embattled Nicolas Maduro regime stalls. Even though a negotiated settlement with Maduro is unlikely, European and Latin American officials are pushing for a new direction both because of Venezuela's dire economic situation and grave doubts Washington's approach can succeed.  What to Watch — European Council President Donald Tusk speaks today at the 30th anniversary of Poland's 1989 elections, which helped trigger the downfall of communism. — Congressional Republicans, worried about the possible economic fallout from Trump's proposed tariffs on Mexico, are considering legislative action to thwart the president. — In a dramatic escalation of their showdown with the Trump administration, Democrats plan a full House vote next week to hold Attorney General William Barr in contempt over his refusal to provide lawmakers with Robert Mueller's full, unredacted report and underlying materials. And finally...Thirty years after China's military shot dead hundreds — and possibly thousands — of protesters at Tiananmen Square, authorities in Beijing are feeling like victims. Responding to Pompeo's call for China to make a full accounting of the dead, its embassy in Washington said attempts to "bully the Chinese people" would "only end up in the ash heap of history." Vigils set for tonight in Taiwan and Hong Kong, where Beijing's grip is tightening, show that not all Chinese people agree. Thousands of students gather ahead of the Tiananmen Square crackdown in June 1989. Photographer: AFP via Getty Images   You received this message because you are subscribed to the Bloomberg Politics newsletter Balance of Power. You can tell your friends to sign up here.   Unsubscribe | Bloomberg.com | Contact Us Bloomberg L.P. 731 Lexington, New York, NY, 10022