Trump to move U.S. Embassy in Israel to Jerusalem officials say
CLOSE The White House says the president is expected to make an announcement on whether the U.S. Embassy in Israel will move to Jerusalem.  (Dec. 5) AP
US President Donald Trump  touches the Western Wall  Judaism's holiest prayer site  in Jerusalem's Old City  22 May 2017  (reissued 05 December 2017). According to media reports on 05 December 2017 state that US President Donald J. Trump has informed Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas that he intends to relocate the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. (Photo: RONEN ZVULUN / POOL  EPA-EFE)
WASHINGTON â  President Trump  will announce Wednesday that  he  is beginning the process of moving the American Embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem  one of the most consequential foreign policy decisions of  his  presidency so far.
Until the new embassy opens  the officials said   Trump  will continue to waive the Jerusalem Embassy Act. That 1995 law that requires the president to move the embassy to Jerusalem  or else give Congress a notice every six months that it's not in the national security interest of the United States to do so.
It's that waiver forcing  Trump 's hand this week.  Trump  waived the embassy move in June;  his  second waiver was due on Monday.
Trump  who prides  himself  on  his  negotiating skills  has been seeking what  he  calls "one of the toughest deals of all" â an Israeli-Palestinian peace agreement that would finally end decades of failed and frustrating diplomacy.
The officials  who spoke on condition of anonymity ahead of  Trump 's official announcement  said the president would portray the move as an acknowledgement of a historical and political fact: That Jerusalem has always been Israel's capital city and seat of government.
In his address from the White House Wednesday   Trump  will also signal to the Arab world that he remains committed to the Middle East peace process  the officials said.  Trump  will say  he 's still open to a two-state solution that would have Israel and Palestine coexist as separate nations  and that existing borders should be respected until a final agreement.
More:  Trump  pushes for Middle East peace  'one of the toughest deals of all'
More: Why declaring Jerusalem as Israel's capital could cause a furor on  the Middle East
The Palestinian Authority said  Trump  told President Mahmoud Abbas that he would move the embassy  and that Abbas warned him the decision could derail the Middle East peace process.
Yet Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Tuesday that  Trump  was "pretty solid in his thinking at this point."
CLOSE The White House says the president is expected to make an announcement on whether the U.S. Embassy in Israel will move to Jerusalem.  (Dec. 5) AP
US President  [TGT]   touches the Western Wall  Judaism's holiest prayer site  in Jerusalem's Old City  22 May 2017  (reissued 05 December 2017). According to media reports on 05 December 2017 state that US President Donald J. Trump has informed Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas that he intends to relocate the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. (Photo: RONEN ZVULUN / POOL  EPA-EFE)
WASHINGTON â  President Trump  will announce Wednesday that  he  is beginning the process of moving the American Embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem  one of the most consequential foreign policy decisions of  his  presidency so far.
Until the new embassy opens  the officials said   Trump  will continue to waive the Jerusalem Embassy Act. That 1995 law that requires the president to move the embassy to Jerusalem  or else give Congress a notice every six months that it's not in the national security interest of the United States to do so.
It's that waiver forcing  Trump 's hand this week.  Trump  waived the embassy move in June;  his  second waiver was due on Monday.
Trump  who prides  himself  on  his  negotiating skills  has been seeking what  he  calls "one of the toughest deals of all" â an Israeli-Palestinian peace agreement that would finally end decades of failed and frustrating diplomacy.
The officials  who spoke on condition of anonymity ahead of  Trump 's official announcement  said the president would portray the move as an acknowledgement of a historical and political fact: That Jerusalem has always been Israel's capital city and seat of government.
In his address from the White House Wednesday   Trump  will also signal to the Arab world that he remains committed to the Middle East peace process  the officials said.  Trump  will say  he 's still open to a two-state solution that would have Israel and Palestine coexist as separate nations  and that existing borders should be respected until a final agreement.
More:  Trump  pushes for Middle East peace  'one of the toughest deals of all'
More: Why declaring Jerusalem as Israel's capital could cause a furor on  the Middle East
The Palestinian Authority said  Trump  told President Mahmoud Abbas that he would move the embassy  and that Abbas warned him the decision could derail the Middle East peace process.
Yet Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Tuesday that  Trump  was "pretty solid in his thinking at this point."