{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://welch.house.gov/media-center/in-the-news/roll-call-trumps-jerusalem-decision-called-provocative-counterproductive", "Roll Call: Trump's Jerusalem Decision Called 'Provocative,' Counterproductive", "2017-12-11", "2017", "2017-12", "Democrat", "House", "VT", "Peter Welch", "W000800", "welch.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "President Donald Trump\u00a0says his\u00a0decision to buck the advice of America\u2019s closest Muslim allies and recognize Jerusalem as Israel\u2019s capital\u00a0is part of a broader strategy shift needed to produce a Middle East peace pact. But some lawmakers and experts argue the president has unnecessarily undercut himself.\nTrump on Wednesday formally announced he will abide by a\u00a01995 U.S. law and move the U.S. embassy in Israel to Jerusalem\u00a0and recognize that city as the country\u2019s official capital. He noted that for the last 22 years, his predecessors have \u2014 despite some campaign-trail pledges to the contrary \u2014 exercised a waiver in that law to keep the embassy in Tel Aviv.\n\u00a0\n\u201cToday, we finally acknowledge the obvious that Jerusalem is Israel\u2019s capital,\u201d the U.S. president said. \u201cWe cannot solve our problems by making the same failed assumptions,\u201d he added in a not-that-veiled jab at Presidents Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and\u00a0Barack Obama.\nThat shot at the last three diplomats in chief was vintage Trump. So, too, were other parts of his Jerusalem address from the White House\u2019s Diplomatic Reception Room, which was\u00a0noticeably decked out for Christmas.\nHe said those three chief executives signed the law\u2019s waivers every six months \u201cbased on facts as they understood them at the time.\u201d\n\u201cNevertheless, the record is in. We are no closer to the lasting peace agreement\u201d than the day Congress sent Clinton the Jerusalem Embassy Act, Trump said. He contended it would be \u201cfolly to assume that\u201d his administration should follow \u201cthe exact same formula\u201d as the previous three U.S. administrations in search of an Israeli-Palestinian peace pact and expect \u201ca better result.\u201d\nThe Jerusalem decision also carried the hallmarks of the 45th president in its basis in Israel\u2019s right \u2014 as a \u201csovereign country,\u201d as Trump put it \u2014 to select its own capital city. The comment was reminiscent of ones he made during his recent swing through Asia, when he defended his \u201cAmerica first\u201d governing philosophy and urged Asian countries to make decisions on trade based on a similar viewpoint and aggressive pursuit of their own interests over ones common to multiple countries.\n\u201cAcknowledging this fact\u201d is \u201cessential\u201d to the peace process, he said, adding that Jerusalem is the \u201ccapital the Jewish people established in ancient times.\u201d In the president\u2019s mind, his May trip to Israel and Palestinian Authority-controlled areas showed that \u201cJerusalem [is] the seat of modern Israeli government,\u201d a city that is home to its government agencies and the official residences of its prime minister and president.\n\u201cMany visiting U.S. presidents, secretaries of State and military leaders have met their counterparts in Jerusalem, as I did earlier this year,\u201d he noted.\nThe White House made its decision after a months-long review process, and without fear of sizable congressional backlash.\nA senior administration official who briefed reporters on the decision Tuesday evening noted that \u201c10 successive Congresses\u201d have reaffirmed the 1995 law in various ways, adding the\u00a0Senate in June unanimously passed a resolution (90-0) that is reflected in Trump\u2019s decision.\nThat bipartisan resolution had 17 co-sponsors, including Majority Leader\u00a0Mitch McConnell\u00a0and Minority Leader\u00a0Charles E. Schumer. \u201cJerusalem should remain the undivided capital of Israel in which the rights of every ethnic and religious group are protected,\u201d it states. \u201cThere has been a continuous Jewish presence in Jerusalem for [three] millennia.\u201d\nIndeed, the support for such a move was still bipartisan.\u00a0\n\u201cJerusalem is the capital of the State of Israel, something that the United States Congress has reaffirmed and a fact of history that cannot be denied. Our country must play a constructive role in supporting Israel as it seeks the peace and security its people deserve by continuing to promote a two-state solution through direct, bilateral negotiations that will end any question of Jerusalem\u2019s status,\u201d House Minority Whip\u00a0Steny H. Hoyer\u00a0of Maryland\u00a0said after Trump\u2019s announcement.\u00a0\nThe ornate room in the executive mansion featured several large Christmas trees, the familiar blue presidential podium and a table at which Trump signed his second Jerusalem Embassy Act waiver \u2014 which he will do every six months until a new embassy is erected in no fewer than three years. But the elephant in the geopolitical room still dominated the scene: Trump\u2019s decision to buck the advice of America\u2019s closest Muslim allies \u2014 including\u00a0Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas\u00a0\u2014 and make the move just as sources say his administration was making progress in its Middle East peace push.\n\u201cHe\u2019s undercutting his own efforts at peacemaking. That\u2019s the reality,\u201d said Democratic Rep.\u00a0Peter Welch, a member of the House Oversight National Security Subcommittee. \u201cIn the area of the efforts in the Middle East, I\u2019m positive about the actions he\u2019s taking. [His team] has been having success at gaining the trust of the Palestinians.\u201d\nDuring an interview minutes before Trump\u2019s formal announcement, Welch said Palestinian officials speak highly of Trump son-in-law Jared Kushner, the senior White House adviser who is leading the Israeli-Palestinian peace effort, and Jason Greenblatt, the administration\u2019s top Middle East peace negotiator.\n\u201cYou need trust to get at the critical issues if you want to have any hope of a two-state solution. This action is highly provocative,\u201d the Vermont Democrat said. \u201cThe reality is Israel controls Jerusalem, yes. But the city is also highly significant to Jews, Christians and Muslims. \u2026 This is very provocative move in the eyes to Muslims in the regions, and to some of our closest allies in that region.\u201d\nFor Welch and other skeptics, the head-scratching question is this, in his words: \u201cWhy take an action that even our Arab allies view as dangerous? It\u2019s a finger in the eye to a lot of people in the region.\u201d\nSen.\u00a0Patrick J. Leahy\u00a0of Vermont, who is the top Democrat on the Senate Appropriations subcommittee that allocates the annual State Department budget from which the new embassy likely will be funded, called the decision a \u201cterrible mistake.\u201d\n\u201cI think it, I\u2019m sure, overjoyed major contributors\u201d\u00a0to Trump\u2019s 2016 presidential campaign, Leahy told reporters Wednesday morning. \u201cBut it was a bad mistake, and I think the fact of the reactions ... from the Jordanians on, shows how much it\u2019s going to hamper efforts for real peace in the Middle East.\u201d\nAsked by a Roll Call reporter if he worries the move will give a boost to Iran and groups like the Islamic State \u2014 whom foreign policy experts warn will be able to message, fundraise and recruit off Trump\u2019s decision \u2014 Leahy let out a sardonic laugh before answering. \u201cThat\u2019s what every leader over there says,\u201d he replied. (Notably, however, that is not what Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu contends.)\nPrevious U.S. presidents have sided with the leaders of not only Jordan, but other close American allies like Saudi Arabia and Turkey in opting against the embassy move and formal recognition. The leaders of those countries did just that in recent days, pleading with Trump in a series of telephone conversations to resist his instincts.\nBut it was the president\u2019s core beliefs in countering Washington\u2019s long-held conventional thinking that won out. In his mind, being open about Jerusalem\u2019s diplomatic status should help \u2014 not hold back \u2014 the peace process.\nHe called his decision \u201cthe right thing to do\u201d and \u201csomething that has to be done.\u201d\n\u201cThere will, of course, be disagreement and dissent regarding this announcement \u2014 but we are confident that ultimately, as we work through these disagreements, we will arrive at a place of greater understanding and cooperation,\u201d Trump said, his mouth becoming dry at points late in the speech for the second time in a few weeks in that very room.\n\u201cI also want to make one point very clear: This decision is not intended in any way to reflect a departure\u201d from long-held U.S. policy positions on Jerusalem\u2019s disputed borders or America\u2019s pursuit of a Palestinian state alongside the Jewish one, he said.\nTrump said his Jerusalem decision is merely a reflection of what he said is \u201cobvious,\u201d that Jerusalem already is the functional capital of Israel.\nThe president also said the move should not and is not intended to affect his administration\u2019s stated goals. \u201cThe United States would support a two-state solution, if agreed to by both sides,\u201d he said, calling on \u201cboth sides to maintain the status quo\u201d at the city\u2019s holy sites.\nAlways eager to cast himself as the dealmaker in chief, Trump declared that despite shunning the advice of Abbas and other Muslim leaders, he is intent on securing a \u201cgreat deal\u201d for both sides.\nBut skeptics wonder just how far back he might have set Kushner and Greenblatt and question whether the decision is rooted in the former reality television star\u2019s penchant to shake things up and generate headlines.\n\u201cBeing provocative, that\u2019s not a plan, that\u2019s a personality trait,\u201d Welch said. \u201cThe trust-building that Greenblatt and Kushner were succeeding at, why undercut that? Why do this to be provocative and throw everyone into disarray?\u201d\n\u201cIt\u2019s like he wakes up every day and says, \u2018Who can I upset today?\u2019 I guess the answer today was the Palestinian Authority, Muslim people in the region and his Sunni allies,\u201d he said. \u201cIt just leaves you mystified.\u201d", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://welch.house.gov/media-center/in-the-news/roll-call-trumps-jerusalem-decision-called-provocative-counterproductive"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.6324419993907213, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}