ICYMI: Risch Talks Trump Middle East Visit on FOX

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Jim Risch (R-Idaho), chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, joined America Reports on Fox News this afternoon to discuss President Trump’s visit to the Middle East. Click below to watch.

On President Trump’s upcoming meeting with the transitional leader of Syria:

“The Middle East has changed. It's continuing to change. We have a couple of opportunities right now – both in Syria in Lebanon. They are not sure things, but we really need to engage there, we need to see that Iran and Russia don't come and fill in what is clearly a vacuum that's occurring there. I've personally talked to both the President and the Secretary of State and urged them to ease the sanctions on Syria so that they can start to rebuild their country. Look, there's other issues there. It needs to be watched very closely; it needs to be monitored very closely. Right now, they have a tremendous opportunity that President Trump's giving them, and I hope we are able to take advantage of that, but also, they're going to have to meet the goals that we've given them.

On the Trump Administration’s commitment to diplomacy:

“As you have seen, we’ve had just this absolute flurry of activity since he [President Trump] started his second term – this isn’t by accident, his team has been planning this for four years. These guys [the Trump Administration] have been planning this for a long time. You know, we see a half a dozen events a day sometimes that presidents couldn't do in a month. And this is the result of long, careful planning.”

In response to Democrats’ criticism of Trump’s engagement in the Middle East:

“The Middle East is, like I said, changing every day, and the more that President Trump can convince those people that they should have an investment in the United States, the closer we get tied, and the less likely you are to have problems with that. This president is doing a fabulous job.”

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