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The Campaign Update Week in Review (Because The Campaign Never Ends) The most outstanding feature of this week was the media going nuts. What was so interesting about it to me was that they went nuts every time President Trump told the truth For example, at the formal swearing-in of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, the President told the truth about the fact that he had been subjected to a shameful smearing organized by the Democrats. An absolute, unarguable fact. The media went nuts. At his rally in Ohio Friday night, Trump told the truth about the unarguable fact that...

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump welcomed American pastor Andrew Brunson to the Oval Office on Saturday, celebrating his release from nearly two years of confinement in Turkey that had sparked a diplomatic row with a key ally and outcry from U.S. evangelical groups. Brunson, who returned to the United States aboard a military jet shortly before their meeting, appeared to be in good health and good spirits. He thanked Trump for working to secure his freedom and then lead his family in prayer for the president. "You really fought for us," he told Trump. "From a Turkish prison to...

What a POWERFUL prayer!!! Don't miss this. GOD is directing and protecting President Trump....watch this freed Pastor pray for our President.....amazing. God Bless Our REPUBLIC!! At link: https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2018/10/freed-pastor-brunson-kneels-down-and-prays-for-president-trump-in-white-house-video/

Freed American pastor Andrew Brunson met and prayed with President Trump in the Oval Office Saturday, thanking him for having "really fought for us" -- a day after his release from house arrest in Turkey.

(CNN)American pastor Andrew Brunson arrived at Andrews Air Force Base outside Washington, DC, at just after noon Saturday. Brunson will join President Donald Trump in the Oval Office on Saturday, the President tweeted, adding there was "NO DEAL made with Turkey" for his release. Brunson had been held in Turkey since 2016, accused of helping to plot a coup attempt against Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. US officials say Brunson was wrongfully detained. The evangelical pastor's case strained relations between the two NATO allies and raised the possibility of significant US sanctions and further threats. "It will be wonderful to...

On Friday, Turkish officials released U.S. pastor Andrew Brunson, who has been imprisoned for the past two years on alleged charges of conspiring with illegal groups. Brunson was released upon a ruling that said the 24-months the U.S. pastor spent in detainment was sufficient for the courtÂ’s three-year sentence. The imprisonment of Brunson has been a sore spot in U.S.-Turkey relations, with the U.S. applying pressure through increased tariffs and sanctions against Turkey over the summer, resulting in a rapid devaluation of the Turkish lira. While this may seem like a positive development in bilateral relations, the Brunson case fatally...

ISTANBUL – American Pastor Andrew Brunson, whose detention in Turkey has sparked a tense standoff between Ankara and Washington, will likely be released following a hearing scheduled for Friday, according to his lawyer. “There is a good chance he could walk free,” Brunson’s lawyer, Ismail Cem Haravut told Yahoo News. Brunson, a Christian preacher from North Carolina, became the center a diplomatic row between Ankara and Washington after Turkey jailed on terrorism charges. Ankara accuses Brunson of having links to groups guilty of orchestrating a failed coup attempt in 2016, through the small evangelical he has run in the coastal...

Andrew Brunson, the evangelical pastor being tried on espionage/terror charges in a controversial case that has badly bruised the U.S.’ relations with its NATO ally Turkey, is due to appear in court tomorrow. Hopes on the American side are that the 50-year-old native of Black Mountain, North Carolina, who has been held for a year in prison and under house arrest since July, will finally be freed.The hearing comes amid a burgeoning alignment between Washington and Ankara over Jamal Khashoggi, the dissident Saudi journalist who is feared to have been murdered by a Saudi hit squad in the kingdom’s consulate in Istanbul. Secretary of...

Trump met Erdogan at a Nato meeting early in June. Their discussions were very friendly, and after they ended, Trump thought they had made a deal: Trump would ask Israel’s prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu to release a Turkish citizen, Ebru Ozkan, arrested because of alleged terrorist links to Hamas, and then Turkey would release pastor Andrew Brunson, who was arrested in Turkey on October 2016 on charges of espionage, which the US considers are bogus charges. So on July 14, Trump called Netanyahu and requested that Ozkan be released, and she was released the next day. But Brunson was not...

The United States is warning more economic pressures may be in store for Turkey if it refuses to release a jailed American pastor, a White House official said on Tuesday... if we do not see actions in the next few days or a week there could be further actions taken,” the official said. Further actions would likely take the form of economic sanctions, the official said, who added: “The pressure is going to keep up if we’re not seeing results.” ...The United States is also considering a fine against Turkey’s state-owned Halkbank for allegedly helping Iran evade U.S. sanctions.

WASHINGTON — Vice President Mike Pence said Thursday that he has spoken with jailed pastor Andrew Brunson and warned Turkish leaders that if they don't release the church leader the country will face "significant sanctions," a promise President Donald Trump has seconded. Pence, who first tweeted the ultimatum to Turkey president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan Thursday morning, doubled down on his threat when he gave a keynote speech at the State Department's first-ever three-day Ministerial to Advance Religious Freedom. Before foreign delegations from over 80 countries, Pence publicly reprimanded the NATO ally, who has held the North Carolina pastor since October...

WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump declared on Thursday the United States will impose sanctions on Turkey, a crucial NATO ally, in retaliation for the detention of an American pastor on terror and espionage charges. Turkey's response was both harsh and dismissive, calling his words "unacceptable" and a "cheap threat." Trump's promise of unspecified punishing action marks the latest deterioration in relations between Turkey and the U.S. as President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's powers expand two years after a failed coup against his government. Trump also has praised his counterpart, saying Erdogan's leadership is "getting very high marks." The U.S has long...

Andrew Craig Brunson is a pastor from NC who, for the past twenty-three years, has lived in Turkey with his wife and three children.  He was the pastor of the Izmir Diriliş (the Resurrection) Church, a small evangelical Presbyterian congregation in Izmir with about twenty-five members. When he arrived home on October 7, 2016 he found a written summons to report with his passport to a local police station. Pastor Brunson assumed the summons was related to his routine application for a renewal of his residence visa so he reported to the Izmir police that same day. The police informed him that...

Defying expectations, a Turkish court rebuffed appeals today to free Andrew Brunson, the US pastor whose trial on bogus terror charges has become a litmus test for turbulent ties between Turkey and the United States. The trial was adjourned until Oct. 12.The North Carolina pastor has been charged with espionage and links to coup plotters and Kurdish militants and could face up to 35 years if convicted. Brunson continued to deny any wrongdoing in his third courtroom hearing, amid a string of wild assertions from witnesses for the prosecution. “I am an innocent man on all these charges. I reject...

A Turkish court ordered on Wednesday U.S. pastor Andrew Brunson, who is being tried on terrorism and spying charges, to remain in detention, rejecting his lawyer's plea for release. The judge said the next hearing in the trial would be on October 12. Brunson, a Christian pastor from North Carolina who has lived in Turkey for more than two decades, was indicted on charges of helping the Gülenist Terror Group (FETÖ), which Ankara blames for the failed 2016 coup, as well as supporting the PKK terrorists organization. Speaking to reporters in western Izmir province after the ruling, U.S. Charge d'Affaires...

An anonymous witness at the trial of a U.S. preacher in Turkey said the American evangelistÂ’s ultimate aim was to set up a Christian Kurdish state, pro-government newspaper Sabah said. For 23 years Andrew Craig Brunson had been seeking to convert the Kurdistan WorkersÂ’ Party (PKK) armed group to Christianity and to aid it in breaking up Turkey, the witness, a former churchgoer known only as Serhat, told the court at the pastorÂ’s trial. Brunson is accused of terrorism and espionage, and faces up to 35 years in prison. U.S. President Donald Trump has personally taken up BrunsonÂ’s case, asking...

The Region has obtained a top-secret document of Turkey's Secretariat of the National Intelligence Organisation (MIT) that reveals the details of the investigation of the American pastor, Andrew Brunson. According to the document, he was arbitrarily arrested based on orders, not evidence.   Andrew Brunson, a Christian pastor who has lived in Turkey for more than two decades, was indicted on charges of helping the group that Ankara holds responsible for a failed 2016 coup against President Tayyip Erdogan. He faces up to 35 years in prison. "I've never done something against Turkey. I love Turkey. I've been praying for...

ISTANBUL (Reuters) - President Tayyip Erdogan said the United States should look at its own actions if it wants the return of an American Christian pastor who has been jailed in Turkey for suspected links to a 2016 failed coup. Erdogan made the comment in a live interview with broadcaster NTV. Andrew Brunson, who has lived in Turkey for more than two decades, was indicted on charges of helping the group that Ankara holds responsible for the failed coup against Erdogan. He faces up to 35 years in prison. Brunson denies the charges.

Sen. James Lankford (R-Okla.) called Thursday for the release of a North Carolina pastor jailed in Turkey on "trumped-up" espionage and terrorism charges. The imprisonment of Andrew Brunson has gained national attention in recent days after a tweet by President Trump. Brunson is on trial this week and faces up to 35 years in prison, if convicted. .. Kansas Sen. Sam Brownback and North Carolina Sen. Thom Tillis traveled to Turkey to observe the legal proceedings. Lankford explained that Brunson did humanitarian work in Turkey for 23 years and never had an issue renewing his visa. .. Fox News' Hollie McKay...

A tweet by U.S. President Donald Trump declaring his support for a U.S. pastor on trial in Turkey has “trample(d) on Turkey’s independent judiciary,” the pro-Turkish government Daily Sabah newspaper said on Wednesday. Evangelical Pastor Andrew Brunson, a long-term resident of the western Turkish city of Izmir, was arrested in October 2016 and charged with aiding and abetting the Fethullah Gülen movement, an Islamist movement that Turkey blames for masterminding a coup attempt in July 2016 and labels a terrorist organization. "Pastor Andrew Brunson, a fine gentleman and Christian leader in the United States, is on trial and being persecuted...