White House cites Jerusalem recognition among Trump’s 2017 accomplishments

Decertification of Iran deal also marked as major achievement in end-of-year list

WASHINGTON — The White House included President Donald Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and his decertification of the Iran nuclear deal in a list of his first-year accomplishments.

“President Trump followed through on his campaign promise and recognized Jerusalem as the capital of the State of Israel,” said a bullet point on the list, posted December 22 and headlined “Year One of Making America Great Again.” It appeared in a category described as “Restoring confidence in and respect for America.”

“President Trump approved a new Iran strategy focused on neutralizing Iran’s regional destabilizing influence, sanctioning Iran’s ballistic missile program and decertifying Iran’s compliance with the multilateral nuclear deal,” was another bullet point, under the category “Restoring peace through strength.”

Trump reversed 70 years of executive branch policy earlier this month when he recognized Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. US officials have said that it will take at least several years before the US embassy moves there from Tel Aviv.

In October, Trump said Iran was not in compliance with the 2015 nuclear deal, although he did not pull out of the agreement. Inspectors say that Iran is complying with the narrow strictures of the deal, which trades sanctions relief for a rollback in Iran’s nuclear program.

The official White House Twitter feed on Tuesday highlighted the Jerusalem promise. “President Trump followed through on his campaign promise and recognized Jerusalem as the capital of the State of Israel,” it said.