Of embassy move, Trump says 'we're looking at it with great care'

In a joint press conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, President Donald Trump spoke cautiously about the future location of America's embassy in Israel.

During the presidential campaign, Trump told the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, "We will move the American embassy to the eternal capital of the Jewish people, Jerusalem."

But when asked by a reporter at the press conference if he would fulfill that promise and if so, when, Trump was less definitive.

"I'd love to see that happen," Trump said on Feb. 15, 2017. "We're looking at it very, very strongly. We're looking at it with great care, great care, believe me. And we'll see what happens. Okay?"

Trump could have said "Yes," to the first part of the question and left the moving date open. He didn't.

We reached out to the White House for an explanation and a spokesman repeated that the administration is taking a hard look at the issue.

Two days before the press conference, Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee telegraphed that the president might hold back. In an interview with Politico, Corker said the administration had been ready to order the embassy to move as soon as Trump took office. But that view shifted.

"The one plus in the Iran deal is it brought the Arab community close to Israel," Corker said. "When you've got a situation like that, do you really want to destroy this alliance that is unprecedented and is real?"

Jerusalem is disputed territory. Most of the city lay inside Israel's border but during the 1967 War, it annexed East Jerusalem. Many nations don't accept that status. For the United States to unilaterally throw its weight behind the idea that Jerusalem is the seat of the Israeli state would inflame the Arab world. Corker argued that now was not the time to upset Israel's Arab neighbors.

Trump held back from promising to move the embassy. But he did say it was still an option. We rate this promise as In the Works.