Entrance ready to roll. Turkeys defense minister is part of a planned invasion. Sarah im sarah harman. Welcome to the show. It is good to have you with us. Saturday marks the First Anniversary of Donald Trumps inauguration as 45th president of the United States. Well, some said he wouldnt last until christmas, but the economy booming at his Health Reportedly good, President Trump is holding steady. His unpredictable nature, however, has had supporters cheering and his opponents cringing. Here is a look back at an eventful year. Reporter it was an audacious first week in office. Immigration at the central tenet of candidate trumps campaign. Within days of his inauguration, President Trump issue the first of what became known as muslim bans. This supporters welcome the mo that mood, but protesters turned out at airports across the country. Legal challenges came almost immediately. Even after trump signed a second and third ban, courts prevented them from going fully into effect. The Supreme Court will decide their fate this year. Shortly after the election, the number of illegal crossings at the u. S. Mexican border hidden alltime low, according to u. S. Border officials. Throughout the year, the government stepped up raids and arrests of suspected undocumented persons in the u. S. The wall on the u. S. Mexican border that trump promised as part of key immigration negotiations in washington. One clear time for trump was the ascension of neil gorsuch to the Supreme Court. For many conservatives, this was an affirmation of why they voted for trump. Gorsuch is an archconservative interest. At 49ers old and with a lifetime appointment, he is likely to shape a good portion of american law going forward. Trumps only legislative success so far has been his tax bill. It advances civil conservative several conservative republican objectives come in particular lowering the rate for the richest americans. He sent the bill into law even though the American Public largely disapproved. The president also fulfill a Key Campaign Promise when he announced he would withdraw the u. S. From paris climate agreement over the objections of many advisors. The u. S. Is now the only country in the world that has not signed the accord. Building on strategies the Obama Administration put in place, trump upped the numbers of u. S. Troops in iraq and syria, ultimately helping to defeat the socalled islamic state. The Prime Minister of iraq declared victory over i. S. Last month. The u. S. Economy has remained strong under trump. U. S. Stock markets have reached record highs and unemployment is at a 17year low. Although the president s behavior has been a daily flashpoint, and many people feel left behind in the economy, mainstream conservatives have a lot to be happy about. Sarah what a year it has been. A political consultant and strategist who worked on obamas First Campaign wow, what a roller coaster ride. We and the entire country have been on, really. The pieces of conference of review, the highs, the lows one thing it did not touch on was the overturned in trumps inner circle. When you look at these pictures, flynns gone, spicer is gone, preibus is gone. Do you expect this trend to continue . If it continues at this rate in this case, there was all nobody left there is a must nobody left. This has been an incredible year for trump and his team. We have seen steve bannon and the last couple of weeks in the fire and fury book, very explicit things that steve bannon has said about trump. A lot of infighting and palace intrigue, and trump has to figure out how he gets his Team Together and pull it together to have more legislative accomplishments, because this first year has been a lot of controversy but very little to show for. Sarah lets talk about polling. Trump has low approval ratings. Depending on the week it is generally around 40 . Do you think republicans should be concerned . Midterm elections are not general elections and turnout is entirely different. But if you take the special elections throughout this year, the momentum and the excitement is on the democratic side. We have seen state elections and Senate Elections in alabama where democrats have absolutely no business of winning. A lot of people are showing up in the midterm elections, which might be an indicator that democrats at the moment and to take back one guest when it comes to the november elections. Best to take back congress when comes to the november elections. Sarah do you think the democrats will hold trump to account if that happens, what do you think they are determined to Work Together no matter what . If we dont look too far ahead but look back on the first year, republicans have followed lockstep everything trump has. You can say trump has done things that happened out of the ordinary, but paul ryan, mitch mcconnell, republicans in congress have not hel into account. There had been no limits on trump. They have done whatever he says. Im looking to republicans to take more responsibility and be a check and balance on trump, but republicans are pretty much in lockstep and i dont see a change in the near future. Sarah people did not expect trump to be elected, generally. A lot of people do not think he would last a year. Can we expect them to last a term . After last year, a lot of us should get out of the prediction business. Sarah amen. But there are so many questions. Investigation of mueller and the fbi come we dont see what is happening yet, but that is going to come. Lets take the word of steve bannon, his former chief strategist, who gives him a 30 chance to finish his term. Sarah 30 is not nothing. Certainly not. Sarah political strategist, thanks for being with us. Welcome to business news. Its the economy, stupid that is how bill clinton won the u. S. Presidency in 1992. Not knowing it is donald trump who would draw on that same idea two decades later against his wife, hillary. Trump didnt only run, he also won. One year into his presidency, lets see how trump performed. Was he as good for business as he said he would be . You create a top job in his administration and one of them went to rex tillerson. The former ceo of exxon mobil became secretary of state. Just weeks ago, President Trump opened up formerly protected waters on the east and west coast for drilling. A business for big oil. Big business for big oil. Lets take you to wall street. Jens, as we look back on the year of donald trump, his first decision about drilling, was it exactly what the oil industry was waiting for . Jens well, i mean, first of all, rex tillerson, secretary of state, when it comes to the decision to open up the cause on the pacific and on the atlantic side, this is not the final decision yet. We have to wait and see. But there is no question about it that this government is doing everything what seems to be good for the industry, and this year, actually, u. S. Might pump more oil than saudi arabia. It could be a push for the oil industry over here in the United States. Please stand by. Were looking at other business friendly activities of donald trump, the trump administration. Also on trumps team, steve mnuchin, the treasury secretary emma used to work for goldman sachs. His former employer and other wall street banks celebrated early on when President Trump these regulations on investment banks. But they had to take major writeoffs recently to get tax reform from u. S. President donald trump. And we are going back to jens korte on wall street. Visit the banks who are benefit is it the banks were benefiting the most from that . Jens it is tough to say if they will profit the most, but to a certain degree, it is a double whammy for the financial industry on one side, the big banks, for example, will profit in the midlongterm from lower Corporate Tax rate, and then on the other side, we might see less regulation when it comes to the financial industry. We have seen a lot of billiondollar writeoffs of the big financial institutions, but the midlongterm banks should profit like other industries in the u. S. As well. We will be back with you in just a moment. Looking at the technology sector, one of trumps early business meetings was with executives from silicon valley, top executives from microsoft, google, and amazon were in attendance, as was apple ceo tim cook completing for easier immigration rules for specialized workers. Apple announced that the company will repatriate a quarter chilean dollars in cash quarter chilean dollars and quarter trillion dollars in cash stashed abroad. It will build a new campus, promising to create 20,000 new jobs. Going back to jens on wall street, it sounds rather good, rather positive if you look back on 2017, donald trump year. Is it that rosy . Is that your report card you would give donald trump . Jens wall street is happy. The stock market gained about 7 trillion in value since Inauguration Day about a year ago, and overall, the economic picture does look rather bright. The Unemployment Rate is at the lowest level in about 17 years. The industrial sector is doing better. But also, it does come at a price. We talk about the tax reform. We will see less tax revenue for the next 10 years in the amount of almost 1. 5 chilean dollars 1. 5 trillion. We will have to see in the long term if this presidency is really that good for the u. S. Economy in the long term. Thank you so much for all your reporting. Staying on that story, donald trump, one year into his presidency, a lot has changed, not only in the u. S. As we take stock of trumps first year in the white house can take we take you to cuba. Donald trump has tightened restrictions again, this is what it means. Reporter the man overlooking revolution square is a legend. Che guevara. The net on the harley is his son. He is showing tourists across havana. His guests love it. The business took off after then president barack obama lifted a longstanding travel ban for americans. The first the first years were very good. There was an opening an increase in tourism, and that helped us. Today things are more complicated. Conditions are worse, and tourism has dropped a bit p dropped of it. In fact, tourism has not dropped. 2017 was a record year for cuba. Tourism was upcoming clinic from the u. S. But under new regulations from the trump administration, all travel must take place with organized for groups. Tourists can rent classic cars the owner is famous for. He has an idea of why u. S. Tourists are facing tighr rules again. When americans see the reality of cuban life when you hear the testimony of cuban businessmen from the private sector, they realize everything they then told our lives. Tighter regulations or not, american tourists still flock to the island. In Small Businesses wont benefit from the business until after the trump years. From cuba to some challenges in germany, my colleague sarah harman. Sarah chancellor Angela Merkels political fate could be decided this weekend and not by the voters or her own party, but by potential coalition partners. The leader of the democrats will try to convince a special party wants to back to leadership position to enter talks with merkel and conservatives. Formal negotiations can only begin if the conference votes yes. But the s pd is split come with particular resistance from the youth wing, and a no vote would mean either minority government or fresh elections. Martin schulz has been speaking about the importance of sundays vote. We are concentrating on reaching a majority at the Party Congress on sunday in favor of the decision to enter into talks aimed at finding a coalition deal. That is my task to get a majority. Others are trying to get a majority for their positions. That is how the Democratic Party works. Sarah meanwhile, chancellor merkel has been in paris to meet french president Emmanuel Macron. They are trying to hammer out a series of reforms to the eurozone. Macron is keen to see change. He wants a separate budget and single finance minister for the euro zone. But merkel is not so sure. Reporter over the last weeks and months, Emmanuel Macron has been left waiting. He is eager to push on with grand plans for europe, but his key partner, the german chancellor, has been busy with other things. She has been struggling to form a new government at home. Inevitably, those struggles were a major issue when it the 2 leaders face to the press. Merkel said she was optimistic she would soon reach a coalition with germanys social democrats. Chancellor merkel i can see substantial a race of agreement, notably regarding our european ambitions, and i am convinced for that we need a stable government. Reporter our ambitions cannot be realized alone, and i have already said it several times, they needed to be accompanied by german ambitions. And those ambitions are high. Added eu summit last month, merkel and macron pledged to draw up her proposals for reforming the eurozone. Macron has floated radical ideas a single budget, single finance minister for all numbers states. Merkel is more hesitant. But on the wider vision for europe, the 2 say they are great. Chancellor merkel it is the rep that must have a common Foreign Policy on strategic questions, i love that most create its own, develop a rep that must create its own, development policies, and erupted must be economically strong. Reporter for me to priority is to know where we want to go. I think we should this vision of defending a greater sovereignty, a greater your the greater unity. If we agree on the end goals, we can construct the tools to get us there. For the french president , a more integrated europe goes hand in hand with the probusiness policies he hopes will invigorate the economy at home. Big plans for the american unit, but with germany, one of the key players of the eu, not having a new government is going to be hard for the french president , Emmanuel Macron, to put any of these plans into action. Sarah asked hoffman reporting from paris. Here is a look at the other stories making news around the world. A munich court has sentenced a man who sold the poster to the shooter in the citys 2016 mass shooting. The man was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter. He was sentenced to seven years in prison. He admitted selling the weapon to the 18yearold gun man who killed the night people before turning the weapon on himself. Here in germany, cleanup work is underway in the wake of the worst storm to hit Northern Iraq in a decade. Hurricane Northern Europe in a decade. Hurricane friederike killed at least 12 people and cost 500 Million Euros worth of damage. The husband of a german journalist has been rearrested in turkey just weeks after he and his wife were released from pretrial detention. He is a journalist activist and his fatherinlaw confirm he has been taken into custody. He and his wife face charges of belonging to a terrorist organization. Turkish forces have started firing on targets across the border with syria. The countrys defense minister says an operation against the kurdishcontrolled enclave has begun. The move comes just days after turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan one says he would stand out what he calls nests of terror on the border. A military intervention puts turkey at odds with the United States, which has backed the kurdish militias in their fight against the socalled islamic state. Reporter not even the rain could dampen their spirits. Thousands of kurds demonstrated against a possible invasion of turkish troops. President erdogans and oscar that he wants to drive kurdish militias out of the syrian enclave brought them onto the streets. The world needs to hear us and end these threats from turkey. Erdogan wants to intimidate us. But we will kill any attacker who sets foot. Reporter 20 kilometers further north, turkish tanks roll on unperturbed towards the border region. Security there is high. Media reports say there have been exchanges of gunfire, but no one was injured. Turkey called the kurdish militias in Northern Syria terrorists. Ankara says they had the extended arm of the banned pkk. However, some kurdish militias are u. S. Allies in the fight against socalled islamic state. We are telling the turkish army straight we are ready. We are prepared for anything, and our troops are wellequipped to defend afrin. Reporter it now fears a military strike that could drag the entire region into a new war. Sarah with me in the studio now is the chief negotiator for syrias opposition at the upcoming geneva peace talks. Thanks for being with us. I understand you are not supposed to speak on afrin, only here to talk about negotiation. Maybe i can ask you this are you worried that american support for the kurds will lead to the partition of syria . Exactly. Good evening. One of the most important things in the future of syria is the unity of the Syrian People and territory. We know well that this militia, byd, has their own projects. They are not opposition and they are not also regime. They have their own project. They want to establish federalism system that is married to the division of syria. Any support for any militia which has ideologically project makes us afraid that this might be leading to a kind of division in the future. Sarah do you support turkeys actions . I know that the problem is pyd. Pyd has a lot of problems with syria relations against syrians. We saw them when they entered r aqqa city. Now in the schools they forced their ideology even on the student and the schools. We have displaced hundred thousand civilians there. There are lots of connections between them and the pkk. Also, pyd has a problem with the International Community, and a. For example, turkey or iran or others. I cannot speak of support or not support. I know there is a problem, which is pyd. It must be solved. Pyd must not allow civilians to be targeted, to harm civilians within these areas. Sarah lets talk about the attempts to solve the problems with the larger problems in syria. There is going to be a new round peace talks in geneva in january and you will be part of that presumably. Is anything different this time, or are we continuing to go through the motions . No, there is International Pressure arranged by the americans and International Players to push on directions and see. This is a kind of test, the next round of negotiation to see if the russians is able to put enough leverage in the regime to come to the negotiation table. And for this reason, the next round will be only two days, and with specific ideas to see if the regime will accept and engage in negotiation or not. I think this kind of negotiation will be different. Sarah this round will be different. Can there be a resolution with Bashar Alassad in syria in power . We are going to implement 2254 and geneva communicate as it is literally to achieve a political solution by establishing the transition with fully executed powers, and to form a new constitution that achieves the demands of the Syrian People, and to do a free and Fair Election under the supervision of the united nations, according to the highest principles. We are discussing achieving total political transition without preconditions from anybody. Sarah so no preconditions. Meanwhile, while these talks are going on, and we are in year 6, 7 of the syrian civil 7 people are suffering. Our you concerned that people have been forgotten by the International Community . Yes, the two military situation is completely terrible. At least 200,000 have been this post their villages and homes during the last two weeks had been displaced from their villages and homes during the last two weeks, at least 220 have been killed, the majority of them innocent women and children. We are pushing for negotiation for the demands of these people, because the suffering of the Syrian People, because of the continuous tyranny of the dictatorship regime and the foreign militia who are fighting now beside the regime. Sarah millions of syrians have been displaced refugee camps in turkey and lebanon and hundreds of thousands of syrians living here in germany. Do you have a message that they will be able to return home if they want to . They will return. The mechanism for pushing for a solution and now is slightly different, and we are doing our best to make the political process credible, to reach a political solution that allows them to return safely to their homes. Sarah the chief negotiator for syrias opposition at the upcoming geneva peace talks, thanks for being with us. Youre welcome. Sarah all right, turning to something a bit lighter, it is day nine of the paragliding final in london, and it has been won by a swiss pilot resort to victory with a sixminute lead over his closest challenger. Competitors battled clouds and missed throughout the race come after the day started with tropical rains from. His win sees him a blank top spot in the overall world cup rankings playing top spot in the overall world cup rankings. Reminder about cap story here on dw saturday marks one year since Donald Trumps inauguration as the 45th president of the United States of yes had his supporters cheering and opponents cringing, but despite trumps ups and downs, the economy is booming. Thanks for watching. [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. Visit ncicap. Org] karin greetings from our studios in berlin, and a warm welcome to our first highlights edition of 2018, shaping up this time around with the following topics through the ages the bulgarian capital sofia and its colorful past. Top of the pile handpainted wallpaper is a luxury home accessory. And, in the stars astrologers making their predictions for 2018. And we start off in our crazy capital, which is a mega draw very long tradition here ina