Michele Kelemen
Michele Kelemen has been with NPR for two decades, starting as NPR's Moscow bureau chief and now covering the State Department and Washington's diplomatic corps. Her reports can be heard on all NPR News programs, including Morning Edition and All Things Considered.
As Diplomatic Correspondent, Kelemen has traveled with Secretaries of State from Colin Powell to Mike Pompeo and everyone in between. She reports on the Trump administration's "America First" foreign policy and before that the Obama and Bush administration's diplomatic agendas. She was part of the NPR team that won the 2007 Alfred I. DuPont-Columbia University Award for coverage of the war in Iraq.
As NPR's Moscow bureau chief, Kelemen chronicled the end of the Yeltsin era and Vladimir Putin's consolidation of power. She recounted the terrible toll of the latest war in Chechnya, while also reporting on a lighter side of Russia, with stories about modern day Russian literature and sports.
Kelemen came to NPR in September 1998, after eight years working for the Voice of America. There, she learned the ropes as a news writer, newscaster and show host.
Michele earned her Bachelor's degree from the University of Pennsylvania and a Master's degree from the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies in Russian and East European Affairs and International Economics.
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Ukraine is concerned about what the Trump administration's efforts to improve relations with Russia will mean for its relations with Washington. Poroshenko wanted to meet with Trump before Putin did. -
Secretary of State Rex Tillerson wants flexibility as he tries to improve ties with Russia. The Senate wants to make sure the Trump administration doesn't change course without congressional buy-in. -
President Trump has waived the move of the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem — at least for now, according to the White House. Moving the embassy had been a key campaign promise.
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Questions about the direction of U.S. foreign policy as the State Department operates without a full complement of staff are expected at the deputy secretary of state nomination hearing for John Sullivan.
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Secretary of State Tillerson tells NPR Kim Jong Un has to show up willing to talk about giving up the arms: "We do not seek a collapse of [his] regime. ... We seek a denuclearized Korean peninsula." -
Andrew Brunson has been in a Turkish jail on terrorism charges, which his family says are "totally false." Vice President Pence has said the case is a high priority for the Trump administration. -
Secretary of State Rex Tillerson's trip to Moscow has gotten more difficult. The trip originally was to explore cooperation between the 2 countries but it's likely to be dominated by events in Syria.
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President Trump hosts Egyptian leader Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi at the White House Monday. The Obama administration never invited Sissi to Washington out of concerns over his human rights record.
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As President Fattah al-Sisi meets President Trump, Egyptians in exile and in jail wonder if the U.S. cares about human rights. They don't want Trump to turn a blind eye to Egypt's political prisoners.
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Secretary of State Rex Tillerson is hosting officials from 68 countries to discuss how best to take on ISIS. "As a coalition we are not in the business of nation-building or reconstruction," he said.
