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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The U.S. ambassador to the United Nations rejected China's suggestion that the U.S. and South Korea would suspend military drills if North Korea suspends its missile testing. Ambassador Nikki Haley says "all options" are on the table to deal with North Korea.
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Jeff Sessions, now attorney general, met twice last year with Sergey Kislyak, Russia's U.S. ambassador. This has raised more questions about contacts between the Trump campaign and Russian officials. -
Questions are being raised about how much influence Tillerson has with the White House. He was absent from the president's recent meetings with the leaders of Canada, Israel and Japan. -
A day after President Trump raised questions about the decades-old approach to Middle East peace, his pick to become ambassador to Israel, David Friedman, has his confirmation hearing.
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A bipartisan group of senators hopes to make it harder for the Trump administration to ease sanctions on Russia.
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It's a shift from earlier comments by Trump, who had seemed to give Israel a green light to build more housing for Jewish settlers in areas the Palestinians hope will become part of a future state. -
Rex Tillerson, the former oil company CEO, will now head America's foreign policy, as skeptical diplomats wait for what's next. -
A day after criticism and chaos for some caused by his executive order temporarily banning Muslims from seven countries, the president took to Twitter Sunday morning to defend himself. -
As the inauguration nears, Russian President Vladimir Putin accused Donald Trump's foes of undermining the president-elect's legitimacy. The U.S. says Russia is trying to undermine global order.
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Lawmakers have lots of questions for Donald Trump's pick for secretary of state, Rex Tillerson. The former ExxonMobil CEO has done business around the world, including with Russian President Putin.
