White House postpones Trump's summit with GCC leaders!

• The White House National Security Council said the delay was not tied to the tensions over Qatar.

The Trump administration is postponing until September a summit with Gulf Arab leaders that had been planned for this spring amid an ongoing dispute between Qatar and other US allies in the region, according to five US officials.The decision to delay the May summit with the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council reflects a crowded diplomatic calendar, and the fact that President Donald Trump is without a secretary of state until the Senate confirms current CIA Director Mike Pompeo, two of the officials said.

Other sources, however, said the delay is also a nod to the fact that Washington has made little progress so far in ending the bitter standoff between Qatar and other Gulf nations, particularly Saudi Arabia and the UAE.

The dispute pits key US allies against each other, and has complicated efforts to maintain a united front against Iran. So far, though, it has not affected the US air base in Qatar that supports attacks on extremists and surveillance of Iran — both of which the Saudis and Emiratis support.

“This was entirely our decision,” one US official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said of the delay.

“We have too many irons in the fire in May,” the official added, noting that Trump may be meeting North Korean leader Kim Jong-un next month, and that Pompeo has yet to be confirmed to replace Rex Tillerson.

A spokeswoman for the White House National Security Council said the delay was not tied to the tensions over Qatar, adding that, “President Trump is committed to resolving the Gulf dispute this month”.