Franco Ordoñez
Franco Ordoñez is a White House Correspondent for NPR's Washington Desk. Before he came to NPR in 2019, Ordoñez covered the White House for McClatchy. He has also written about diplomatic affairs, foreign policy and immigration, and has been a correspondent in Cuba, Colombia, Mexico and Haiti.
Ordoñez has received several state and national awards for his work, including the Casey Medal, the Gerald Loeb Award and the Robert F. Kennedy Award for Excellence in Journalism. He is a two-time reporting fellow with the International Center for Journalists, and is a graduate of Columbia Journalism School and the University of Georgia.
-
President Trump returns to Washington Friday after a four-day tour through the Gulf where he struck business deals and was treated like royalty by the leaders of Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the UAE.
-
President Trump hasn't talked about the war in Gaza much since landing in the Middle East. But on Thursday, he doubled down on his plan to develop it as a "freedom zone."
-
While it's common for U.S. presidents to visit churches, only a few have made official visits to mosques. -
President Trump is visiting Qatar and the U.A.E. after inking big weapons and tech deals in Saudi Arabia. So far, his trip hasn't seemed to push forward chances for a ceasefire in Gaza. -
Gulf states are keen to invest in Syria, which has important mineral and oil reserves, but had been prevented from doing so by U.S. sanctions. President Trump has now pledged to lift the restrictions. -
Here's what President Trump did on the first full day of his trip to the Middle East.
-
President Trump made the announcement at an investment conference in Saudi Arabia. He is also heading to Qatar and the UAE on a trip focused on big-dollar deals. -
Qatar's offer of a luxury jet, which comes on the eve of President's Trump's visit to the Middle East, raises major ethical and legal questions. -
President Trump is yet to broker an end to the war in Gaza. So the first big trip of his second term will focus on big investments instead. -
Mike Waltz is out as national security adviser in the first big shakeup in White House staff since Trump started his second term. Trump will nominate Waltz to serve as ambassador to the UN.
