Deputy Secretary Landau’s Call with Palau President Whipps

According to multiple news outlets that saw the State Department’s statement before it became inaccessible, the call focused on a new U.S.–Palau agreement for Palau to take in people being deported from the United States:

• Topic: Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau and President Surangel Whipps Jr. discussed transferring “third‑country nationals” (migrants with no known criminal history who are being removed from the U.S.) to Palau.
• Outcome: The U.S. and Palau signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) under which Palau will accept up to 75 such migrants to live and work in Palau, framed as helping ease local labor shortages.
• U.S. commitments: In connection with the deal, the U.S. will provide Palau with about US$7.5 million to support public services for these migrants, plus additional assistance (about US$2 million for security advisers and US$6 million for civil‑service pension reforms), according to summaries of the U.S. and Palau statements. These details are drawn from Reuters-based reports that quote or closely paraphrase the now‑unavailable State Department readout and a statement from the Palau president’s office.

There is no public information on when the faulty State Department page will be fixed or when the full text of the press release will again be accessible. The timing of any restoration has not been announced.

On websites, an “Exception: forbidden” message generally corresponds to an HTTP 403 “Forbidden” error, meaning the server is refusing to give you the page. This is a server‑side problem: the site is reachable, but access to that specific URL is being blocked or misconfigured. It can be caused by:

• Intentional access control (for example, limiting a page to certain users or locations), or
• A technical/configuration error (for example, permissions set incorrectly or a broken security plugin). From the wording “We’re sorry, this site is currently experiencing technical difficulties,” the State Department page is most likely suffering from a configuration or permissions error rather than a deliberate public block, but from the outside it is not possible to say for sure which of these is the cause.

Christopher Thomas Landau is a U.S. lawyer and diplomat who has served as the 23rd United States Deputy Secretary of State since March 25, 2025. In that role he is the State Department’s second‑highest official, helping run the department and oversee implementation of U.S. foreign policy, including in the Pacific Islands.

In the Pacific context, the Deputy Secretary helps manage relationships with “Compact of Free Association” states such as Palau, the Federated States of Micronesia, and the Marshall Islands, coordinates security and economic assistance, and engages regional leaders on issues like military access, development aid, and broader U.S. strategic competition in the Indo‑Pacific.

Surangel Samuel Whipps Jr. is a Palauan businessman and politician who has served as President of the Republic of Palau since 2021 (re‑elected for a second term in 2024). Before becoming president, he was a senator in Palau’s national congress and previously ran one of the country’s largest companies.

Palau’s relationship with the United States is defined by a Compact of Free Association (COFA). Under the COFA, Palau is a sovereign country but:

• The U.S. provides economic assistance and certain federal programs.
• The U.S. has important defense and military access rights in Palau.
• Palauan citizens can live, work, and study in the United States without a visa. This makes Palau a close U.S. partner and gives Washington significant influence over Palau’s security and economic policy.

Yes. While the specific State Department readout page is returning an error, multiple reputable outlets and official channels have already published or relayed key details of the call:

• Reuters‑based reports (e.g., The Guardian and The Japan News) describe the call and the memorandum of understanding, quoting or paraphrasing the State Department and Palau presidential statements.
• The office of the President of Palau issued a statement explaining that Palau and the U.S. signed an MOU allowing up to 75 third‑country nationals to live and work in Palau in exchange for U.S. assistance; this statement is reflected in those Reuters pieces.
• The State Department’s Palau country page and “remarks and releases” index also list the readout title, confirming that an official statement exists even if the detailed page is temporarily inaccessible. These alternative sources together provide a clear picture of what the inaccessible press release contains.