The White House insisted Tuesday it still hopes to wrap up negotiations on a massive EU-US trade deal by year's end, after officials in France and Germany publicly called the pact into question. "Our position on this has not changed," said White House spokesman Josh Earnest. "We are continuing to work toward a goal of completing those negotiations before the end of the year." Earnest said President Barack Obama will send his top trade official to Europe in the coming weeks for further negotiations, pointedly rejecting French demands that talks be halted.