Trump playing from ‘hand of strength' ahead of meeting with Putin
US President Donald Trump discussed his upcoming meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, confirming a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine will likely include a land swap.
'The President, I think, is playing from a hand of strength this week,' Mr Spicer told Sky News host Andrew Bolt.
'Putin got the message that Trump was really serious now; that Trump had given him a lot of runway to get to a deal for peace – he hadn't taken it – and that Trump was really about to ratchet it up.'
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
7NEWS
20 minutes ago
- 7NEWS
Vladimir Putin praises Donald Trump's ‘energetic and sincere' peace efforts ahead of Alaska summit
Russia's Vladimir Putin sounded positive Thursday on the eve of his talks with US President Donald Trump in Alaska, saying he believed the American leader was making 'quite energetic and sincere efforts' toward peace in Ukraine. A day ahead of their summit, Putin convened a meeting of advisers 'to inform you about how the negotiation process on the Ukrainian crisis is going,' the Kremlin said in a readout translated by NBC News. The Russian leader said the Trump administration 'is making, in my opinion, quite energetic and sincere efforts to stop the fighting, stop the crisis and reach agreements that are of interest to all parties involved in this conflict.' Those efforts are intended 'to create long-term conditions of peace between our countries and in Europe, and in the world as a whole,' he added, particularly if the negotiations extended to cover strategic offensive weapons treaties. This suggests that a deal on nuclear arms control could be part of the talks. Russia suspended its participation in the New START 'reduction in strategic offensive arms' agreement in 2023. Earlier Thursday, Putin aide Yuri Ushakov said the summit would start with head-to-head talks between Trump, Putin and their translators at 11.30am local time (5.30am Saturday AEST) and would be followed by a joint news conference. The White House later confirmed this. Trump 'wants to exhaust all options to try to bring this war to a peaceful resolution,' Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told Fox News. The top-level Russian delegation will include Putin, Ushakov, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, Defense Minister Andrei Belousov, Finance Minister Anton Siluanov and Putin's longtime friend and investment envoy Kirill Dmitriev, Ushakov said on a call with journalists in Moscow. The primary topic of the meeting will be Ukraine, he said, but he added that he expected the 'huge, and unfortunately hitherto untapped, potential' of economic ties between the US and Russia would also be discussed. As well as Putin's openly stated goal of subjugating Ukraine, he also wants to end Russia's exile from the Western financial system following economic sanctions imposed by Washington, the European Union and others. Trump has not yet lifted these punishments but has expressed a desire to end Russia's economic pariah status. The Trump-Putin summit has prompted howls of dismay and anxiety across Ukraine and Europe, which have not been invited to the talks and fear what the American president may agree to with his Russian counterpart about the conflict raging on their continent. They have been confined to their own diplomatic scrambling, including dozens of calls between Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and other leaders, culminating in a video call between these parties and Trump himself Wednesday. Zelenskyy said that Putin 'is bluffing' in saying he wants peace. On Thursday, the Ukrainian leader flew to London and met his British counterpart, Prime Minister Keir Starmer, for what both called a 'productive meeting.' As well as the prospect of Britain financing the small drones that have become central to Ukraine's battlefield defense, the pair discussed the Alaska talks, 'which present a viable chance to make progress as long as Putin takes action to prove he is serious about peace,' a spokesperson from Starmer's office, No.10 Downing St, said in a statement. After Wednesday's call with Zelenskyy, Starmer and others, Trump said he had assured them that there would be 'very severe consequences' — without elaborating what those might be — if Putin did not agree to end the war during their sit-down discussion. Two European officials and three other people briefed on the call told NBC News that he told them he would not discuss possible divisions of territory with the man flying in from the Kremlin.
Perth Now
20 minutes ago
- Perth Now
Horror author Stephen King brands Donald Trump's presidency a 'horror story'
Stephen King has branded US President Donald Trump a "horror story" who he wants to see leave the White House in disgrace. The acclaimed horror author - whose books include The Shining, It and Carrie, among many others - has nothing but total contempt for President Trump and his right wing politics. King, 77, would like to see Trump's second term in office end with an impeachment. Asked in a reader interview with The Guardian newspaper what he would write if he had to invent an ending for Trump's America, King replied: 'I think it would be impeachment – which, in my view, would be a good ending. I would love to see him retired, let's put it that way. The bad ending would be that he gets a third term and takes things over completely.' 'It's a horror story either way. Trump is a horror story, isn't he?' Misery writer King has been an outspoken critic of Trump, 79, and used his X account to brand the White House incumbent a "spoiled child". Posting on the social media platform, he wrote: Deep down in his heart, I believe Trump knows he's an incompetent a**hole. "Trump is like a spoiled child. When he doesn't get his way, he throws a tantrum." Trump has been impeached twice by the House of Representatives, but acquitted by the Senate on both occasions; first in 2019 for obstruction of Congress and secondly in 2021 after the Capitol attack that occurred on January 6 with the House of Representatives charging Trump with "incitement of insurrection" due to his allegations of election fraud. In September, the movie adaptation of King's short novel The Long Walk is released starring Mark Hamill, Cooper Hoffman, Ben Wang and Charlie Plummer. Set in a dystopian alternate version of America ruled by a totalitarian regime, Hamill plays the Major, a military commander who oversees an annual and gruelling walking competition. Star Wars actor Hamill - who played Jedi Knight Luke Skywalker in the sci-fi franchise - previously spoke about how his role as the Major in The Long Walk is 'unlike anything [he's] ever done before' in his career. During an interview with Discussing Film, Hamill, 73, said: 'Well, he's amoral. I mean, for you to be able to do what he does … he's got to be some kind of sociopath. 'There's no sort of backstory for him, but you know he's a really troubled person. And sadistic and … just all those terrible things.'
Sky News AU
2 hours ago
- Sky News AU
‘DC's a problem': Democrats ‘freakout' over Trump's Washington crime crackdown
Filmmaker Ami Horowitz comments on the Democrats' response to US President Donald Trump's Washington crime crackdown, claiming major media is having a 'freakout'. 'Overall, you continue to see this freakout across major media for this,' Mr Horowitz told Sky News host Danica De Giorgio. 'DC is not a state, constitutionally … it is under the purview of the federal government. 'DC's a problem.'
