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The Hill
6 hours ago
- The Hill
Bolton says Trump ‘wants a Nobel Peace Prize more than anything else'
Former national security adviser John Bolton, a vocal critic of President Trump's foreign policy decisions, said the president 'wants the Nobel Peace Prize more than anything else,' adding that 'the way to his heart,' which he said leaders like Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu discovered, is to offer to nominate him. While discussing Trump's recent foreign policy moves, including hosting the Azerbaijan-Armenia deal and helping broker a peace deal between Congo and Rwanda, Bolton argued that he doesn't believe 'what he has done materially changes the situation in any of those circumstances, or several others he's mentioned,' mentioning many Indians were upset that he took credit for mediating a ceasefire between Pakistan and India after clashes in May. 'I think what Trump has done is make it clear that he wants the Nobel Peace Prize more than anything else and the way to his heart, as Pakistani chief of staff [Asim] Munir found, Bibi Netanyahu found, offer to nominate him,' Bolton said. Bolton's criticism comes after multiple figures, including Netanyahu, White House trade adviser Peter Navarro and Cambodian Deputy Prime Minister Sun Chanthol, mentioned Trump being nominated for various Nobel Peace Prizes. However, Bolton, who criticized Trump's upcoming meeting in Alaska with Russian President Vladimir Putin, said Trump's moves haven't changed anything in foreign policy. 'In Thailand/Cambodia, he simply threatened tariffs if they didn't sign a deal,' he said. 'They've signed a deal. Nothing has changed. And the real kicker in Azerbaijan and Armenia was the Russians allowing Azerbaijan to take control of Nagorno-Karabakh in the past year.
Los Angeles Times
a day ago
- Los Angeles Times
Trump, casting himself as ‘peacemaker-in-chief,' faces tests in Gaza and Ukraine
WASHINGTON — After styling himself for decades as a dealmaker, President Trump is showing some receipts in his second term of ceasefires and peace agreements brokered on his watch. But the president faces extraordinary challenges in his latest push to negotiate ends to the world's two bloodiest conflicts. Stakes could not be higher in Ukraine, where nearly a million Russian soldiers have been killed or wounded in pursuit of Vladimir Putin's war of conquest, according to independent analysts. Hundreds of thousands of Ukrainian soldiers add to the catastrophic casualty toll. Trump's struggle to get both sides to a negotiating table, let alone to secure a ceasefire, has grown into a fixation for Trump, prompting rare rebukes of Putin from the U.S. president. And in the Gaza Strip, an alliance that has withstood scathing international criticism over Israel's conduct of its war against Hamas has begun to show strain. Trump still supports the fundamental mission of Israel's prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, to destroy the militant group and secure the release of Israeli hostages in its possession. But mounting evidence of mass starvation in Gaza has begun to fray the relationship, reportedly resulting in a shouting match in their most recent call. Breakthroughs in the two conflicts have evaded Trump, despite his efforts to fashion himself into the 'peacemaker-in-chief' and floating his own nomination for the Nobel Peace Prize. In Turnberry, Scotland, last month, Trump claimed that six wars had been stopped or thwarted under his watch since he returned to office in January. 'I'm averaging about a war a month,' he said at the time. He has, in fact, secured a string of tangible successes on the international stage, overseeing a peace agreement between the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Rwanda; hosting a peace ceremony between Armenia and Azerbeijan; brokering a ceasefire between Cambodia and Thailand, and imposing an end to a 12-day war between Israel and Iran after engaging U.S. forces directly in the conflict. 'As president, my highest aspiration is to bring peace and stability to the world,' Trump said at the ceremony with Armenian and Azerbaijani leaders Friday. 'We've only been here for six months. The world was on fire. We took care of just about every fire — and we're working on another one,' he said, 'with Russia, Ukraine.' Trump also takes credit for lowering tensions between Serbia and Kosovo, and for brokering a ceasefire between two nuclear states, India and Pakistan, a claim the latter supports but the former denies. 'Wars usually last five to 10 years,' said Michael E. O'Hanlon, chair in defense and strategy at the Brookings Institution. 'Trump is tactically clever, but no magician. If he actually gets three of these five conflicts to end, that's an incredible track record. 'In each case, he may exaggerate his own role,' O'Hanlon said, but 'that's OK — I welcome the effort and contribution, even if others deserve credit, too.' Well past his campaign promise of ending Russia's war with Ukraine 'within 24 hours' of taking office, Trump has tried pressuring both sides to come to the negotiating table, starting with the Ukrainians. 'You don't have the cards,' Trump told Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in an infamous Oval Office meeting in February, chastising him to prepare to make painful concessions to end the war. But in June, at a NATO summit in the Netherlands, Trump's years-long geniality with Putin underwent a shift. He began criticizing Russia's leader as responsible for the ongoing conflict, accusing Putin of throwing 'meaningless ... bull—' at him and his team. 'I'm not happy with Putin, I can tell you that much right now,' Trump said, approving new weapons for Ukraine, a remarkable policy shift long advocated by the Europeans. The Trump administration set Friday as a deadline for Putin to demonstrate his commitment to a ceasefire, or otherwise face a new round of crushing secondary sanctions — financial tools that would punish Russia's trading partners for continuing business with Moscow. Those plans were put on hold after Trump announced he would meet with Putin in Alaska next week, a high-stakes meeting that will exclude Zelensky. 'The highly anticipated meeting between myself, as President of the United States of America, and President Vladimir Putin, of Russia, will take place next Friday, August 15, 2025, in the Great State of Alaska. Further details to follow,' Trump wrote on his social media platform, Truth Social, on Friday. 'Thank you for your attention to this matter!' Meeting Putin one-on-one — the first meeting between a U.S. and Russian president in four years, and the first between Putin and any Western leader since he launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 — in and of itself could be seen as a reward for a Russian leader seeking to regain international legitimacy, experts said. Worse still, Putin, a former KGB officer, could approach the meeting as an opportunity to manipulate the American president. 'Putin has refused to abandon his ultimate objectives in Ukraine — he is determined to supplant the Zelensky government in Kyiv with a pro-Russian regime,' said Kyle Balzer, a scholar at the conservative American Enterprise Institute. 'He wants ironclad guarantees that Ukraine will never gain admittance to NATO. So there is currently no agreement to be had with Russia, except agreeing to surrender to Putin's demands. Neither Ukraine nor Europe are interested in doing so. 'Put simply, Putin likely believes that he can wear down the current administration,' Balzer added. 'Threatening Russia with punitive acts like sanctions, and then pulling back when the time comes to do so, has only emboldened Putin to strive for ultimate victory in Ukraine.' A European official told The Times that, while the U.S. government had pushed for Zelensky to join the initial meeting, a response from Kyiv — noting that any territorial concession to Russia in negotiations would have to be approved in a ballot referendum by the Ukrainian people — scuttled the initial plan. The Trump administration is prepared to endorse the bulk of Russia's occupation of Ukrainian territory, including the eastern region of Donbas and the Crimean peninsula, at the upcoming summit, Bloomberg reported. On Friday, Trump called the issue of territory 'complicated.' 'We're gonna get some back,' he said. 'There will be some swapping of territories.' Michael Williams, an international relations professor at Syracuse University, said that Trump has advocated for a ceasefire in Ukraine 'at the expense of other strategic priorities such as stability in Europe and punishment of Russia through increased aid to Ukraine.' Such an approach, Williams said, 'would perhaps force the Kremlin to end the war, and further afield, would signal to other potential aggressors, such as China, that violations of international law will be met with a painful response.' At Friday's peace ceremony, Trump told reporters he was considering a proposal to relocate Palestinian refugees to Somalia and its breakaway region, Somaliland, once Israel ends hostilities against Hamas in the Gaza Strip. 'We are working on that right now,' Trump said. It was just the latest instance of Trump floating the resettlement of Palestinians displaced during the two-year war there, which has destroyed more than 90% of the structures throughout the strip and essentially displaced its entire population of 2 million people. The Hamas-run Health Ministry reports that more than 60,000 civilians and militants have died in the conflict. Hamas, recognized as a terrorist organization by the United States, the European Union and others, has refused to concede the war, stating it would disarm only once a Palestinian state is established. The group continues to hold roughly 50 Israeli hostages, some dead and some alive, among 251 taken during its attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, which also killed about 1,200 people. Israel's Cabinet voted this week to approve a plan to take over Gaza City in the north of the strip and, eventually, the rest of the territory, a deeply unpopular strategy in the Israeli military and among the Israeli public. Netanyahu on Friday rejected the notion that Israel planned to permanently occupy Gaza. Despite applying private pressure on Netanyahu, Trump's strategy has largely fallen in line with that of his predecessor, Joe Biden, whose team supported Israel's right to defend itself while working toward a peace deal that, at its core, would exchange the remaining hostages for a cessation of hostilities. The talks have stalled, one U.S. official said, primarily blaming Hamas over its demands. 'In Gaza, there is a fundamental structural imbalance of dealing with a terrorist organization that may be immune to traditional forms of pressure — military, economic or otherwise — and that may even have a warped, perverse set of priorities in which the suffering of its own people is viewed as a political asset because it tarnishes the reputation of the other party, Israel,' said Robert Satloff, executive director of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. 'So Trump really only has leverage over one party — his ally, Israel — which he has been reluctant to wield, reasonably so.' In Ukraine, too, Trump holds leverage he has been unwilling, thus far, to bring to bear. 'There, Trump has leverage over both parties but appears reluctant to wield it on one of them — Russia,' Satloff said. But Trump suggested Friday that threatened sanctions on India over its purchase of Russian oil, and his agreement with the North Atlantic Treaty Organization to secure greater security spending from European members, 'had an impact' on Moscow's negotiating position. 'I think my instinct really tells me that we have a shot at it,' Trump said. 'I think we're getting very close.'
Yahoo
a day ago
- Yahoo
California, New York signal they're moving forward with redistricting
California and New York are signaling they will move forward with plans to redraw congressional lines as Democrats look to counter the Texas GOP. California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) said Monday that Democrats are pursuing a plan to put mid-decade redistricting before voters, which could be 'triggered' by what happens in Texas. And New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D), appearing alongside Texas Democrats who fled to her state over the proposed maps Monday, embraced exploring 'every option' to redraw congressional lines. Both states, however, face challenges with their plans and are unlikely to have new maps before next year's midterm elections, when Republicans will be defending their narrow 219-212 House majority. 'What Texas has done now is that: If you drive the car all the way off the cliff, there's no road. And I don't know if they realize exactly how far they may have pushed some other actors around the country,' said Justin Levitt, a law professor at Loyola Marymount University who founded the database All About Redistricting. Texas Republicans' proposed redistricting plan, which is backed by President Trump and could net the GOP several more congressional seats, prompted Texas Democrats to flee their state and break quorum, depriving the chamber of the numbers it needs to function. But while their move, which comes with significant legal and political hurdles for the participating state legislators, puts a pause on state House business, it's unlikely to kill the proposal altogether. As a result, Democrats are eyeing opportunities to cancel out would-be Republican gains in the Lone Star State by redistricting to their benefit elsewhere. Newsom told reporters Monday that California is charging ahead with preparations for potential redistricting ahead of the midterms 'in response to the existential realities that we're now facing.' 'We're going to fight fire with fire,' Newsom said. 'We also will punch above our weight in terms of the impact of what we're doing, and I think that should be absorbed by those in the Texas delegation. Whatever they are doing will be neutered here in the state of California.' Leaders in the blue stronghold are considering a plan that would put mid-decade redistricting before voters during a special election this November, contingent on whether Texas moves forward with gerrymandered maps. 'It's cause and effect, triggered on the basis of what occurs or doesn't occur in Texas,' the governor said. The plan would maintain the framework of California's independent redistricting commission but 'allow for this mid-census redistricting to occur just for congressional maps in 26, 28 and 30,' before revering to the existing system, Newsom explained. Sara Sadhwani, a member of the redistricting commission that redrew California's lines in 2021 and a politics professor at Pomona College, said she stands by the Golden State's current maps as 'a real win for democracy and for fair redistricting.' 'However, certainly, as other states are going to engage in gerrymandering, extreme gerrymandering, it subverts the voices of Californians and American voters broadly speaking,' she said. 'I can understand why Democrats would want to fight back.' Sadhwani predicted Newsom and the California Legislature would need to 'campaign heavily' if it goes through with the plans for a special election, due to the popularity of independent redistricting at both the state and local levels. Politico reported Tuesday that former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) is ready to campaign against the plan. 'No doubt the governor and the Legislature would have their work cut out for them to convince voters that this is the right move,' Sadhwani said. California could be Democrats' best hope to counter Texas, as other states are even more unlikely to implement changes by 2026. Hochul on Monday said she's exploring options to redraw New York congressional lines 'as soon as possible,' working on a legislative process and reviewing legal strategies 'to stop this brazen assault.' 'You have to fight fire with fire,' she said, adding 'all's fair in love and war.' 'For Republicans, they could potentially be [in] a situation where there are no safe seats. They're vulnerable everywhere,' said Democratic strategist Basil Smikle, a former executive director of the New York State Democratic Party. 'This is a problem of the president and the party's own making because you want to play cute by doing this in Texas. Why would you think that that's not going to happen everywhere? That you're not going to give leave to Democratic governors to do the same thing?' Smikle said. But in New York, where House maps were struck down by a court in 2022 for giving a partisan advantage to Democrats, there are hurdles for mid-decade redistricting. The state uses a redistricting commission, and maps are subject to the state Legislature's approval. The state constitution would also need amending, and that process requires two consecutive sessions before heading to voters — so Democrats wouldn't have time to change things before 2026. Mid-decade changes in the Empire State would be 'very tricky, both politically and practically,' said Jonathan Cervas, the redistricting expert who redrew New York's congressional lines in 2022. He was appointed by the state Supreme Court as a neutral special master after the earlier maps were tossed. 'It's very unlikely to happen, certainly before the next election,' Cervas said. 'It may not happen at all, because voters may reject the idea of giving up their system that is created for the purposes of creating a more even playing ground for voters.' Meanwhile, the Texas developments are reverberating in other GOP states too. Ohio is set to push forward with redistricting that could impact two Democrat-held House seats, while Florida Republicans have floated plans to redraw their lines. Other blue states besides California and New York are also weighing their options. Leaders of Maryland and New Jersey have left the door open, though there would be fewer seats to grab in the smaller blue states. There could also be a path forward for Democrats in Illinois, where there's more midcycle flexibility. Illinois might be able to get 'creative' with its approach to redrawing lines and squeeze the existing three GOP-held seats, Levitt suggested. But an aggressive gerrymander in the Prairie State could backfire, Cervas suggested, 'because then you cut the margins of the Democratic seats too thin and risk losing some of them, too.' 'All that boils down to is that there are few legal ways for Democrats to counteract Texas, and there are very few practical ways of doing it as well,' he added. These conversations come against the backdrop of a 2019 ruling by the Supreme Court that excessive partisan gerrymandering is a political issue, rather than a question for federal courts. 'When you don't have recourse … you do exactly what's going on here, which is the [Texas] Democrats leave town and Democrats elsewhere try to figure out how to punch back,' Levitt said. Despite the challenges, efforts to engage in tit-for-tat redistricting aren't exactly a shock to experts as both parties fret over thin margins in Congress and the high-stakes midterm season ahead. 'Politics is really on a knife's edge, where the control of Congress and our political institutions really comes down to just a few seats. And so trying to get advantage wherever you can, from political parties' perspective, makes a lot of sense,' Cervas said. 'Redistricting is a relatively inexpensive way to increase your [electoral] power, compared to the politics of shaking hands and winning over voters.' Jared Gans contributed. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
