Vladimir Putin Is a Peace-Talks No Show
President Trump wants peace in Ukraine, but Vladimir Putin keeps tapping the U.S. along. Witness the Russian leader's embarrassing no-show in Istanbul Thursday.
This revealing episode began last week as the leaders of the major European nations proposed 'a full and unconditional 30-day cease-fire to create the space for talks on a just and lasting peace.' That's also a goal of Ukraine and Mr. Trump, but again Mr. Putin responded with a hard nyet.

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Washington Post
14 minutes ago
- Washington Post
‘This president has shown he wants to get what he wants'
Good morning, Early Birds. The Chicago White Sox couldn't get much worse, but at least they have the pope. Send tips to earlytips@ Thanks for waking up with us. In today's edition … DOGE cuts could get a vote in the House … a détente between Musk and Trump? … but first …


CBS News
19 minutes ago
- CBS News
Protests against immigration raids continue to spread across the U.S. Here's a look at many of them.
Protests over federal immigration enforcement raids and President Trump's mobilization of the National Guard and Marines to Los Angeles continue to spread nationwide. While many have been peaceful, with marchers chanting slogans and carrying signs against the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, some protesters have clashed with police, leading to hundreds of arrests and the use of chemical irritants to disperse crowds. Activists say they will hold even larger demonstrations in the coming days with "No Kings" events across the country on Saturday to coincide with Mr. Trump's planned military parade through Washington, D.C. Here's a rundown of many of them: LOS ANGELES A group of demonstrators who'd gathered outside the federal buildings in the city's downtown marched out of the curfew zone just after it went into effect for a second night. A smaller crowd of people nearby was seen being taken into custody about 20 minutes after curfew, with the CBS News Los Angeles helicopter overhead. SEATTLE Police say the demonstration began with a peaceful march but officers intervened when some people set fire to a dumpster at an intersection late Wednesday night. As police waited for the Seattle Fire Department to arrive, some people "from the group confronted them, throwing bottles, rocks, and concrete chunks at them," police said. "A protestor threw a large firework at officers, but no one was injured. Police issued dispersal orders and moved the crowd out of the area making eight arrests for assault and obstruction." Protesters stand in front of a dumpster that was set on fire in front of the Henry M. Jackson Building in Seattle during a June 11, 2025 demonstration against federal immigration raids Ryan Sun / AP SPOKANE, WASH. More than 30 people were arrested in downtown Spokane Wednesday night as anti-ICE protesters clashed with police, CBS Spokane affiliate KREM-TV reports. The station says community members gathered at the Spokane ICE office Wednesday afternoon to protest the detainment of a 21-year-old Venezuelan man seeking asylum. Mayor Lisa Brown imposed a curfew in the city's downtown after the demonstration at the ICE office. Police Chief Kevin Hall said protesters were arrested and officers deployed "pepper balls" on the crowd. LAS VEGAS Hundreds of people gathered outside the Las Vegas Federal Courthouse in the downtown area, CBS Las Vegas affiliate KLAS-TV reported. The protest remained peaceful until around 9 p.m. when police issued a dispersal order and declared an unlawful assembly "due to protestors engaging in illegal activity." The crowd dispered 15 minutes later.
Yahoo
20 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Three ways the Trump-Musk feud revealed the GOP's twisted hypocrisy
Aside from being globally cathartic, the all-too-predictable breakup of President Donald Trump's unquenchable ego and Elon Musk's immense sense of self-importance pulled the dressing-room curtain back on the Republican Party. And what we saw was both cringeworthy and indecent. Or as I like to call it, the Republican Party. Here are three things this episode of 'Real Annoying Billionaires of Washington, DC' taught us about the conservatives who excitedly welcomed Musk – and his money – into politics: As the president and the weirdo billionaire hurled insults at each other on June 5, Trump posted this threat: 'The easiest way to save money in our Budget, Billions and Billions of Dollars, is to terminate Elon's Governmental Subsidies and Contracts.' Gee, I wonder who, up until June 5, was helping Musk grease the wheels to line up 'Billions and Billions of Dollars' in additional government contracts? As The New York Times reported in March: 'Within the Trump administration's Defense Department, Elon Musk's SpaceX rocketry is being trumpeted as the nifty new way the Pentagon could move military cargo rapidly around the globe. In the Commerce Department, SpaceX's Starlink satellite internet service will now be fully eligible for the federal government's $42 billion rural broadband push, after being largely shut out during the Biden era. … And at the Federal Aviation Administration and the White House itself, Starlink satellite dishes have recently been installed, to expand federal government internet access.' Opinion: Musk erupts, claims Trump is in the Epstein files. Who could've seen this coming? How quickly Trump went from filling Musk's coffers to repay him for his support and campaign contributions to suggesting Musk's contracts were, in fact, a form of government waste and fraud. (I mean … they are a form of government waste and fraud, but not in the way Trump was suggesting.) There's no other takeaway from this other than: We were happy to pay Musk whatever he wanted as long as he loved Trump, but the minute he stopped loving Trump, we can easily stop paying him. I think there's a word for that. Musk's swift about-face on Trump shows what many of us have long suspected: Republicans or Republicans-of-convenience like Musk don't actually like or respect Trump. On Feb. 7, Musk posted on social media: 'I love @realDonaldTrump as much as a straight man can love another man.' On June 5, Musk posted: '@realDonaldTrump is in the Epstein files. That is the real reason they have not been made public. Have a nice day, DJT!' Going from 'I love you, man' to 'I'm alleging you're connected to a notorious sex offender who was facing child sex trafficking charges before he died of suicide in jail' is quite a journey. And it implies that Musk saw Trump for what he is: a useful, loathsome fool. Opinion: Who would want to have babies under a Trump administration? Not me. The minute Trump became not useful to Musk, he sang his truth, something I'd bet most Republicans would do if they had untold wealth and didn't have to worry much about repercussions. That tells you all you need to know about the modern-day GOP – liars boosting a lout in their own self-interest. For all its fanfare, the U.S. Department of Government Efficiency that Musk oversaw accomplished precious little cost-cutting while inflicting massive harm on America's global reputation, the lives of people reliant on U.S. aid, and the overall functioning of the federal government. Republicans knew this yet still tripped over themselves to toss roses at Musk's feet, hailing him as some kind of genius/savior. They wanted his money, and they wanted the disinformation cannon that comes with his right-wing social media platform. But when Musk grew wise to what Republican lawmakers were doing with the One Big Beautiful Bill Act – a deficit-ballooning monstrosity – he turned on his handmaidens and his former love, President Trump. Opinion alerts: Get columns from your favorite columnists + expert analysis on top issues, delivered straight to your device through the USA TODAY app. Don't have the app? Download it for free from your app store. So Trump, of course, called him crazy. Which begs the question: Why were you letting a crazy person access Americans' most private data and demolish the federal workforce? And are you now going to … you know … make sure the guy you think is crazy didn't do something catastrophically bad? Congressional Republicans had to pick a side, and they've largely stepped into Trump's arms, knowing Musk may well be disliked even more than the sitting president. The Washington Post reported June 6: 'Across the government, the Trump administration is scrambling to rehire many federal employees dismissed under DOGE's staff-slashing initiatives after wiping out entire offices, in some cases imperiling key services such as weather forecasting and the drug approval process.' Translation: Musk's DOGE nonsense was for naught, an attempt to fluff a billionaire's ego while cloaking the high-spending, deficit-raising moves Republicans were going to make all along. There's a sucker born every minute, and two Republicans to take 'em. Follow USA TODAY columnist Rex Huppke on Bluesky at @ and on Facebook at You can read diverse opinions from our USA TODAY columnists and other writers on the Opinion front page, on X, formerly Twitter, @usatodayopinion and in our Opinion newsletter. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Trump vs. Musk shows us depths of the GOP's moral rot | Opinion