Merz Rules Out Tax Increases If Conservatives Win Sunday's Vote
In one of his final public appearances before Sunday's national ballot, Merz told viewers of ZDF TV's 'Morgenmagazin' breakfast show that if he captures the chancellery as expected, he'd instead focus on cutting spending on social benefits and financial support for refugees.
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Yahoo
3 hours ago
- Yahoo
Trump pushes for a Putin-Zelensky meeting in White House talks about the Russia-Ukraine war: What's next?
The president wants them to meet alone before he joins a trilateral discussion, and the White House says Putin has promised direct talks with Zelensky in the coming weeks. President Trump emerged Monday from his meetings at the White House with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and seven European leaders about Russia's war in Ukraine without a peace deal. But Trump expressed optimism that he could bring Zelensky and Russian President Vladimir Putin together at the negotiating table. If Putin and Zelensky were to meet, it would be their first face-to-face interaction since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022. Monday's talks in Washington, D.C., came three days after Trump met with Putin in Anchorage, Alaska, in a highly watched summit that also ended without a ceasefire deal. The president characterized the White House confab as 'a very good, early step' in a post on Truth Social Monday night, and said that 'arrangements' for a meeting between Putin and Zelensky were underway. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz told reporters outside the White House that Trump had persuaded Putin to meet with Zelensky "within the next two weeks." Pressed by reporters, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Tuesday that Putin had agreed to have direct talks with Zelensky in the coming weeks. She declined to give further details. Trump wants a 'trilat' with Putin and Zelensky — after they meet without him Speaking to reporters before their Oval Office sit-down, Trump and the Ukrainian president discussed the possibility of a trilateral meeting with Putin in the not-too-distant future. 'We are ready for trilateral,' Zelensky told reporters in the Oval Office. 'If we don't have a trilat, then the fighting continues,' Trump said. 'And if we do, we have a good chance — I think we have a trilat, there's a good chance of maybe ending it.' During an expanded meeting with the European leaders, Trump reiterated to Zelensky that if Monday's meeting went well, he'd set up a trilateral meeting with Putin. 'If you like, I'll go to that meeting,' Trump said. 'Not that I want to do that, but I will do that.' In his post on Truth Social on Monday night, Trump said he spoke with Putin and had begun 'the arrangements for a meeting, at a location to be determined' between Putin and Zelensky. 'After that meeting takes place,' Trump said, the three leaders would have a 'trilat.' Trump paused Monday's meetings to call Putin Trump said he planned to call Putin after Monday's discussions. But according to multiple news outlets, Trump paused his closed-door meeting with Zelensky and other European leaders to call Putin. CNN reported that the Europeans were not present for the conversation between Trump and Putin. Trump later said that it would have been "disrespectful" to Putin to make the call with the group present. In a statement, Kremlin foreign policy aide Yuri Ushakov described Monday's phone conversation between Trump and Putin as 'frank and very constructive,' adding that the two leaders had agreed to appoint more senior negotiators for direct talks between Russia and Ukraine. But Ushakov did not say anything about a meeting between Putin and Zelensky, which Trump has identified as the next step in the peace process. In an interview on Fox & Friends Tuesday morning, Trump described his conversation with Putin as "a very good call." "I told him that we're going to set up a meeting with President Zelensky, and you and he will meet, and then after that meeting, if everything works out OK, I'll meet and we'll wrap it up," Trump said. "It takes, in this case, two to tango," Trump said of Putin and Zelensky. "They have to have somewhat of a relationship, otherwise we're just wasting a lot of time.' Trump says 'all of us would obviously prefer' a ceasefire after telling Zelensky it was 'unnecessary' Before his Oval Office meeting with Zelensky, Trump said that a ceasefire would be 'unnecessary' in order to reach a 'peace' agreement between Russia and Ukraine. 'I don't think you need a ceasefire,' Trump said. But during his meeting with Zelensky and European leaders about an hour later, Trump said: 'All of us would obviously prefer the immediate ceasefire while we work on a lasting peace.' The president said that a ceasefire agreement would 'immediately stop the killing' in the three-and-a-half-year conflict, before reiterating his earlier assertion that the parties could still work out a peace deal without one. "Maybe something like [a ceasefire] could happen," Trump said. "As of this moment, it's not happening." Trump is caught on a hot mic whispering that Putin 'wants to make a deal for me' Before Trump's private meeting with European leaders got underway, a hot mic caught Trump discreetly telling French President Emmanuel Macron why he is optimistic that Putin won't stand in the way of a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine. Trump implied that Putin wants his U.S. counterpart to pocket a diplomatic win. 'I think he wants to make a deal,' Trump was heard whispering to Macron in the East Room. 'I think he wants to make a deal for me, you understand that? As crazy as it sounds.' Macron, for his part, remained skeptical. 'When I look at the situation and the facts, I don't see President Putin very willing to get peace now,' Macron told NBC News on Monday after the White House discussions. 'But perhaps I'm too pessimistic.' Zelensky calls White House meetings 'truly a significant step toward ending the war' In his post on X, Zelensky said, 'This was truly a significant step toward ending the war and ensuring the security of Ukraine and our people." Zelensky did not say a meeting with Putin was imminent. But he pointed to the progress made at the White House talks. 'We are already working on the concrete content of the security guarantees,' Zelensky said. 'Today, we continue coordination at the level of leaders. There will be discussions, and we are preparing the relevant formats. We will also continue working tomorrow. National security advisors are also in constant contact now. There will be security guarantees.' He added, 'I thank all our partners for their determination and support. Ukraine feels this strength. And we will do everything to make the path to peace a reality — through partnership, through security guarantees, and through the courage of the Ukrainian people.'
The Hill
3 hours ago
- The Hill
Hot mics and heaven: Global leaders make post-summit moves
GLOBAL LEADERS sprang into action Tuesday seeking to capitalize on the good vibes coming out of President Trump 's meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and other European leaders to work toward bringing an end to the Russia-Ukraine war. 'If I can save 7,000 people a week from being killed — I want to try to get to heaven if possible,' Trump said in a Tuesday interview on Fox News. 'I hear I'm not doing too well, I'm really at the bottom of the totem pole … but if I can get to heaven, this will be one of the reasons.' Trump called Russian President Vladimir Putin directly after the summit at the White House to discuss a face-to-face with Zelensky. The White House said Putin agreed to meet Zelensky, although Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Tuesday a potential summit would have to be prepared 'step by step, gradually, starting from the expert level and then going through all the necessary stages.' German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, who attended the Washington summit, said Putin and Zelensky could have a bilateral meeting within two weeks. French President Emmanuel Macron, another summit attendee, pitched Switzerland for the potential Putin-Zelensky meeting spot. Trump said if Putin and Zelensky meet, he'd then participate in a trilateral meeting sometime after that with the aim of ending the war entirely. Vice President Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and special envoy Steve Witkoff are coordinating with Russia and Ukraine. '[T]he optimism of your president is to be taken seriously,' Macron told NBC News. 'So if he considers he can get a deal done, this is great news, and we have to do whatever we can to have a great deal.' Trump was caught on a hot mic Monday telling Macron that Putin 'wants to make a deal for me' after the two met privately in Alaska last week. Still, Russia launched a major attack overnight on Ukraine's energy infrastructure. And agreements need to be reached about land swaps and security guarantees for Ukraine. Zelensky said he believes a security guarantee could be ironed out in the next 10 days. Trump has said the U.S. will participate in Ukraine's security, although he said Tuesday the U.S. would not send troops to keep the peace. However, Trump left open the possibility of U.S. air support to keep Ukraine safe from future incursions. 'We're willing to help them with things, especially, probably, if you talk about by air because nobody has stuff we have,' Trump said on Fox News. Russia says it won't accept 'any scenarios' in which NATO troops are dispatched to Ukraine. Trump is under pressure from his right flank to not further involve the U.S. in the war after his special envoy, Steve Witkoff, said that the U.S. could participate in 'Article 5-like protections' for Ukraine. 'I'm just lost how the United States offering an Article 5 commitment for a security guarantee to Ukraine is a win for the United States,' Steve Bannon said on his radio show. Meanwhile, there are concerns about how much new Ukrainian territory Russia is seeking to keep and what land concessions Zelensky will be willing to concede. In addition, Trump said he's in discussion with the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, about missing Ukrainian children — a key concern for Zelensky and first lady Melania Trump, who wrote a personal letter to Putin to plead on their behalf. 'This is… a big subject with my wife, Melania,' Trump said on social media. 'It is a subject at the top of all lists, and the World will work together to solve it, hopefully bringing them home to their families!' More than 19,000 Ukrainian children are reported to have been abducted from their homes since Russia invaded Ukraine. OPTIMISM ON THE RISE Trump received praise from some unexpected places after Monday's international summit at the White House. Michael McFaul, the former U.S. Ambassador to Russia under former President Obama, called the European summit this week a 'brilliant, brilliant' development. 'Talking about security guarantees with European soldiers being a part of that — that is major progress, with American assistance,' McFaul said on NBC. Zelensky gifted Trump with a new blade-style putter during his trip to the White House, courtesy of a Ukrainian soldier who shares Trump's love of the game. NewsNation correspondent Robert Sherman has a new dispatch from Kyiv: 'The wheels of diplomacy are turning on the Ukraine front, with all the big powerbrokers in Europe meeting at the White House. Those who have covered the Oval Office for decades acknowledge they've never seen such a cattle call. The meeting illustrates the magnitude of the moment. The ball is moving toward the end of this war, but there's a lot that still needs to happen — and plenty that can go wrong.' 💡 Perspectives: • The Hill: Putin must change his behavior or face regime change. • The Wall Street Journal: Trump gets real on Ukraine's security. • CNN: Trump deserves credit for peace push. • The Free Press: Trump's turn toward Zelensky and away from Putin. CATCH UP QUICK Six thousand foreign students have had their visas revoked since the start of the second Trump administration. A federal judge dismissed portions of a lawsuit brought by 'Alligator Alcatraz' detainees, handing the Trump administration a partial win. Hurricane Erin is forcing evacuations on North Carolina's Outer Banks. NEWS THIS AFTERNOON California Democrats move ahead with redistricting California Democrats have unveiled legislation to draw new congressional maps more favorable for Democrats ahead of the 2026 midterm elections. The move comes in direct response to Texas's mid-decade redistricting efforts. 'We decided as a delegation that we could not just stand there and allow [President] Trump to distort the next election, and continue to harm the people who we represent,' Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.) said at a press conference. 'And so we have worked to try and identify a map that is consistent with the goals that we believe in.' California Democrats believe they can gain an additional five seats in the House next year with the new maps, matching the five House seats Republicans are hoping to pick up in Texas through redistricting. The California House Republicans being targeted: Kevin Kiley Doug LaMalfa Ken Calvert Darrell Issa David Valadao California Republican legislators responded by petitioning the state Supreme Court to intervene, citing a section of the state constitution that requires a month-long review period for new legislation. 'California's Constitution requires bills to be in print for 30 days, but that safeguard was ignored,' Assemblyman Tri Ta posted on X. 'By bypassing this provision, Sacramento has effectively shut voters out of engaging in their own legislative process.' MEANWHILE… Texas House Speaker Dustin Burrows (R) is requiring Democrats that leave the legislature's chambers to be followed by a designated Department of Public Safety officer who will ensure they return to the House on Wednesday at 10 a.m. The move is designed to ensure Democrats don't flee the state again to derail a vote on the newly redrawn congressional district maps. State Rep. Nicole Collier (D) refused to be accompanied by an officer and instead spent the night on the Texas House floor in protest. Indiana Republicans are casting doubt on whether they will move forward with a plan to redraw congressional district lines despite pressure from the White House. The Hill's Jared Gans writes: 'Several GOP state lawmakers have come out against the effort, expressing concern about the precedent it could set for the future and possible backlash against the party. With Republican supermajorities dominating both chambers of the state Legislature, stopping the effort would require a significant number of Republicans to oppose it and ignore the Trump administration's call for it.' © AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson Roundup: Red states send National Guard troops to DC A total of six red states have now sent National Guard troops to fight crime in Washington, D.C. Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee, West Virginia, South Carolina and Ohio have each dispatched between 135 and 400 National Guard troops since Trump declared a public safety emergency last week. In total, approximately 1,100 out-of-state troops will join the 800 National Guard troops, as well as a host of federal agents, to patrol the nation's capital. The Hill's Ellen Mitchell writes: 'Coupled with indications that the guard members may soon be carrying weapons — a reversal of their initial orders — the new deployments mark a major escalation of Trump's efforts to take over law enforcement in Washington.' The White House said Tuesday there have been 465 arrests since the start of the operation on Aug. 7, including 52 arrests Monday night. Nearly 50 homeless encampments have been cleared. 'A significant number of arrests have been in high-crime areas of D.C.,' press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Tuesday. 'In fact, nearly half of all illegal alien-related arrests have occurred in Wards 7 and 8, the two wards that have the highest number of violent crimes, homicides and assaults with dangerous weapons last year.' ELSEWHERE… • The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee expects to begin receiving files related to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein from the Department of Justice (DOJ) by Friday. 'There are many records in DOJ's custody, and it will take the Department time to produce all the records and ensure the identification of victims and any child sexual abuse material are redacted,' Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) said. • Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey is joining the Justice Department as the co-deputy director of the FBI. Bailey will share the same title as Dan Bongino, whose role has been under scrutiny amid disagreements with the administration over the Epstein case. 💡 Perspectives: • Huffpost: Sandwich thrower becomes symbol of 'crime emergency'. • Washington Times: Criminals are on the run in D.C. • Vox: What recognizing a Palestinian state actually achieves.
Yahoo
4 hours ago
- Yahoo
Inside Trump world's reaction to the Zelenskyy reset
For Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Monday began with a diplomatic whirlwind. It ended with a great sigh of relief. Hours of meetings in Washington — Zelenskyy with President Donald Trump, Trump with a coterie of Europe's most powerful leaders, all of the above together in the Oval Office — culminated in a 'breakthrough,' in the words of NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte: Trump expressed a willingness to participate in security guarantees for Ukraine. On the international stage, that alone amounts to a new dawn not only for the relationship between the U.S. and Ukraine, but also Zelenskyy's relationship with Trump, and America's with some of its closest transatlantic allies. On the home front, it could be a bit more complicated. While there are no specifics yet on what exactly U.S. security guarantees might look like for Ukraine — Zelenskyy suggested those would be ironed out within 10 days — even the vague allusion to them hints that MAGA may be careening toward another foreign policy divide. In public, there are a few topline takeaways from yesterday. The biggest are the security guarantees, and the reality that Zelenskyy and Russian President Vladimir Putin are hurtling toward a bilateral meeting; German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said that summit could happen within the next two weeks. After that, Trump intends to join Zelenskyy and Putin for a trilateral meeting with the aim of ending Russia's war on Ukraine, he announced on social media. '[T]he optimism of your president is to be taken seriously,' French President Emmanuel Macron told NBC News. 'So if he considers he can get a deal done, this is great news, and we have to do whatever we can to have a great deal.' In private, there are more interesting details. Here's what Trump world insiders are talking in private about yesterday's cascade of diplomatic meetings — and how it perhaps recontextualizes parts of last Friday's Trump-Putin summit in Alaska. 1. The Trump-Zelenskyy reset is real. From the moment Trump complimented Zelenskyy on his suit — all the way through to Vice President JD Vance's more easy rapport with the Ukrainian president and the many 'thanks' Zelenskyy offered — it was a totally different mood than the disastrous February meeting. 'The vibe between the president and Zelenskyy was terrific,' a senior administration official told POLITICO. 'What happened in that first Oval meeting is well gone.' This official described the ensuing talks as 'really productive.' 2. The Europeans proved difference-makers. The goal of convening the Europeans was 'to say 'We're in charge; you'll sign on to anything we say,'' the senior administration official told POLITICO. And the White House was mostly pleased by what they saw. 'The Europeans were positive today, but they are tedious,' the official said. 'But they were really good. And if you just were an observer of the two hours today, you'd say, 'Wow, that's like a family — a happy family.' But they all have their own little thing that they want to have happen. And it really is more of a European war than an American war, but none of them has stepped up.' Was it unwieldy to have them all in a meeting together? Yes. 'They're heads of state,' the official continued. 'They're used to being in charge. And when you put seven of them in one room, you get what you would think. But it wasn't bad.' 3. Trump offered to go straight to a trilateral meeting. The senior administration official told POLITICO that when Trump called Putin to offer his presence at a meeting between Zelenskyy and the Russian leader, Putin said, 'You don't have to come. I want to see him one on one.' Trump's team 'started working on that,' the official said. 'Steve Witkoff has the assignment to get it figured [out].' 4. Alaska paved the way for the 'security guarantees' discussion. If there was any concern within the administration about how the Putin meeting in Anchorage went down, Monday all but evaporated it. 'After Alaska, we were excited that Putin was at least talking and there were signs we could negotiate,' a second senior administration official told POLITICO. One of those signs came on the topic of security guarantees: Putin was 'engaging on a conversation about security guarantees instead of, 'Nyet, nyet, nyet,' this second official said. 'If Alaska was not successful and Putin didn't give us a little bit of an opening, we wouldn't have [had] the Europeans at the White House.' Of Putin: 'He'll drive a hard bargain, but that opening is huge.' 5. Those security guarantees could be a sticking point internationally. It remains unclear just how big a commitment the U.S. has on the line here. 'We haven't even started [that discussion] other than a commitment,' the first senior administration official told POLITICO. 'The question is, 'Who participates to what percentage?' But the president did commit that we would be a part of it. No specifics. And then he said he would also help it get organized. And he alone could sell that to Putin. I don't think Putin would pay any attention to the others, and I'm not sure the others would do it without him.' 6. And those same guarantees could be a problem for Trump domestically. Does the administration have a red line when it comes to committing U.S. troops to keep a peace in Ukraine? 'I don't think there's a red line,' the first senior official told POLITICO. 'So I think it just kind of remains to be seen. [President Trump] would like the Europeans to step up. But I think if the last piece of the puzzle was for a period of time to be a part of a peacekeeping force, I think he would do it.' Meanwhile, as European leaders arrived at the White House, MAGA coalition minder Steve Bannon took to his influential 'War Room' podcast to warn about the U.S. security guarantees in Ukraine. 'I'm just lost how the United States offering an Article 5 commitment for a security guarantee to Ukraine is a win for the United States,' Bannon said on his show Monday morning. 'President Trump has done more than enough to bring the parties together,' Bannon told POLITICO late Monday night. 'Once again, this is a European problem; we have all the leverage here. If we don't fund this, it stops happening. The only way this goes forward — the only way this continues every day — is American money and American arms. The Europeans don't have enough either military hardware and/or financial wherewithal.' Bannon said he hopes Trump 'eventually stops listening to the [Sens.] Lindsey Grahams and Tom Cottons and the Mitch McConnells, and realizes that there can't be any guarantee here from the United States, because that's going to inextricably link us to this conflict.' In a Truth Social post on Monday about the next steps, Trump said 'Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and Special Envoy Steve Witkoff, are coordinating with Russia and Ukraine.' That callout was striking. 'That's the first time JD and Marco have been dragged into a big foreign policy issue together,' the second senior administration official told POLITICO. 'If it's JD and Marco and Witkoff, who gets the credit and who gets the blame if it fails? This could be the first test of 2028.' Like this content? Consider signing up for POLITICO's Playbook newsletter.
