Newsom reveals Trump's joke before he launched ICE raids in LA
As a result, mass protests broke out across the city with demonstrators overwhelming local police and blocking major city highways. In response, Trump, against Newsom's wishes, federalized California's National Guard while doubling-down on ICE immigration raids in Southern California.
'A day before he was to federalize the National Guard here in Los Angeles, he called me. We talked on a Friday night late at night and all he wanted to brag about the 'News[expletive]' thing. He said, 'It's pretty funny, isn't it?' He goes, 'Pretty original.' I said, 'Well, it's not original,' Newsom said. Newsom continues, 'He goes, 'Hey, what about my hats? What do you think? It's pretty good brand, right? MAGA, you know, it's pretty good. I've sold hundreds of thousands.'
The governor reportedly responded, 'I mean, I'm like, are you serious? Are we seriously having this conversation when you're supposed to be reading me the Riot Act about keeping people safe in Los Angeles? You never once talked about the National Guard.' Newsom called Trump 'unhinged' and claimed that the president 'is getting weaker' because of the effect his tariffs are having on the U.S. economy.
'You cannot make this stuff up,' Newsom added. The president then went on to talk about his debate with Kamala Harris during the 2024 election cycle. According to Newsom, Trump did not mention during the late-night phone call that he was planning on sending in the National Guard to quell the LA protests.
Newsom's recent comments come after the governor launched a new redistricting push in California following efforts by Texas and other GOP-dominated states. Texas Democrats recently fled the state Capital to New York and Illinois to block a quorum being called by state Republicans.
Greg Abbott and Texas Republicans are trying to push through a mid-decade redistricting legislation that would benefit the GOP. Newsom sent a letter to Trump earlier this week promising to eliminate Republican seats in California in order to offset GOP gains in Texas and other red states.
Trump did not respond to Newsom's letter, or the governor's insults over social media. When asked for comment by the Daily Mail, the White House pointed to prior comments made White House communications director Steven Cheung without addressing the veracity of Trump's joke.
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The Independent
6 minutes ago
- The Independent
Warm handshakes and an invitation to Moscow: The key takeaways from Putin and Trump's summit in Alaska
The highly-anticipated meeting between US President Donald Trump and Russian leader Vladimir Putin had been hailed as an essential and crucial step in forging a path towards peace in wartorn Ukraine. Three hours later, both leaders emerged claiming that the summit had been a 'success' and 'productive'. Yet no ceasefire deal has been struck, and little information has been given as to what was actually discussed behind closed doors. In Moscow, the meeting has been praised as a success, while in the West, it has left more questions than answers. Here are the top takeaways from Alaska: In what is likely to leave a bitter taste in the mouths of Ukrainians, Putin's arrival in Anchorage was given nothing short of a VIP celebrity welcome. For the Russian leader, it marked an astounding return to the world stage, having been largely shunned from the majority of Western nations since he invaded Ukraine in February 2022. It has been 10 years since he was last in America, and has been threatened with an arrest warrant by the International Criminal Court if he were to travel to a member state. Over the last three years, his travel has been restricted to friendly countries such as Belarus, North Korea and China. The red carpet rollout has been hailed as a victory in Moscow, with the two leaders enthusiastically sharing two handshakes, with Putin greeted as if he were a close friend and ally. In what appeared to be an unscripted moment, Putin decided to travel in Trump's armoured limousine known as 'The Beast', rather than taking his own presidential car. In footage of them leaving the airbase, Putin can be seen sitting in the backseat and laughing. During a press conference after the three-hour meeting, which saw Putin and Trump discuss terms of ending the war with their closest aides, both leaders remained close-lipped about what had occurred behind closed doors. 'We had an extremely productive meeting, and many points were agreed to,' Trump told reporters. 'There are just a very few that are left. Some are not that significant. One is probably the most significant, but we have a very good chance of getting there. We didn't get there, but we have a very good chance of getting there.' However, he didn't share any further details about what had been agreed, with nothing of substance revealed. Putin said the negotiations were 'held in a constructive atmosphere' but repeated that the 'root causes' of the conflict must be eliminated to achieve peace. This is likely to have caused alarm bells in Kyiv, given that Moscow has previously stated this to be Ukraine 's formal renunciation of Nato membership, as well as agreeing to demilitarisation, new elections, no foreign military involvement and recognition of Russian sovereignty over the occupied Ukrainian regions. Potential Zelensky-Putin-Trump meeting on the cards After their summit, nothing was mentioned about the prospect of a trilateral meeting, only that President Trump had a number of people to call, including Zelensky. 'We'll speak to you very soon, and probably see you again very soon,' Trump said. In a rare comment in English, Putin responded: 'Next time in Moscow.' In a Fox interview with host Sean Hannity a short while later, Trump said both Putin and Zelensky would like him to be present at a potential second meeting. 'They both want me there, and I'll be there,' he said. In a post on Truth Social, he wrote: 'President Zelenskyy will be coming to D.C., the Oval Office, on Monday afternoon. If all works out, we will then schedule a meeting with President Putin.' An unusually quiet Trump For once, Trump took the backseat during the press conference in Alaska, allowing Putin to speak first. The Russian leader launched into a condensed history of Alaska's past as a Russian territory, taking several minutes before addressing the 'situation in Ukraine'. Despite the context of the summit, Trump also avoided any direct talk of the situation in Ukraine, only referencing that 'five, six, seven thousand people a week' are killed. There were no questions from reporters, and both leaders kept their statements vague, stating that 'great progress' had been made with little detail as to what that progress entailed. In one victory for Moscow, there was no mention of any 'severe consequences' such as further economic sanctions which Trump had threatened if a ceasefire deal wasn't reached.
Reuters
7 minutes ago
- Reuters
Trump says Ukraine needs to make a deal after summit with Putin ends without ceasefire
WASHINGTON/MOSCOW, Aug 16 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump said on Saturday Ukraine should agree a deal to end the war with Russia because "Russia is a very big power, and they're not", after holding a summit with President Vladimir Putin that failed to yield a ceasefire. In a major shift, Trump also said he had agreed with Putin that the best way to end the war was to go straight to a peace settlement - not via a ceasefire, as Ukraine and its European allies, until now with U.S. support, have been demanding. Trump's comments came after he met Putin for nearly three hours in Alaska on Friday at the first U.S.-Russia summit since Moscow launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. "It was determined by all that the best way to end the horrific war between Russia and Ukraine is to go directly to a Peace Agreement, which would end the war, and not a mere Ceasefire Agreement, which often times do not hold up," Trump posted on Truth social. The war - the deadliest in Europe for 80 years - has killed or wounded well over a million people from both sides, including thousands of mostly Ukrainian civilians, according to analysts. Trump said he would hold talks at the White House with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Monday, adding: "If all works out, we will then schedule a meeting with President Putin. Potentially, millions of people's lives will be saved." Zelenskiy said after a lengthy conversation with Trump following the Alaska summit that Ukraine was ready for constructive cooperation, and he supported the idea of a trilateral meeting. "Ukraine reaffirms its readiness to work with maximum effort to achieve peace," he wrote on social media. But Putin made no mention of meeting Zelenskiy when speaking to reporters earlier. Russian state news agency TASS quoted Putin's foreign policy aide Yuri Ushakov as saying the possibility of a three-way summit including Zelenskiy had not been discussed. In a post-summit interview with Fox News' Sean Hannity, Trump signaled that he and Putin had discussed potential land swaps and security guarantees for Ukraine. "I think those are points that we negotiated, and those are points that we largely have agreed on," Trump said. "I think we're pretty close to a deal," he said, adding: "Ukraine has to agree to it. Maybe they'll say no." When asked by Hannity what he would advise Zelenskiy, Trump said: "Gotta make a deal." "Look, Russia is a very big power, and they're not. They're great soldiers," he added. Zelenskiy has repeatedly underlined the importance of security guarantees for Kyiv as part of any deal, to deter Russia from launching a new invasion at some point in the future. "We also discussed positive signals from the American side regarding participation in guaranteeing Ukraine's security," he said after his call with Trump. Before the summit, Trump had set the goal of agreeing on a ceasefire in the war and said he would not be happy without it. Putin signaled no movement in Russia's long-held positions on the war, but said he agreed with Trump that Ukraine's security must be "ensured". "We are ready to work on this. I would like to hope that the understanding we have reached will allow us to get closer to that goal and open the way to peace in Ukraine," Putin said at a brief media appearance after the summit where neither leader took questions. He added: "We expect that Kyiv and the European capitals will perceive all of this in a constructive manner and will not create any obstacles. That they will not attempt to disrupt the emerging progress through provocation or behind-the-scenes intrigue." For Putin, the very fact of sitting down face-to-face with the U.S. president represented a diplomatic victory. The Kremlin leader had been ostracized by Western leaders since the start of the war, and just a week earlier had been facing a threat of new sanctions from Trump. Some commentators, especially in Europe, were scathing in their reaction. "Putin got his red carpet treatment with Trump, while Trump got nothing. As feared: no ceasefire, no peace," Wolfgang Ischinger, an ex-German ambassador to the United States, posted on X. "No real progress – a clear 1-0 for Putin – no new sanctions. For the Ukrainians: nothing. For Europe: deeply disappointing." Tatiana Stanovaya, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center, said: "Now Trump seems to be shifting most of the responsibility to Kyiv and Europe, but reserving some role for himself." She said, however, that Putin had apparently not succeeded as far as he had hoped in getting Trump to publicly side with him and put pressure on Kyiv. Cold War historian Sergey Radchenko wrote: "Putin is a determined opponent, and, yes, he basically won this round because he got something for nothing. Still, Trump did not sell out Ukraine." After Trump returned to Washington, the White House said he spoke to NATO leaders following the lengthy conversation with Zelenskiy. Espen Barth Eide, foreign minister of NATO member Norway, told reporters in Oslo: "We must continue to put pressure on Russia, and even increase it." Czech Defence Minister Jana Cernochova said the summit had not yielded significant progress toward ending the war but "confirmed that Putin is not seeking peace, but rather an opportunity to weaken Western unity and spread his propaganda." Both Russia and Ukraine carried out overnight air attacks, a daily occurrence in the 3-1/2-year war. Russia launched 85 attack drones and a ballistic missile targeting Ukraine's territory, Ukraine's Air Force said on Saturday. It said its air defense units destroyed 61 of them. The General Staff of Ukraine's Armed Forces said 139 clashes had taken place on the front line over the past day. Russia said its air defenses intercepted and destroyed 29 Ukrainian drones overnight. Trump told Fox that he would hold off on imposing tariffs on China for buying Russian oil after making progress with Putin. He did not mention India, another major buyer of Russian crude, which has been slapped with a total 50% tariff on U.S. imports that includes a 25% penalty for the imports from Russia. "Because of what happened today, I think I don't have to think about that now," Trump said of Chinese tariffs. "I may have to think about it in two weeks or three weeks or something, but we don't have to think about that right now." Trump ended his remarks on Friday by telling Putin, "I'd like to thank you very much, and we'll speak to you very soon and probably see you again very soon." "Next time in Moscow," a smiling Putin responded in English. Trump said he might "get a little heat on that one" but that he could "possibly see it happening."
The Guardian
7 minutes ago
- The Guardian
Zelenskyy to meet Trump on Monday after Putin summit briefing
Ukraine's president said he would fly to Washington on Monday to meet with Donald Trump after a telephone call with the US president in which he was briefed on the key points of the Alaska summit. The meeting will mark the first return to the White House for Volodymyr Zelenskyy since his infamous row with Trump in late February. Zelenskyy said that his hour-long one-on-one conversation with Trump was 'long and substantive'. 'President Trump informed [me] about his meeting with the Russian leader and the main points of their discussion,' Zelenskyy wrote, adding that Ukraine supported Trump's proposal for a trilateral meeting between the two men and Vladimir Putin. Zelenskyy did not spell out what the key points of discussion between Trump and Putin were, while the president's chief communications adviser said that they 'haven't heard anything' about a possible air ceasefire before a leaders summit in response to a social media post from a journalist. European leaders joined the call for a further half an hour, Zelenskyy added, emphasising that 'it is important that Europeans are involved at every stage to ensure reliable security guarantees together with America'. There were also 'positive signals' from the US, Zelenskyy said, 'regarding participation in guaranteeing Ukraine's security', echoing diplomatic language from last week in the run-up to the summit. Previously, the US has declined to spell out how it might help prevent a future outbreak of fighting as part of a peace agreement, leading to speculation that Washington was looking to leave the safeguarding of Ukraine almost entirely to Europe.
