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The Hill
13 hours ago
- Politics
- The Hill
Trump calls Netanyahu a ‘war hero' – ‘I guess I am, too'
President Trump said he is a war hero, alongside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, touting the U.S. strikes against three Iranian nuclear facilities in June. The president praised Netanyahu in a Tuesday interview on 'The Mark Levin Show' then referenced the strikes that he has said obliterated Tehran's nuclear capabilities and set back the program for years. 'Bibi is a good man. He's in there fighting. He's fighting. You know, they're trying to put him in jail on top of everything else. How about that?' Trump told Levin. 'He's a war hero because we work together. He's a war hero. I guess I am, too.' The International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an arrest warrant for Netanyahu in November, accusing him of war crimes and crimes against humanity during the Israel-Hamas conflict in Gaza. The president, who never fought in a war, added, 'the pilots came. I rewarded them. I brought them all to the Oval Office. The people having to do with that whole operation, which was so perfect, which was a total of, you know, just an obliteration.' The B-2 pilots who carried out the strike visited the White House for the Fourth of July holiday. The pilots carried out the unprecedented attack on Iran, which has been dubbed Operation Midnight Hammer, dropping 30,000-pound bombs on underground nuclear enrichment facilities from so-called bunker busters that took off undetected from a base in Missouri. Following the attack, Trump hit back at an initial Pentagon assessment that damage to the three nuclear facilities only set the Iranians' nuclear program back a few months.
The Hill
14 hours ago
- Politics
- The Hill
Trump: ‘Better' if Putin, Zelensky meet without him
President Trump said Tuesday that it would be 'better' if Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky met without him first as Trump pushes the leaders to bring an end to the more than three-year-long war in Eastern Europe. The president, who has pushed for a three-way summit with Zelensky and Putin, said he recently had 'very successful' meetings with both leaders, but it would be more beneficial if the two presidents met alone first. 'I thought it would be better if they met without me, just to see. I want to see what goes on. You know, they had a hard relationship, very bad, very bad relationship,' Trump said in an interview on 'The Mark Levin Show.' 'And now we'll see how they do and, if necessary, and it probably would be, but if necessary, I'll go and I'll probably be able to get it close,' he told conservative podcaster Mark Levin. After meeting with Zelensky and seven European leaders at the White House on Monday, Trump said his administration would help broker a meeting between Putin and Zelensky and that soon after, a trilateral meeting including the U.S. president would take place. Zelensky has expressed openness to meeting with Putin, but Russia so far has not committed to such a huddle. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Tuesday that any such meeting should be prepared 'step by step, gradually, starting from the expert level and then going through all the necessary stages.' After Monday's Oval Office meeting, Trump called Putin and the two spoke for about 40 minutes. The conversation came days after the president traveled to Alaska to meet with Putin, their first face-to-face interaction since the first Trump administration, alongside Secretary of State Marco Rubio and special envoy Steve Witkoff. 'I just want to see what happens at the meeting,' Trump told Levin. 'So they're in the process of setting it up, and we're going to see what happens.'
The Hill
15 hours ago
- Politics
- The Hill
Kinzinger: Trump claiming to be war hero ‘just nuts'
Former Republican Rep. Adam Kinzinger (Ill.) criticized President Trump for claiming to be a war hero in the wake of the Iran strikes, arguing it is offensive to those who have served in combat. 'Yeah. I mean, look, this is just nuts. This is nuts. And they're going to find — his people are going to find a way to justify this,' Kinzinger, a frequent Trump critic, told CNN's Erin Burnett on Tuesday. 'Listen, when they were putting out something honoring the Army's 250th anniversary, they put out a picture of Donald Trump in his military academy uniform, which has nothing to do with the military except they drill you.' Kinzinger, who retired from Congress in 2021 and is now a senior contributor on CNN, was asked to weigh in on Trump's recent remarks on 'The Mark Levin Show.' 'He's a war hero because we work together. He's a war hero,' Trump told conservative radio host Mark Levin, referring to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. 'I guess I am too.' 'Nobody cares, but I am too. I mean, I sent those planes,' he added, just months after the U.S. bombed three nuclear facilities near Tehran in defense of Israel. Kinzinger, who served in the Air Force and was deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan, pressed back against the rhetoric but added that he hopes the president is able to facilitate a ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine. 'You can like what he's done. That's fine. I hope he gets a resolution in Ukraine,' he said. 'But to put himself on the same level of people that have actually gone out and served this country, not claimed bone spurs, is an offense to anybody who served.' 'And frankly, you just take somebody that served, calling themselves a war hero, even that would be inappropriate,' the former GOP lawmaker, who said recently that he feels closer to a Democrat nowadays, told CNN. 'For a guy that never served to say it, it's nuts.' Kinzinger added, 'But somebody, they'll defend it, they'll find a way.' The comments come as Trump is looking to facilitate a Russia-Ukraine peace deal after meeting with both leaders and seeking another ceasefire in the Middle East between Isreal and Hamas.
Time of India
17 hours ago
- Politics
- Time of India
Trump backs Zelenskyy-Putin meet without him, says he'll step in ‘if needed' to close peace deal
In a surprising move, US President Donald Trump said it may be better if Ukraine's Zelenskyy and Russia's Putin meet without him initially. Speaking on The Mark Levin Show, Trump called their past ties 'very bad' but expressed readiness to step in later if needed. The White House confirmed talks are being planned, while Putin reportedly agreed 'in principle.' Secretary Rubio said even direct talks mark progress after years of deadlock. Show more Show less
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First Post
a day ago
- Politics
- First Post
Trump says 'it would be better' if Putin-Zelenskyy meeting happens without him
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt has confirmed that plans for the meeting between Zelenskyy and Putin are 'underway' and that 'many options' are being discussed by officials US President Donald Trump gestures as he walks off stage following a press conference with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Reuters US President Donald Trump has said that 'it would be better' if Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy meets his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, in his absence, as he discussed the aspects of a potential bilateral meeting between the two leaders. 'I had a very successful meeting with President Zelenskyy and now I thought it would be better if they met without me, just to see — I want to see what goes on. You know, they had a hard relationship very bad, very bad relationship," Trump said on The Mark Levin Show. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD He added, 'And now we'll see how they do. And if necessary — and it probably would be — but if necessary, I'll go and I'll probably be able to get it closed. I just want to see what happens at the meeting. So they're in the process of setting it up, and we're going to see what happens.' Meanwhile, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt has confirmed that plans for the meeting between Zelenskyy and Putin are 'underway' and that 'many options' are being discussed by officials. Putin agrees to meet Zelenskyy Putin on Monday told Trump that he was willing to meet Zelenskyy, according to US State Secretary Marco Rubio. 'But just the fact that Putin is saying, sure, I'll meet with Zelenskyy – that's a big deal. I mean, I'm not saying they're going to leave that room best friends. I'm not saying they're going to leave that room with a peace deal. But I think the fact that people are now talking to each other, this wasn't happening for three and a half years. This was a stalemated war of death and destruction,' Rubio told Fox News' Jesse Watters on Monday. Rubio said that the Trump administration is looking at a give and take approach to resolve the conflict. But the question remains what Russia might be willing to offer in exchange for concessions from Ukraine. Switzerland, Austria offer to host meeting Switzerland and Austria said Tuesday that they would host Russian President Vladimir Putin if he came for talks on peace in Ukraine, despite the International Criminal Court's arrest warrant. French President Emmanuel Macron raised the possibility of a peace summit between Putin and his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky being held in Europe, in 'a neutral country, maybe Switzerland'. Swiss Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis told a press conference that, under certain circumstances, Putin would be allowed to set foot in Switzerland. With inputs from agencies STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD
