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PRESIDENT TRUMP and Russian President Vladimir Putin face a potentially a defining moment on the world stage when they arrive in Alaska on Friday for a bilateral summit, as Trump hopes to broker an end to Putin’s three-year war with Ukraine.
Trump and Putin are scheduled to meet at 3:30 p.m. Eastern time Friday at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson near Anchorage. It’s their first meeting since 2018.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky will not be present. The summit will only be attended by Trump, Putin and their translators.
Following the private meeting, Trump and Putin plan to conduct a joint press conference.
If Putin declines, Trump will give his own press conference, he told “The Brian Kilmeade Show.”
Trump has sought to dampen expectations for what gets resolved at the summit.
“Tomorrow, all I want to do is set the table for the next meeting which should happen shortly,” Trump said Thursday during an Oval Office press conference.
But Trump has also sounded bullish at times, saying there is only “a 25 percent chance this meeting will not be a successful meeting.”
“I believe now [Putin]’s convinced that he’s going to make a deal. He’s going to make a deal,”Trump said Thursday onFox News Radio. “We’re going to find out — I’m going to know very quickly.”
NBC News reports that Putin told a group of advisers he believes the Trump administration is making “energetic and sincere efforts to stop the fighting, stop the crisis and reach agreements that are of interest to all parties involved in this conflict,” according to a translated readout from the Kremlin.
Trump says he hopes to have a trilateral meeting, potentially in Alaska again, with Putin and Zelensky in the near future.
Trump has had a rocky relationship at times with Zelensky.
But lately, Trump has reserved his ire for Putin, threatening economic sanctions and greenlighting the sale of U.S. munitions to European countries for Ukraine’s defense.
“He’s not going to mess around with me,” Trump said Thursday.
Trump this week had a virtual meeting with Zelensky and other European leaders, who left the meeting satisfied that the president wouldn’t seek to negotiate away any land on Ukraine’s behalf.
The European leaders, who have at times clashed with Trump over Ukraine and tariffs, left the meeting sounding optimistic that they’re on the same page with the U.S. president.
NewsNation’s Robert Sherman was one of a few select journalists invited to interview Zelensky this week. Read his dispatch from Kyiv here.
MORE ADMINISTRATION NEWS
•Trump’s rating on honesty and trustworthiness hit a new second-term low in the latest Economist/YouGov poll.
• Trump selected a Democrat to chair the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, passing over the panel’s one Republican member.
• The Food and Drug Administration is considering revoking the authorization of Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine for healthy children younger than 5 years old.
• National Institutes of Health Director Jay Bhattacharya says the federal government canceled millions of dollars worth of mRNA research contracts because the general public does not trust the technology.
• The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) declared that an emissions agreement between California and four major truck makers is “unenforceable.” The FTC said car manufacturers would not abide by California’s pollution rules, which are stricter than federal standards.
• The Food and Drug Administration is considering placing a black-box warning on antidepressant use in pregnancy.
💡Perspectives:
•The Hill: Trump risks catastrophic defeat by meeting Putin in Alaska.
Director of National Intelligence (DNI) Tulsi Gabbard is going after her predecessor, James Clapper, pointing to a newly declassified email as part of her argument that there was an attempt by the Obama administration to undermine President Trump with their investigation of Russia’s 2016 election interference.
First Lady Melania Trump is demanding Hunter Biden retract and apologize for comments he made linking her to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
The Trump administration’s religious and moral carveouts to an ObamaCare requirement that all employer health plans cover contraception at no cost were blocked by a federal judge.
Dozens arrested overnight in DC amid federal crackdown
FBI Director Kash Patel said Thursday that 45 arrests were made overnight in Washington, D.C., as part of President Trump’s federal crackdown on crime in the District.
Patel said there were 29 immigration-related arrests, 16 arrests tied to violent crime and three pertaining to illegal firearms.
Other arrests pertained to possession of child sex abuse material, illegal drug trafficking, fugitive apprehensions and an assault on a federal officer.
One man, 37-year old Sean Charles Dunn, was captured on video getting in an officer’s face and slamming a Subway sandwich into his chest. Dunn took off running down the street and was chased down. He was charged with a felony.
Attorney General Pam Bondi said Dunn was a Department of Justice employee and has been fired.
“If you touch any law enforcement officer, we will come after you,” Bondi posted on X. “I just learned that this defendant worked at the Department of Justice — NO LONGER. Not only is he FIRED, he has been charged with a felony. This is an example of the Deep State we have been up against for seven months as we work to refocus DOJ. You will NOT work in this administration while disrespecting our government and law enforcement.”
Residents of the District, one of the most highly concentrated Democratic voting regions in the country, have been protesting and heckling the National Guard troops Trump called into duty.
Hecklers carried signs and shouted“go home, fascists” and “get off our streets,” The Associated Press reports.
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) agents patrolledU Street, a popular night life destination.
There was a heavy presence of Drug Enforcement Administration officers and National Guard at other popular spots around the city, including the National Mall and Navy Yard.
Trump has cast the move as a trial run before potentially expanding the federal crime crackdown to other blue cities.
“The Democrats are fighting the stopping of crime…this is the biggest of all issues,” Trump said Thursday during an Oval Office press conference. “Crime is rampant in D.C., it’s rampant in our generally blue-run cities and they better do something about it if they ever want to win another election.”
Rep. Dan Goldman (D-Calif.) said on MSNBC that the “militarization of our cities”violates“everything that we believe in [as] Americans.”
Trump has cited a rarely used law regulating the District’s self-governing authority to take over the District’s Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) for 30 days. Beyond that, Trump would need Congress to vote to extend the federal takeover of the local police.
“We’ll fight him tooth and nail. … He needs to get Congress to approve it, and not only are we not going to approve it, but there are some Republicans who don’t like either.”
💡Perspectives:
•The Bulwark: How to prepare for Trump taking over your city.
• Fox News: Safety is for every citizen, not just the lucky few.
• Semafor: How Trump’s DC takeover divided the city’s Democrats.
Roundup: California redistricting poll a red flag for Newsom
Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) will kick off his effort to redraw California’s congressional district maps at a press conference Thursday, but a new poll indicates trouble ahead.
A new Politico-Citrin Center-Possibility Lab survey found that 64 percent of California voters prefer the current setup, whereby an independent redistricting commission handles the state maps, compared to 36 percent who support returning congressional redistricting authority to the state Legislature.
Among independents, 72 percent favor keeping the independent commission in charge.
Newsom is preparing to call a special election to allow California voters to cast ballots on a new gerrymandered map that is more favorable to Democrats. This comes as a response to the Texas legislature’s move to redraw their maps to make them more favorable for Republicans.
President Trump urged Texas to initiate the rare mid-decade redistricting move, arguing Republicans could pick-up an additional five House seats in the 2026 midterm elections.
Texas Democrats fled the state to deny the legislature a quorum and prevent a vote. They remain out of the state, although Gov. Greg Abbott (R) says he’ll continue calling for new special legislative sessions until they return for the vote.
Other red states, including Florida and Indiana, may follow suit.
Newsom is urging other blue states, including Illinois and New York, to join him in countering the GOP’s moves.
“It’s time to move,” Newsom said on his podcast. “You got to move. I mean, enough.”
MEANWHILE…
The Labor Department’s producer price index (PPI), which measures inflation before it reaches consumers, spiked higher than expected, according to new data released Thursday.
“Cutting interest rates could help support the job market by easing borrowing costs for businesses. But doing so could also add fuel to inflation, which has lingered at an annual rate of 2.7 percent for two months since June, according to the consumer price index (CPI).”
The stock market indices appear to have priced in a potential rate cut next month as they hover near record highs, although Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell has been sensitive to a potential inflation spike from Trump’s tariffs and has so far refused the president’s demands to cut rates.
