Reporter: Will you release video of the second strike?

Trump: Whatever they have, we will certainly release.

Trump:

I don't know what the Kremlin is doing, I can tell you that Witkoff and Kushner had a reasonably good meeting with Putin.

Trump:

I spoke to Maduro briefly, just told him a couple of things.

We will see what happens with that.

Trump:

Putin would like to end the war, that is Witkoff and Kushner's impression after the meeting.

I think he would like to get back to dealing a more normal life.

Reporter: You support the decision to kill survivors after the initial attack?

Trump: I support the decision to knock out the boats, whoever is piloting those boats, they are guilty of trying to kill people in our country.

Trump on Gaza:

They had a problem today with a bomb that went off.

Hurt some people pretty badly, probably killed some people.

We have peace in the Middle East. People don't realize it.

Trump on Somalia:

It is not even a nation, it is just people walking around killing each other.

Trump on Ilhan Omar:

She should be thrown the hell out of our country.

Trump on Ilhan Omar:

Without this country, she would probably not be alive right now.

Trump on Gaza:

Phase two is moving along, it will happen pretty soon.

Venezuelan President Maduro:

I received a call from Donald Trump, and our conversation was respectful— even cordial.

If this call signals steps toward a respectful, state-to-state dialogue, then dialogue and diplomacy are welcome.

We will always seek that path.

Donald Trump’s name was added to the sign of the US Institute of Peace (USIP) in Washington, DC, ahead of a Rwanda–DRC peace agreement ceremony.

The State Department said it renamed the institute the “Donald J. Trump Institute of Peace,” calling Trump “the greatest dealmaker in our nation’s history.”

Earlier this year, the administration effectively shut down USIP—created by Congress in 1984—by eliminating its funding, firing most of its board, and terminating staff.

Former Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba:

In 2026, Ukraine will lose even more people and territory.

We have enough strength to continue the war, but not enough to change the trajectory of the war.

Macron met Xi Jinping in Beijing.

Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever said Russia “will not lose” the war in Ukraine, calling expectations of its defeat “a fairy tale.”

In an interview with La Libre, he argued that frozen Russian assets must eventually be returned, insisting that transferring them to Ukraine would amount to theft.

U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau sharply criticized European NATO allies for limiting U.S. participation in Europe’s expanding defense programs.

Speaking first at a closed-door NATO Foreign Ministers’ meeting — which Secretary of State Marco Rubio skipped — Landau warned Europe not to “bully” American companies out of its rearmament push.

He left shortly after his remarks, a move diplomats said wasn’t unusual.

Source: POLITICO

As the Moscow visit by Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner ends without results, the future of Trump’s Ukraine peace plan remains uncertain.

Timothy Ash notes that the way the process is unfolding—and the low level of trust in the actors involved—raises serious questions about whether the plan is feasible at all.

Witkoff’s trip, joined by Kushner, has already exposed major cracks.

After “constructive” but fruitless talks, Putin aide Yuri Ushakov confirmed no compromise had been reached, and the pair quietly abandoned plans to continue on to Kyiv.

Ash argues that Trump and Witkoff fundamentally misunderstand the war.

They assume territorial concessions—Donbas, Crimea, and areas Russia occupies in Kherson and Zaporizhzhia—could end the conflict.

But Putin’s 2021 essay made clear that his goal is not land but domination: he rejects Ukraine’s right to exist as a sovereign nation.

Any ceasefire extracted on these terms would simply serve as a pause before a renewed push to subjugate the whole country.

In Ash’s view, Trump is chasing a quick, ego-driven diplomatic “win” that might temporarily halt fighting but would ultimately embolden aggression and destabilize Europe’s post-1975 security order.

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Putin:

Russia proposed that Ukraine withdraw its troops from Donbas and refrain from starting military actions, but Kyiv prefers to fight.

Putin:

Russia will in any case “free” Donbas and Novorossiya — by military or other means.