There are two ways to be fooled. One is to believe what isn’t true; the other is to refuse to believe what is true. —Soren Kierkegaard. "…truth is true even if nobody believes it, and falsehood is false even if everybody believes it. That is why truth does not yield to opinion, fashion, numbers, office, or sincerity–it is simply true and that is the end of it" – Os Guinness, Time for Truth, pg.39. “He that takes truth for his guide, and duty for his end, may safely trust to God’s providence to lead him aright.” – Blaise Pascal. "There is but one straight course, and that is to seek truth and pursue it steadily" – George Washington letter to Edmund Randolph — 1795. We live in a “post-truth” world. According to the dictionary, “post-truth” means, “relating to or denoting circumstances in which objective facts are less influential in shaping public opinion than appeals to emotion and personal belief.” Simply put, we now live in a culture that seems to value experience and emotion more than truth. Truth will never go away no matter how hard one might wish. Going beyond the MSM idealogical opinion/bias and their low information tabloid reality show news with a distractional superficial focus on entertainment, sensationalism, emotionalism and activist reporting – this blogs goal is to, in some small way, put a plug in the broken dam of truth and save as many as possible from the consequences—temporal and eternal. "The further a society drifts from truth, the more it will hate those who speak it." – George Orwell “There are two ways to be fooled. One is to believe what isn’t true; the other is to refuse to believe what is true.” ― Soren Kierkegaard
February 28, 2025: Trump informs Zelensky that ‘he doesn’t have the cards’.
Zelensky and his EU Globalists do what they can to impede peace, and cling to some non-starter proposals.
Ever since February 2025, in the infamous Oval Office heated on-camera argument between Donald J. Trump and Kiev regime leader Volodymyr Zelensky, it was clear that the US President knew that Ukraine didn’t have the cards, and should settle with Russia as fast as possible, lest they lose more and more territory.
Message from February 2025: Zelensky is not ready for peace.
The assessment proved totally correct.
We have been diligently reporting here on TGP on Trump’s peace push for the Russia-Ukraine war ever since before he was inaugurated.
But one aspect stood out: Zelensky didn’t negotiate like the losing party that he is, but rather as the golden boy of Globalism that he also is.
April 2025: Zelensky can have peace or lose all the country.
‘To the victor, the spoils’: the winning party gets more (if not all) of its demands met, and has to make the least concessions.
That basic fact of warfare is ignored as Zelensky skillfully delays a peace agreement and still, one year on, clings to the notion that European troops will enter his country to defend it after a ‘ceasefire’ – when everyone know Russia will never, ever accept that.
The ‘coalition of the willing’ is a guarantee that war will continue.
“U.S. President Donald Trump told Reuters that Ukraine – not Russia – is holding up a potential peace deal, rhetoric that stands in marked contrast to that of European allies, who have consistently argued Moscow has little interest in ending its war in Ukraine.”
Trump stated that Russian President Vladimir Putin ‘is ready to wrap up the war’, while Zelensky is reticent.
“’I think he’s ready to make a deal’, Trump said of the Russian president. ‘I think Ukraine is less ready to make a deal’.
Asked why U.S.-led negotiations had not yet resolved Europe’s largest land conflict since World War Two, Trump responded: ‘Zelensky’.”
From May 2025:
Trump, when asked if Putin is an obstacle to peace: “I had a rough talk with Zelensky. He’s not making it easy — never had the cards.”
The Russian president has said he has nothing against providing Ukraine with security guarantees, as long as they are not at Moscow’s expense
Wrapping up a four-day visit to China, Russian President Vladimir Putin fielded questions from the press on Wednesday.
Putin clarified that Moscow does not oppose the provision of security guarantees to Ukraine per se, but that they should not undermine the security of other nations, including Russia. The Kremlin continues to insist that Kiev not join NATO, but it could be a member of the European Union, the Russian president stated.
He also dismissed claims that Russia and the US had discussed “security guarantees in exchange for territories” during Putin’s meeting with his American counterpart, Donald Trump, in Alaska last month.
“To be honest, we are not so much fighting for territories – I’d like to stress – as for… the right of the people living in those territories to speak their native language, live within the framework of their culture and traditions,” Putin said.
By way of example, he mentioned that the residents of Crimea, the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics, and Zaporozhye and Kherson regions had voted overwhelmingly in referendums to join Russia. “That’s what democracy is all about,” the Russian president declared.
Given US President Donald Trump’s “sincere desire to find a solution” to the Ukraine conflict, “there is some light at the end of the tunnel,” he stated.
Putin also reiterated his readiness in principle to meet with Vladimir Zelensky, including in Moscow, but said that a huge question mark still hangs over his legitimacy as Ukraine’s leader.
Zelensky’s presidential term expired last May, but he has refused to hold elections, citing martial law.
Watch Putin’s press conference in full below for these and other topics he covered.
Melania Trump beseeches Putin: First Lady Melania Trump wrote a letter to Russian President Vladimir Putin, urging him to negotiate peace. The letter was presented to Putin at his Friday meeting with Donald Trump in Anchorage, Alaska. Melania urged Putin to consider the purity of children worldwide and the suffering caused by the ravages of war. The cloying letter may come with an underlying message from the Trumps to Putin. Perhaps it was intended to be a counterpoint to the show of strength President Trump arranged — a B-2 bomber with escorting F-35s flying directly over Putin’s head. Whatever the intent of the letter, it could have been better written.
DC AG sues Trump admin: Washington, DC, Attorney General Brian Schwalb raised a lawsuit against the Trump administration on Friday, days after Donald Trump ordered a crackdown on the city’s high crime. Schwalb’s lawsuit focused on Attorney General Pam Bondi’s directive to the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) to disregard the city’s “sanctuary” polices and assist ICE in its immigration enforcement. Schwalb told MPD Police Chief Pamela Smith to ignore the “unlawful” order. While the 1973 DC Home Rule Act grants the city a certain amount of self-rule, the law also includes a provision that allows the president to “direct” the mayor regarding policing should the president call an emergency, which Trump has done. Friday evening, Smith and Bondi came to somewhat of a compromise, wherein MPD officers will offer limited cooperation with ICE, which includes information sharing.
School DEI defunding blocked: It happened again — a district judge stepped in to stop the correct action of the executive branch. Judge Stephanie Gallagher sided with the plaintiff, the American Federation of Teachers, which argued that the Trump administration’s anti-DEI policy outlined in a February 14 letter runs afoul of procedural issues and violates constitutional rights. Thanks to Gallagher, schools that engage in the unconstitutional practice of DEI may not be defunded. Gallagher was first nominated by Barack Obama for the District of Maryland but was renominated by Donald Trump after her first nomination expired. It is remarkable how often district judges have ruled that halting unconstitutional actions is itself unconstitutional.
CFPB pink slips resume: The unaccountable federal agency that was the brainchild of Democrat Sen. Elizabeth Warren, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which the Trump administration has rightly been working to eliminate, got bad news on Friday. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia overturned a federal judge’s order that had halted the Trump administration’s effort to fire most of the CFPB’s staff. “The district court lacked jurisdiction to consider the claims predicated on loss of employment,” the court majority ruled. This will allow the administration to move forward on its firings, which will significantly downsize the CFPB. While Trump cannot eliminate the agency, which will take an act of Congress, his administration has significantly eroded its power. Far from protecting consumers, the CFPB has been an agency designed to inject leftist ideology into the nation’s free market system.
Hochul pardons illegal alien who killed a man: If Democrats fought for Americans as hard as they fight for illegal aliens, they’d never lose another election. New York Gov. Kathy Hochul has pardoned an illegal alien who was convicted of manslaughter in 1988 to prevent his deportation. After Somchith Vatthanavong shot and killed a man in a pool hall, he served 14 years in prison until his release in 2003. Despite being free to build a life in New York City for the last 22 years, he never became an American citizen — i.e., he never integrated. Vatthanavong was scheduled for an immigration appointment on July 1 under the new administration, until Hochul intervened, issuing an unconditional pardon that includes “relief from removal.” DHS called out Hochul on X, noting Vatthanavong’s rap sheet, which includes criminal possession of a firearm.
Trump cuts deportation backlog for first time in 20 years: Under Barack Obama, the backlog of immigration cases waiting to be heard by the Executive Office for Immigration Review was just 750,000. That number doubled to 1.5 million in Trump’s first term and then surged past four million under Joe Biden’s feckless leadership. Now, in Trump’s second term, that backlog has decreased (paywall) from 4.2 million to 3.8 million, mostly due to the lack of new cases. As the cases grew over the last two decades, immigrants would wait years before their case was brought, allowing them to put down roots and protect themselves from removal. Now, cases are heard in just a few weeks, with many new immigrants being held in detention centers rather than set loose on American soil, leading some to give up their cases and return to their homelands.
Trump sues CA over EV mandates: Although the One Big Beautiful Bill Act rescinded the Biden EPA’s permission for California to pursue its electric truck mandate, the Golden State has continued to pursue it. The California Air Resources Board (CARB) has sought to continue imposing its so-called Clean Truck Partnership to force these heavy truck makers to replace their diesel truck production with all-electric trucks. The Trump Justice Department filed a lawsuit against California for defying federal law and moving forward with its EV mandate, which truck makers in the partnership have sought to exit in order to comply with federal law. “The Committee has been made aware that CARB staff is denying auto manufacturers approval to bring vehicles to market unless the manufacturers agree to comply with the preempted regulations,” House Republicans on the Energy and Commerce Committee stated in a letter to CARB.
Schumer’s big personal lie: Politicians are infamous for bending the truth, but their lies aren’t often complete fiction made up out of whole cloth. Recently, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer was blasted across social media for his repeated references to “the Baileys,” whom he describes as a “middle-class couple” from “a suburb on Long Island” who “bought into Reagan Republicanism in 1980.” Schumer made extensive notes of the Baileys over the years, including in his book Positively American: Winning Back the Middle-Class Majority One Family at a Time. He even claims, “I have guided my political life through the Baileys.” So, who are the Baileys? Well, it turns out they don’t actually exist; they are simply a figment of Schumer’s imagination. And “Bailey” wasn’t even their original name. A former spokesman for Schumer noted that he used to ask his staff, “What would the O’Reillys think?”
Headlines
Texas House Democrats announce return, ending walkout over redistricting plan (Texas Tribune)
Letitia James sues DOE over funding cap on state energy programs (Washington Examiner)
Energy Department announces actions to secure American critical minerals and materials supply chain (Energy.gov)
Trump administration places even stricter phaseouts for wind and solar subsidies (Washington Examiner)
Court blocks FTC investigation into Media Matters’ alleged scheme against X (Engadget)
Controversial New Orleans mayor indicted for alleged illicit relationship with taxpayer-funded bodyguard (Fox News)
Dems’ pick for SC gubernatorial race arrested in his underwear — while calling himself God and Superman (NY Post)
More Palestinians are calling for Hamas to leave power (NY Post)
Humor: 11 new artifacts Trump ordered the Smithsonian to display (Babylon Bee)
The obstacles are daunting, and Donald Trump has allowed as much.
“I settled six wars recently,” Trump told Fox News’s Bret Baier on Air Force One on the way to Anchorage for a summit with Russia’s Vladimir Putin. “The most difficult ones turned out to be easy. The easiest one, which should be this one, turned out to be the toughest.”
So much for the critics who say Trump never reflects, never introspects. Having so far settled varying degrees of armed conflict between Iran and Israel, between India and Pakistan, between Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, between Azerbaijan and Armenia, between Cambodia and Thailand, between Kosovo and Serbia, and between Egypt and Ethiopia — that’s seven conflicts by my count — Trump realizes that this one, the Ukraine war, is by far the heaviest lift of all.
The president went into Friday’s summit seeking a ceasefire, but he didn’t get it. Instead, he got some naked flattery from Putin, who confirmed what the president has maintained all along: that this war would never have started if he’d been in office instead of the Autopen President. Elections have consequences, though — especially rigged ones — and the consequences of Joe Biden’s disastrous term in office are perhaps a million dead and wounded Ukrainians and Russians. Remind your Trump-deranged friends of that statistic next time they start prattling on about Trump the Nazi, Trump the King, Trump the Oligarch.
Predictably, the self-discrediting organism otherwise known as the mainstream media has been screeching about Trump having failed to extract a ceasefire concession from Putin. Funny, but I don’t remember them ever chastising Biden for failing to secure a ceasefire during the war that started on his watch, the war that he practically encouraged with talk of a “minor incursion” and such.
Trump is doing his best. Which is better than anyone else’s best. As former CIA Russia station chief Dan Hoffman noted this morning: “This peace initiative has been entirely from the Trump administration. It’s not like Vladimir Putin came to Alaska and said, ‘Hey, President Trump, I’ve caused a million casualties in my own country … I’ve pushed Finland and Sweden to join NATO, I’ve caused a brain drain of roughly a million Russians who have fled my country. Please help me get out of this loser war with a good peace deal.’ He’s not doing that. Last night, Putin launched 140 drones and another ballistic missile attack indiscriminately targeting Ukrainian civilians. So that’s the challenge for President Trump.”
Indeed, it’s a helluva challenge. As for those murderous overnight strikes by Putin, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who’s meeting with Trump at the White House right now along with European leaders, said: “Putin will commit demonstrative killings to maintain pressure on Ukraine and Europe as well as to humiliate diplomatic efforts. That is precisely why we are seeking assistance to put an end to the killings. That is why reliable security guarantees are required. That is why Russia should not be rewarded for its participation in this war.”
What’s it going to take? Probably some form of land-for-peace deal. The Crimea is gone for good, having been snatched by Putin during Red Line Obama’s eight-year apology tour. As Hoffman observed, Ukraine has some well-fortified positions in the mountainous and strategically vital Donbas region — positions that Putin hasn’t been able to take militarily — but the rest of Ukraine is relatively flat. So if Zelensky gives up those strategic positions in the east, Putin could have an easier time moving through the rest of Ukraine if his ultimate goal is to overthrow Zelensky and install a Russia-friendly puppet regime instead.
President Trump, though, might have something to say about that — especially if he decides to fully unleash America’s economic might.
Here’s another question. Is it incumbent on the victim, Ukraine, to make peace here, or is it incumbent on the aggressor, which is Russia? Or is it incumbent on Trump, whom the Left seems to think owes the world a peaceful solution that includes total capitulation by Putin?
Gimme a break. As Secretary of State Marco Rubio put it yesterday: “This is not our war. The United States is not in a war. Ukraine is in a war, and we’ve been supporting Ukraine. … If tomorrow the work continues, life in America will not be fundamentally altered. So I think that we have to understand that this has been a priority for the president because he wants to promote peace.”
Ultimately, as Hoffman concludes, Putin and Russia want to demonstrate to the world that Russia bows to no one in Eastern Europe, and that the U.S. can’t project its power there in Russia’s backyard. And remember: Putin is a menace and a breaker of treaties, and if he doesn’t like journalists, he does what KSM in Saudi Arabia does: He kills them. (In Putin’s defense, though, he doesn’t chop them up into little pieces.)
As for the Left saying that Trump got rolled in Anchorage, don’t believe it. The White House rejects this, reminding us that Trump met multiple times with North Korea’s Kim Jong-un, and he’s still isolated. And he engaged with the Iranian regime on a peace deal and has since bombed them out and isolated them. Trump isn’t going to bomb Russia, but all this is part of his unpredictability. Vladimir Putin might think he has Donald Trump’s number, but perhaps he’ll think differently if and when Trump starts to squeeze Russia’s one-trick petro-economy.
Those are the geopolitical considerations, but there’s a historical perspective to this as well. Ronald Reagan will forever be known as The Great Communicator. But at the risk of getting too far over my skis, if Donald Trump can somehow pull this off, even the teeth-gnashing historians of the Left will have no choice but to call him The Great Peacemaker.
Think about it: He’ll have once again confounded his Trump-deranged critics while at the same time saving countless lives all around the world.
Nate Jackson: Gerrymandering, California Style — First, compare Republicans to Nazis. Then, subvert the democratic process to get what you want — and get mad at Donald Trump while you’re at it.
Thomas Gallatin: Trump Tokes on Marijuana Downgrade — The president is considering whether to reclassify cannabis as a less dangerous drug, but a growing body of research indicates that it’s far from a harmless pleasure.
Emmy Griffin: Most Students Lie to Their Marxist Professors — Colleges have replaced diversity of thought with superficial diversity of skin color or sex. They expect conformity, but the majority of students are just playing along.
Roger Helle: Nowhere to Run, Nowhere to Hide — Are you tired of running? I was exhausted from running and hiding. But instead of a rebuke, I found a loving, compassionate Heavenly Father.
Jasmine Crockett’s Seat Eliminated — Nate the Lawyer breaks down the history of gerrymandering, the shocking hypocrisy from both sides, and why Democrats may have been the biggest beneficiaries all along.
Trump Fires the Bureau of Labor Statistics Chief — President Trump just fired the head of the BLS, accusing her of cooking the books for political purposes. Her replacement, economist E.J. Antoni, is already rattling cages by suggesting we should scrap the BLS’s jobs report altogether.
“No.” —Sen. Bernie Sanders when asked by CNN’s Dana Bash, “Would you say that Hamas has some culpability in people starving?”
“Frankly, I don’t care if [Anas] al-Sharif was in Hamas or not.” —Foreign Press Association President Ian Williams
“Hamas is a political organization — as well as a terrorist organization, perhaps.” —Ian Williams
Rules for Thee but Not for Me
“To these other blue states that are out there with these blue governors and blue-state legislatures, I don’t want to hear about this bull[crap] about what y’all’s constitution [says]. Y’all need to have a special session. And you need to get to redrawing [Republicans’ butts] out.” —Rep. Marc Veasey
Major Projection
“Wake up, America. Wake up to what Donald Trump is doing. Wake up to his assaults. Wake up to the assault on institutions and knowledge and history. Wake up to his war on science and public health and his war against the American people.” —Gov. Gavin Newsom
Non Compos Mentis
“We want the people of Ukraine, we commend them for fighting for democracy, and in fighting for their democracy, to, uh, they are fighting for ours as well.” —Rep. Nancy Pelosi
“I don’t know what Putin has on the president that he just — he’s coming to Alaska. They shouldn’t be going to Alaska. Russia claims Alaska. Russia claims Alaska.” —Rep. Nancy Pelosi
A Broken Clock Is Right Twice a Day
“I actually was encouraged by the events of the last several months. First of all, the NATO commitment by individual member states to increase their defense spending is very welcome. It’s something that prior administrations have certainly sought. And I think it’s great that we are seeing these commitments that now have to be followed through on.” —Hillary Clinton
For the Record
“Today, when President Trump [is] saying that if he was the president [in 2022] there will be no war … I can confirm that.” —Russian President Vladimir Putin
Belly Laugh of the Day
“It took 10 years but Democrats finally have proof of Trump working with Russia.” —Jimmy Failla
Re: The Left
“It is no surprise that the panicked Democrats bark at the shadows — given that they know their revolutionary, neo-socialist agenda is destroying them. And yet, like all addicts, they choose destruction over abandoning their self-destructive fixations.” —Victor Davis Hanson
“The liberal elites who equate themselves with Democracy don’t want the voters to be able to have a say in what historical narratives go in national museums.” —Tim Graham
“[Democrats] are stuck. They don’t know what to do. … I would say more than half are sane, but they are led by insane people.” —Donald Trump
Upright
“I don’t care who’s following who. Okay? You can’t lead and follow at the same time, and you can’t follow and lead at the same time. I don’t follow anybody. I follow the heavenly spirit. I follow God. I don’t follow man. I have faith in God. I have hope in man, but look around; it ain’t working out so well.” —actor Denzel Washington on cancel culture
ON THIS DAY in 1587, Virginia Dare became the first child born on American soil to English parents.
Please join us in prayer for our nation — that righteous leaders would rise and prevail and we would be united as Americans. Pray for the protection of our uniformed Military Patriots, Veterans, First Responders, and their families. Lift up your Patriot Post team and our mission to support and defend our legacy of American Liberty and our Republic’s Founding Principles, in order that the fires of freedom would be ignited in the hearts and minds of our countrymen.
President Trump said in an interview on Friday evening that he wants to see the death end in Ukraine, and his negotiations with President Vladimir Putin to end the war earlier in the day was “very good.”
“But we’ll see. I mean, you have to get a deal,” he said. “We agreed on a lot of points.”
President Trump joined Fox News’ Sean Hannity following his meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Anchorage, Alaska, on Friday.
The three-on-three meeting at Joint Base Elmendorf–Richardson included President Trump, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff, and their Russian counterparts.
WATCH:
Trump: We had a very good meeting today, but we’ll see. I mean, you have to get a deal. We agreed on a lot of points. I want to see people stop dying in Ukraine, and that’s what’s happening. We’re losing 5, 6, 7, thousand. They’re Russians, mostly Russians, and they’re Ukrainian soldiers, and there’s some people dying in cities and towns, where they’re trying to blow up missile manufacturers and other things. In some cities, I don’t know if you know what’s going on there, but there are a lot of people dying. And if we can end that war, it would be very good. And I was very happy to hear him say, if I was president, that war would have never happened.
As The Gateway Pundit reported, Trump and Putin came to a tentative agreement to secure peace between Russia and Ukraine after a three-hour-long meeting at Joint Base Elmendorf–Richardson in Anchorage, Alaska.
Still, Ukraine and NATO are “going to have to agree,” Trump stated, noting that “there’s no deal until there’s a deal,” and “it’s ultimately up to them.”
“We really made some great progress today,” he said.
At one point, during a post-meeting press conference with Putin and Trump, Putin confirmed to reporters that the war would have never even started if the election wasn’t stolen from Trump in 2020. “I’m quite sure that it would indeed be so,” Putin said.
Putin also drew contrasts between Trump and Biden, saying that Trump is “results-oriented,” “has a very clear idea of what he would like to achieve,” and “sincerely cares about the prosperity of his nation” before taking aim at Biden for being uncooperative during their last meeting.
“I’d like to remind you that in 2022, during the last contact with the previous administration, I tried to convince my previous American colleague that the situation should not be brought to the point of no return when it would come to hostilities, and I said that quite directly back then that it’s a big mistake.”
“But if we are to be told by a foreign Power … what we shall do, and what we shall not do, we have Independence yet to seek, and have contended hitherto for very little.” —George Washington (1796)
Trump comments on Social Security turning 90: Yesterday, President Donald Trump commemorated the 90th anniversary of the Social Security Act, which was signed into law by Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1935. Trump touted the recently passed One Big Beautiful Bill Act, noting that it included a provision for “no tax” on Social Security benefits for most Americans. “In the campaign,” he said, “I made a sacred pledge to our seniors that I would always protect Social Security, and under this administration, we’re keeping that promise and strengthening Social Security for generations to come.” He argued that nearly 60 million Americans rely on Social Security, saying they “paid into the system, and they deserve leaders in Washington who are going to protect the benefits.” Trump also touted his efforts to protect the program, pointing to his action to boot some 275,000 illegal aliens off the rolls.
DOJ lawyer fired for throwing sandwich at federal agent: Sean Charles Dunn, 37, was arrested after he verbally abused and threw a sandwich at a federal officer in Washington, DC, earlier this week. “I just learned that this defendant worked at the Department of Justice,” said Attorney General Pam Bondi. “NO LONGER. Not only is he FIRED, he has been charged with a felony.” She added, “If you touch any law enforcement officer, we will come after you.” Dunn had been an international affairs specialist at the DOJ, working in fugitive criminal extradition cases. He was apparently incensed by Donald Trump’s federalization of the DC Metropolitan Police Department to crack down on crime in the city. “He thought it was funny,” DC U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro observed. “Well, he doesn’t think it’s funny today.”
TX Dem lawmakers wave the white flag: The stunt is finally coming to an end, as 13 Texas Democrat lawmakers who fled the state over opposition to a Republican redistricting map will now be returning. The Democrats have disingenuously spun their opposition to the redistricting map, which favors Republicans who enjoy majority control of the Texas legislature, as a fight to protect democracy. The hypocrisy of their opposition is exposed by the fact that Democrat-run states such as Illinois, New York, and California serve as the most egregious examples of partisan gerrymandered maps. The truth of the matter is that Democrats have long been guilty of “rigging” redistricting maps in their favor. They are only objecting now because Republicans are daring to follow their lead.
Newsom’s gerrymandering push: California Gov. Gavin Newsom is attempting to “push back” with his gerrymandering proposal, which would pave the way for California Democrats to circumvent the independent commission that controls the state’s map-drawing process and pass new congressional lines more favorable to their party. CA lawmakers must approve the ballot initiative for this year’s November election. If it passes, then new maps can be enacted for the 2026 midterms. Newsom claims this will “neuter and neutralize” the additional five Republican seats that Texas would gain by redistricting, but Democrats already represent 43 of the 52 districts in CA. Newsom claims he wants to “give power to the people.” Well, the people gave redistricting power to an independent commission instead of the state in 2008 and 2010 reforms. Furthermore, a recent poll shows that the majority of voters want to keep it that way.
Susan Miller’s security clearance nullified: One of the chief Russia collusion hoax propagandists has had her security clearance terminated. Susan Miller is a retired CIA officer who used her clearance credentials to lend weight to the idea that Russian President Vladimir Putin colluded with Donald Trump to win the 2016 election. An unnamed senior defense official commented that “all she did was lie to the American people to hurt Trump.” Miller has made the media rounds lately, attempting to counter the growing evidence that the collusion hoax was entirely manufactured at the behest of Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. Friendly media have described Miller as an author of the error-ridden Intelligence Community Assessment used to create the hoax, but senior intelligence officials say she was neither an author nor involved at all. Terminating her security clearance is a hopeful step toward holding the Russia hoaxers accountable.
DC mayor leaves town: As the Donald Trump-initiated crackdown on crime in the nation’s capital has gotten underway, with arrests of criminals quickly piling up, DC Mayor Muriel Bowser elected to leave town for Martha’s Vineyard. On Thursday, her office explained, “The Mayor has a family commitment and had to pick up her daughter. She will return to the District tomorrow.” While Bowser responded to Trump’s action as “unsettling and unprecedented” and an “authoritarian push,” she evidently felt it wasn’t bad enough to merit her canceling a trip to Martha’s Vineyard. With the National Guard walking the streets of DC, maybe the mayor felt there was no better time to take a break, as the city is certainly in good hands.
Hunter Biden doubles down on Melania defamation: First Lady Melania Trump put Hunter Biden on notice earlier this month after he made defamatory statements in a “Channel 5” podcast. Melania’s $1 billion notice warned Hunter to retract and apologize for falsely stating that Jeffrey Epstein was the one who introduced her to Donald Trump. The claim comes from “serial fabulist Michael Wolff,” according to attorney Alejandro Brito, and even James Carville issued an apology for repeating the false story. When podcast host Andrew Callaghan asked Hunter this week if he would retract and apologize, a smiling Hunter responded, “F**\k that. That’s not going to happen.” The notice warned Hunter that failure to comply would result in legal action, which has not yet been forthcoming, though Donald Trump says he “let her use my lawyers.”
Businesses paying tariffs … for now: To accommodate tariffs, businesses have started to raise prices on each other as opposed to the consumer. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, wholesale prices increased 6.9% in July, with trade services leading the hikes. Chris Zaccarelli, chief investment officer for Northlight Asset Management, noted, “The large spike in the Producer Price Index (PPI) this morning shows inflation is coursing through the economy, even if it hasn’t been felt by consumers yet.” He called it an “unwelcome surprise” and one that is “likely to unwind some of the optimism of a ‘guaranteed’ rate cut next month.” The consumer inflation report published earlier this week confirms that inflation hasn’t been felt by consumers yet because it revealed a more subdued picture of price growth. Some reports estimate that consumers are only paying 22% of the tariffs currently, but wholesale prices suggest that figure is likely to rise.
Headlines
AG Bondi strips power from DC police chief, rescinds sanctuary city protections (Fox News)
Florida to expand “Alligator Alcatraz” franchise with “Deportation Depot” (Not the Bee)
Trump administration launches investigation into Kansas school districts over transgender policies (Washington Examiner)
Toronto Film Festival will “ensure” Oct. 7 doc is screened following swift backlash (NY Post)
Costco opts out of being a latter-day abortion clinic (National Review)
84% of mail-order abortion pills sent to pro-life states (Washington Stand)
Democrats love citing this one climate change study. Turns out it’s all bogus. (Daily Wire)
Humor: Trump negotiates Russian ceasefire by giving Putin California (Babylon Bee)
Today, President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin are meeting in Alaska in a negotiation effort to initiate a ceasefire and hammer out an eventual deal to end the war in Ukraine.
That this meeting is even happening is a credit to Trump’s pressure campaign against Russia, wherein he threatened massive economic repercussions should Putin fail to seek a peace deal. While some media pundits are condemning this summit as validating Putin and capitulating to his expansionist agenda — even likening it to Neville Chamberlain’s appeasement of Adolf Hitler at the 1938 Munich summit — the truth is that it’s Putin, not Trump, who holds the weaker hand.
(Besides, everyone knows Trump is Hitler, right?)
After more than three years of bloody war, Putin’s Russian forces are in a slugfest with the much smaller Ukrainian military. Yet they are only advancing at a snail’s pace with an exceedingly high casualty rate. Indeed, one wonders if Putin will run out of men before he runs out of cash.
And it is that second issue, economics, that likely motivated Putin to agree to this summit with Trump. The Russian economy is not in great shape, and with oil prices dropping and the ruble strengthening, the cost of this war will only get higher.
So, for Putin, the play appears to be one in which he gains Ukrainian land concessions — i.e., shoring up the rest of Ukraine’s far eastern Donetsk Oblast — while preparing for another invasion in the coming years to take the rest of Ukraine.
At the very least, Putin aims to drag out the process to buy more time for his military to avoid severe economic sanctions from hitting Russia too soon.
Trump, on the other hand, has expressed a measured clarity regarding his expectations for the summit. As he stated earlier this week, “I’m not going to make a deal. It’s not up to me to make a deal.” He then added that he is effectively measuring Putin to see if a peace deal is even in the cards. “Probably in the first two minutes, I’ll know exactly whether or not a deal can be made.”
Trump also clarified, “The next meeting will be with [Ukrainian President Volodymyr] Zelensky and Putin, or Zelensky and Putin and me. I’ll be there if they need, but I want to have a meeting set up between the two leaders.”
In other words, what Trump is looking for is whether Putin will agree to meet with Zelensky, as that will be the next essential step toward a possible peace deal.
Trump has also demonstrated that he knows what Putin’s ultimate objective is with Ukraine: “There are those that believe that Putin wanted all of Ukraine. I happen to be one of them. I’m going to be telling him, you’ve got to end this war.”
Trump is being a realist, given the status of the war and the situation on the ground. He has expressed the option of a land swap being on the table. But as Trump has previously stated, any deal will ultimately be up to Ukraine and Russia to agree to.
Finally, Trump is willing to walk away from a deal with Putin if he believes he’s not serious. “We’re going to see what he has to say,” Trump told reporters. “That’s going to be up to him.” However, Trump did warn that if Putin failed to agree to negotiate a peace deal with Zelensky, there would be consequences. While he would not elaborate on what those consequences would be, he maintained, “There will be very severe consequences.”
Today’s summit may end up being one of Trump’s most consequential foreign policy endeavors of his presidency.
Douglas Andrews: Un-Woking the Smithsonian — With our nation’s 250th birthday less than a year away, the Trump White House is bent on ensuring that the real American story is on display at our nation’s foremost museum.
Nate Jackson: District Judge Demands Nuns Pay for Contraception — Despite two wins at the Supreme Court, the Little Sisters of the Poor have been under attack by the radical Left for more than a decade, and they just lost a case.
Emmy Griffin: The American Christian Church Is Under Attack — Literally — The United States is no exception when it comes to attacks on houses of worship. Our churches are derided as hateful and targeted by secularists who think they’re doing “good.”
Brian Mark Weber: Diplomaed and Non-Diplomaed Workers Now Equally Unemployed — A college degree costs a heck of a lot more than it used to, but it’s not worth as much in terms of landing a good-paying job after the years of hard work to earn it.
Ron Helle: Call Me — Feeling the need to talk? God has given us His private line in Jeremiah 33:3: “Call to me and I will answer you, and will tell you great and hidden things that you have not known.”
The China Warning No One in the West Is Talking About — Luke de Pulford details Beijing’s stranglehold on critical supply chains, from rare earth minerals to pharmaceuticals, and exposes how this economic leverage is used to silence criticism of its human rights abuses.
‘I Can’t Get Junk Food on Food Stamps!’ — The Trump administration’s ban on using food stamps to pay for junk food is going into effect. People are loading up on junk food while they still can, while some leftists are losing their minds in protest.
Why Does Tommy Robinson Support Israel? — Tommy explains his long-held support for Israel through personal experiences visiting the country. He describes meeting Muslim citizens who live freely there and witnessing corruption and “pay-to-slay” policies in Palestinian territories.
Why I Fled Socialism — And Love America — Born in Venezuela, Franklin was punished for speaking the truth and forced to flee after challenging socialist propaganda. Now a proud legal immigrant and PragerU personality, he shares how America gave him freedom, purpose, and a future.
How Stupid David Pakman Really Is — Jesse Lee Peterson asks David Pakman a series of simple questions, which quickly expose just how flawed his logic is.
SHORT CUTS
Delusions of Grandeur
“No attorney general in the country is battling President Donald Trump more proficiently … than [Letitia] James.” —The Nation national affairs correspondent Joan Walsh
War Is Peace, Freedom Is Slavery, Ignorance Is Strength
“The undocumented immigrant at the center of immigration fight between Trump and NJ’s governor had a largely clean driving record, despite prior DUI arrests.” —New Jersey Monitor senior reporter Dana DiFilippo
Race Bait
“It’s not lost on anyone that the cities that [President Trump] is calling out … have large numbers of black and brown people. … They’re all headed by black mayors. Now, what does that say? What does that picture paint?” —Oakland, California, Mayor Barbara Lee
Facepalm
“I walk around all the time. I wake up early in the morning sometimes and take a nice walk as the sun is rising, around some of the Capitol and the other monuments and things. And I feel perfectly safe. They’re full of it. … Donald Trump wants to distract. That’s his game plan. It’s been his MO for his first term in the presidency and now.” —Senate Democrat Leader Chuck Schumer, whose benefits include around-the-clock police protection
Shot/Chaser
“The reality is that crime is down in major cities. And if you really want to be a stickler about it, you might even want to mention that violent crime rates are higher in some red states.” —”comedian” Seth Meyers
“Meyers appeared totally unaware that you can have a blue city inside of a red state.” —Alex Christy
A Blind Squirrel Finds a Nut
“The answer to this problem for Democrats is not, ‘Oh, everything’s okay. There’s nothing to see here. Move along.’ … 91% of Washington residents say crime is a problem. … 51% [say] it is an extremely serious problem.” —MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough
Straight From the Horse’s Mouth
“I was born and raised in the District and I have never seen the things that I see today with children as young as three years old being shot. … [Trump] would be foolish, I think, to ignore things like that — a child three years old being shot.” —a DC resident speaking on the crime crackdown
For the Record
“If an 800-pound obese person loses 200 pounds, they are still obese. Just because homicides dropped in DC doesn’t mean it is safe. It is still more murderous than most major cities in America.” —Lisa Boothe
“I was born in Washington, D.C., at the end of 1942. Growing up in the suburbs there was so little crime it made the front page in the city’s three newspapers.” —Cal Thomas
No More Autopen
“Signed by the human hand for a change.” —Donald Trump upon signing an executive order
Fauxcahontas
“Elizabeth Warren said she was an Indian. We call her Pocahontas. She’s a liar. … She’s a nutjob. I watched her the other night. She’s all hopped up. … She’s gotta take a drug test. … There’s no way somebody can act that way and be normal.” —Donald Trump
Political Futures
“Statehood is ridiculous. We want to straighten the place out. … The Democrats want it because the Democrats have, you know, about 95% in this little area. … They want to pick up two senators, and that’s not going to happen.” —Donald Trump on DC statehood
“I say this with respect: Chuck [Schumer] and Hakeem [Jeffries] need to go to Amazon, buy some testicles, and stand up to the loon wing of their party.” —Sen. John Kennedy
And Last…
“If Obamacare had been sold honestly, Obama would have said, ‘The middle class pays too little for insurance that is too good. We need them to pay more for worse insurance so we can insure more people.’” —Frank J. Fleming
ON THIS DAY in 1939, “The Wizard of Oz” premiered in Hollywood at Grauman’s Chinese Theater.
Please join us in prayer for our nation — that righteous leaders would rise and prevail and we would be united as Americans. Pray for the protection of our uniformed Military Patriots, Veterans, First Responders, and their families. Lift up your Patriot Post team and our mission to support and defend our legacy of American Liberty and our Republic’s Founding Principles, in order that the fires of freedom would be ignited in the hearts and minds of our countrymen.
Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin are about to make decisions that could radically alter the trajectory of human history. When they meet in Alaska on Friday, the stakes will be incredibly high. If they are able to agree to some sort of a deal, the world will rejoice. But if the meeting goes badly, there will be immense pressure on western leaders to militarily intervene in Ukraine in order to prevent Russia from taking as much territory as it wants. At the moment, Russian forces are moving forward quite rapidly. If negotiations can stop them, western leaders will be thrilled. But if talks fail, the conflict in Ukraine will dramatically escalate, and that will put us dangerously close to nuclear war.
On Wednesday, President Trump was asked about what will happen if the Russians do not agree to end the war.
US President Donald Trump promised “very severe consequences” on Russia if its President Vladimir Putin doesn’t agree to end his war in Ukraine during the two leaders’ meeting on Friday.
“There will be consequences,” Trump just said during an event at the Kennedy Center in Washington.
Asked if that meant new sanctions or tariffs, Trump demurred.
“I don’t have to say,” he said, adding only: “There will be very severe consequences.”
This was not a wise thing to say just before such an important meeting.
As I have stated over and over again, threatening the Russians will not work.
If Trump insists on making threats, it will backfire severely.
The Russians have already said that they are willing to end the war, but they want certain things in return.
Of course what the Russians have proposed is not acceptable to the Ukrainians or to our European allies at all, and that is not likely to change any time soon.
A virtual conference that included Trump and leaders from all over Europe was held on Wednesday, and President Trump felt that it went very well…
The president joined a call earlier on Aug. 13 with Zelenskyy and European leaders, two days before Trump’s one-on-one summit with Putin in Alaska. Trump is trying to push Moscow into a peace deal that Kyiv and its allies fear will include the loss of significant territory seized by Russia in its three-year war on Ukraine.
“I would rate it a 10,” Trump told reporters on August 13 at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. “Very friendly.”
Zelenskyy was in Berlin for the virtual conference hosted by German Chancellor Friedrich Merz that included the leaders of Finland, France, Great Britain, Italy, Poland, the European Union and NATO. Vice President JD Vance was also expected to join the portion that included Trump.
Following the virtual conference, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz made it exceedingly clear where our European allies stand…
The German leader said Ukraine would need a seat at the table if peace was to be reached in Ukraine, and that he told Mr. Trump he would speak to him after his Alaska meeting with Putin.
“We want to make sure that the right chronology happens: that there is a ceasefire and that there is an agreement that is discussed after that,” he said. “A legal recognition of Russian ownership of this territory cannot happen. There have to be robust security guarantees. The sovereignty of Ukraine has to be respected. Negotiations have to be part of a larger transatlantic strategy, and has to be part of necessary pressure on Russia.”
Merz added, “If there is no movement on the Russian side, we and the U.S. have to put more pressure on Russia. President Trump knows this position and largely agrees with it, and we had a good conversation with each other.”
Merz obviously does not want a peace agreement to happen, because there is no way that the Russians are going to agree to any of that.
The Russians are not going to give one inch of the territory that they have taken in the five provinces of Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia, Kherson and Crimea back to Ukraine.
In fact, the Russians want Ukraine to hand over all of the territory that the Ukrainians are still holding in those five provinces.
If Ukraine is not willing to hand over all of that territory, Russia will simply take it.
That is the Russian position, and they see no reason to compromise because they are clearly winning the war.
When asked about Trump’s suggestion that there could be some “swapping of territories”, the Russians made it very clear that this is a non-starter…
Russia pointed to its constitution in response to a remark by U.S. President Donald Trump that there would likely be a “swapping of territories” in a deal to end Moscow’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine.
Trump is due to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska on Friday to discuss a peace deal. Territorial control is a key issue. Russia has seized about a fifth of Ukrainian land in the east. Ukraine controls no Russian territory.
Asked about Trump’s suggestion that Russia and Ukraine could swap land, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Alexei Fadeev said at a news briefing on Wednesday that there was “no need to even invent anything territorial.”
“The structure of the Russian Federation is enshrined in the Constitution of our country,” Fadeev said, originally in Russian. “That says it all.”
The Russians also want Ukraine to be permanently banned from joining NATO.
This is something that the Ukrainians and our European allies are adamantly against.
So I have no idea why so many pundits think that a deal is possible, because the two sides are not even in the same universe when it comes to what an acceptable deal would look like.
“This is a listening exercise for the president,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said on Aug. 12. “This is for the president to go and to get a more firm and better understanding of how we can hopefully bring this war to an end.”
I give Trump credit for being willing to sit down with Putin.
The window of opportunity for a peaceful solution is almost closed, and so let’s hope that this last-ditch effort is successful.
20 years ago, if someone told you that a day would come when the only thing standing between us and nuclear war would be Donald Trump, would you have believed it?
But here we are.
The meeting in Alaska on Friday really will be one of the most important events in modern history, and the fate of our society is hanging in the balance.
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The bloody years-long conflict between Ukraine and Russia was finally brought to an end this week, as President Donald Trump successfully negotiated a ceasefire between the countries by agreeing to give Vladimir Putin California.
The deal was struck after several months of stop-and-start negotiations between the two sides mediated by Trump, with Russia finally agreeing to bring the hostilities to an end after being gifted the entire state of California as a substitute for the territory it coveted from Ukraine.
“It’s a great deal for every party involved,” Trump told reporters when announcing the agreement. “I told everyone before that there would be some land changing hands as part of a ceasefire. Putin wanted something, and it needed to be good, so I said, ‘How about California? It’s not what it once was, but it’s not bad,’ and he said he’d think about it. He called back later and said he’d take it. We’re signing the papers tomorrow, believe it or not. Great deal. Ukraine gets peace, Russia gets California, and we don’t have to deal with Governor Gavin Newscum anymore. Now he’s Putin’s problem.”
A spokesman for the Russian government confirmed the agreement. “It is good deal,” the representative said. “We have need for land. We wanted Crimea and the Donbas, but California is ok. We hear the beach is nice. There are many tacos. We like tacos.”
At publishing time, Putin had reportedly ordered Russian military units to begin the process of clearing celebrities out of Hollywood to make California more inhabitable.
Babylon Bee subscriber Ben Goins contributed to this report. If you want to pitch your own headline ideas to our staff, click here to check out all of our membership options!
Our investigative journalists have uncovered this authentic Hitler jeans ad from 1942:
“War, like most other things, is a science to be acquired and perfected by diligence, by perserverance, by time, and by practice.” —Alexander Hamilton (1787)
SCOTUS passes on free speech case: Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas, the two longest-serving associate justices, were the only justices to stand up for a free speech case that the Supreme Court chose not to review. L.M. vs. Town of Middleborough is the case of a young man who wore a shirt to school that read, “There Are Only Two Genders.” That is a fact, but leftists contest it anyway. The school sent the boy home after he refused to change his shirt. Later, he was sent home again after altering the shirt to read, “There Are CENSORED Genders.” Schools have a right to enforce a dress code, but this is a case of viewpoint discrimination. Students at the school are encouraged to wear “Pride gear to celebrate Pride Month,” so clearly the issue is not the subject but the opinion.
Embargo on student visas: On Tuesday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio issued an order directing U.S. embassies to “not add any additional student or exchange visitor (F, M, and J) visa appointment capacity until further guidance is issued … which we anticipate in the coming days.” The ordered pause on all foreign student visa applications is the latest blow from the Trump administration against Ivy League schools like Harvard and Yale, whose student bodies are composed of nearly 30% foreign students. Harvard, in particular, has resisted the Trump administration’s efforts to address anti-Semitism on its campus. The State Department explained that the pause was necessary to prepare for the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services’ expanded foreign student vetting process, which will include screening their social media for anti-Semitism.
FBI to reinvestigate WH cocaine, pipe bombs, and SCOTUS leak: Unsolved mysteries within Washington, DC, which dominated the headlines during the Biden administration, will get a fresh look by the FBI. These mysteries include the still-unidentified January 6 DC pipe bomber, the May 2022 leak of the U.S. Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision overturning Roe v. Wade, and the bag of cocaine found inside the White House in July 2023. FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino explained the decision via a post on X: “Shortly after swearing in, [FBI Director Kash Patel] and I evaluated a number of cases of potential public corruption that understandably have garnered public interest. We made the decision to either re-open or push additional resources and investigative attention to these cases.” He also asked the public to provide any information they may have.
NPR sues Trump for “violating” its First Amendment rights: If you listen to CEO Katherine Maher, you’d believe that NPR is “a nonpartisan news organization” being suppressed by the Trump administration for nonpartisan reporting. Nothing could be further from the truth. NPR, as every conservative knows, is leftist propaganda and has been for a long time. “Seeking the truth … might not be the right place to start,” said Maher in a 2022 Ted Talk about NPR that she probably now regrets. Under Maher, NPR is now suing the Trump administration, insisting that his defunding executive order violates the outlet’s right to “private speech.” For the record, National PUBLIC Radio is publicly funded and has no claim to its speech being private.
DOJ sues North Carolina to clean up voter rolls: The Department of Justice announced a lawsuit on Tuesday over North Carolina’s failure to ask for a partial Social Security Number or driver’s license number on its voter registration form. The state will be required to remove the names of voters who did not provide that information from their voter rolls. A “significant number” of people are alleged to be on the voter rolls without that information. Sam Hayes, the executive director of North Carolina’s State Board of Elections, says he is committed to “bringing North Carolina into compliance with federal law.”
Israeli embassy staffers’ murderer was not just anti-Israel but anti-America: More is being learned of the perpetrator who murdered two young Israeli embassy staffers last week in Washington, DC. What has become increasingly clear is that his actions were ideologically motivated. The 31-year-old has a well-developed history, reflected in both his social media postings and his social engagements, of holding strong anti-Israel and anti-American views. In a manifesto he left following the murders, he says that he would have done this 11 years ago, but people would have thought him insane. Due to the conflict in Gaza, he now believes they won’t. The record shows an individual who is a Marxist with anti-West, pro-terrorist views. He celebrated Hamas’s October 7 terror attack with one post: “Love checking back in with the news every few hours like, ‘Hm I wonder if Israel still exists?’”
Sen. Tuberville to run for AL governor: The rumors have now been confirmed — Alabama Republican Senator Tommy Tuberville has announced that he is forgoing a run for reelection in the Senate to run for governor. Current Governor Kay Ivey is term-limited and will exit office in 2026. Tuberville, who has been a supporter of Donald Trump as well as a staunch pro-life advocate, expressed his commitment to “conservative Alabama values” in his announcement. In 2024, Tuberville was one of 16 Republican senators to receive the CPAC “Conservative Excellence Award” for his voting record. Tuberville, the former head football coach at Auburn University, is the first high-profile candidate to enter Alabama’s Republican gubernatorial primary.
Young men are quitting alcohol faster than young women: Young women, not young men, are now the leaders in binge drinking, according to a finding from the Journal of the American Medical Association. The study looked at two periods, 2017-19 and 2021-23, during which binge drinking declined across the board in young people. The decline was sharper among young men than women, 21% vs. 13%, meaning that young women now binge drink more often than young men. Some attribute the decrease to a lower social cost of not drinking; once it’s not the norm, it’s easier to quit the habit. The remaining question is: Why is there a disparate decline between the sexes? Perhaps young women are more emotionally dysregulated. Perhaps men are becoming more solitary, avoiding gatherings with friends at the bar. Or maybe young people are making a responsible choice to avoid an unhealthy coping mechanism.
Headlines
Elon Musk “disappointed” by spending bill, says it undermines what DOGE is doing (Fox News)
Judge hands DOGE major win over accessing sensitive Treasury data (Newsweek)
Democrats to spend $20 million to figure out why young men hate them (Not the Bee)
Trump admin no longer recommending COVID vaccine for healthy kids, healthy pregnant women (NY Post)
Los Angeles hotels revolt as city approves $38 minimum wage (Hot Air)
Netanyahu confirms death of Hamas Gaza chief Sinwar (Newsweek)
Humor: French president Macron claims he fell down the stairs again (Babylon Bee)
President Donald Trump has significantly shifted his rhetoric regarding Russian President Vladimir Putin’s horrific war against Ukraine. Whereas he has spent months talking tough against Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, putting all the pressure on Ukraine, he has now turned on Putin. The big question is why.
“I’m not happy with what Putin is doing,” Trump explained this week. “He’s killing a lot of people, and I don’t know what the hell happened to Putin.” He added, “I’ve known him a long time, always gotten along with him, but he’s sending rockets into cities and killing people, and I don’t like it at all.”
Later, he took to Truth Social to declare that Putin “has gone absolutely CRAZY!”
Yesterday, he continued his verbal assault: “What Vladimir Putin doesn’t realize is that if it weren’t for me, lots of really bad things would have already happened to Russia, and I mean REALLY BAD. He’s playing with fire!”
Putin has been a bad guy for his entire career. He’s been deliberately killing Ukrainian civilians for more than three years. Neither of those things has changed in recent days or months. What has changed is that Trump isn’t gaining traction (yet) on his oft-repeated promise to end the war in “24 hours.” That was never a literal promise, of course, though the Leftmedia always prefers to take Trump literally so they can dismiss him seriously.
“I said that figuratively, and I said that as an exaggeration,” Trump told Time magazine in April. “It was said in jest.”
It’s one thing for the American Pravda media to dismiss Trump; it’s another thing for Putin to do so. Last week, Trump had a two-hour phone conversation with Putin to discuss a peace deal. The American president came away from that call saying “it went very well” and that Russia and Ukraine were set to “immediately start negotiations toward a Ceasefire.”
Reality intruded in the form of more Russian attacks and more dead Ukrainian civilians.
Of Trump’s big rhetorical shift, Fox News reports, “Trump’s comments came after Russian forces launched hundreds of drones and missiles at Ukrainian cities [over the weekend]. The attack, which has been called the largest aerial attack of the war so far, targeted the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv. … Though past strikes have proven more deadly, the attack is the largest-scale aerial assault of the war in terms of the number of weapons: 298 drones and 69 missiles were launched.”
That is the significant part, and many media commentators are missing it.
Putin has ramped up attacks because he has changed tactics to rely on drones. He’s flying hundreds of drones to attack civilians in Ukraine to help keep Russian soldiers out of harm’s way. His drone production capacity has increased drastically, greatly reducing the domestic political cost of his assaults.
What can Trump do about this? Should he do something?
Most of the MAGA movement has coalesced around the firm idea that Ukraine ain’t our problem. Trump himself often repeats — correctly — that “this is a War that would never have started if I were President.” True, but that’s a moot point, which he seems to realize. He is, after all, continuing to push for a peaceful resolution and to extricate the U.S. from any further involvement or support.
“I am only helping to put out the big and ugly fires,” he said.
Now, according to The Wall Street Journal, “President Trump is eyeing sanctions against Moscow.” Then again, “Trump might also decide not to impose new sanctions.” Several Republicans are pushing for sanctions.
However, Secretary of State Marco Rubio told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee last week that they won’t work. “If you start threatening sanctions, the Russians will stop talking,” Rubio said. “And there is value in us being able to talk to them and to drive them to get to the table.”
Well, those talks don’t seem to be working, either. The Journal says, “Trump is also tiring of the peace negotiations and is considering abandoning them altogether if a final push doesn’t work.”
That threat has been hanging in the air for months. Rubio himself skipped ceasefire talks in April. Vice President JD Vance made what he called Trump’s “final offer” in April, as well.
This is all quintessential Trump rope-a-dope strategy, keeping Russia guessing for the moment to gain leverage. Russia effectively has one major export: oil. If the U.S. were to finally slap some major sanctions on that oil, including taking on China, which buys that oil specifically to keep funding the Russian war machine, it could persuade Putin that continuing the war is costlier than ending it — even with the Russian advantage of drones. Evidently, some dancing is necessary before getting to that point.
Whatever move Trump makes next, there are basic facts here: Putin is a Soviet, through and through, and he aims to restore Russian greatness. He keeps fighting because he wants to keep fighting. Until that calculus changes, things will continue as they are.
Emmy Griffin: Biden’s Student Loan Defaults Destroy Credit — Loan companies would like their money now that the pause on repayments is over, but the inevitable outcome should have been pretty clear to borrowers.
Michael Swartz: A Right Turn on Immigration — in the UK — Prime Minister Keir Starmer, a left-wing atheist, stares down the barrel of open borders, but will he be able to dodge the bullet and deliver critical changes to save Great Britain?
Thomas Gallatin: A Christian Resurgence in American Culture? — Popular podcast host Joe Rogan’s interest in Christianity appears to be indicative of a growing trend among young people to explore what it means to include faith influence in life.
Linda Moss Mines: Chester A. Arthur Assumes the Presidency — James Garfield’s assassination just 100 days after his inauguration plunged the nation into mourning a fallen president for the second time in less than 20 years.
Will Jake Tapper Apologize to Americans? — Piers Morgan asks Jake Tapper if he owes the American people an apology for not covering Joe Biden’s mental acuity better.
Humor: Hillary Clinton’s ‘Fixer’ — Matthew Hoyt, a Clinton insider, is caught on hidden camera at a DC restaurant casually revealing a series of shocking and suspicious deaths connected to Hillary Clinton.
SHORT CUTS
Leftist Hysteria
“Insidious fear is reaching through our schools, our businesses, our homes, and into our private thoughts. The fear to speak, in America.” —CBS News’s Scott Pelley
Non Compos Mentis
“This Africa Day, let us take a moment to celebrate the achievements of the people of Africa … and support them as they continue to overcome and face their challenges head-on.” —Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson celebrating Africa Day on Memorial Day
Braying Jennies
“[Republican are] clearly not worried about starving children.” —Molly Jong-Fast
“I do worry, frankly, about what’s happening in the world right now. It’s important that we remember the 1930s.” —Kamala Harris
Race Bait
“One of the two political parties is — let me put it nicely — white supremacist adjacent, at a minimum.” —disgraced former FBI Director James Comey
Doublespeak
“We take into account what the constitutional court also decided when it said that, you know, that slogan — ‘Kill the Boer, kill the farmer’ — is a liberation chant and slogan. And it’s not meant to be a message that elicits or calls upon anyone to go and be killed. And that is what our court decided.” —South African President Cyril Ramaphosa
Belly Laugh of the Day
“Trump should AUTO PEN an executive order locking up the people who ran the country under Biden.” —Jimmy Failla
Well-Meaning Foolishness
“You will learn as I have that when people say things like ‘Happy Memorial Day,’ you appreciate the sentiment behind it but know that it’s wrong because Memorial Day is not a happy day.” —Vice President and former Marine JD Vance
For the Record
“When America, and America’s campuses, have had more restrictive attitudes toward migration in the past, they have nonetheless competed, and won, at the highest levels — while developing countries, even when their most talented individuals have not been able to migrate, have not risen to America’s levels.” —Daniel McCarthy
“Until President Trump began depriving Harvard and other elite schools of federal grants, these institutions were getting away with effectively being accessories to murder.” —Cal Thomas
Re: The Gender Cult
“For years, corporations cloaked themselves in rainbow branding and forced consumers to accept policies and products pushing the boundaries of LGBTQ ideology. But it didn’t lead to a pot of gold.” —Tony Perkins
Rest in Peace
“I think Phil Robertson was the beginning of a new Jesus movement. He was the first guy that I heard that was brave enough to end every single show on national television with a prayer.” —Glenn Beck
ON THIS DAY in 1754, George Washington, then a lieutenant colonel, led Virginia militia to victory over French troops near Uniontown, Pennsylvania, in an opening skirmish of the French and Indian War.
Please join us in prayer for our nation — that righteous leaders would rise and prevail and we would be united as Americans. Pray also for the protection of our Military Patriots, Veterans, First Responders, and their families. Please lift up your Patriot team and our mission to support and defend our Republic’s Founding Principle of Liberty, that the fires of freedom would be ignited in the hearts and minds of our countrymen.
Is any hope of a peaceful resolution to the war in Ukraine about to slip away? President Trump just told reporters that he is “not happy with what Putin is doing”, and meanwhile approximately 50,000 Russian troops are positioned just across from Ukraine’s “fortress city” of Kharkiv. A major offensive in the direction of Ukraine’s second largest city would escalate the conflict to an entirely new level, and European leaders would go absolutely ballistic. So what would President Trump do in such a scenario?
Based on what he just told the press, it is clear that President Trump has lost patience with Vladimir Putin…
Speaking to reporters on the tarmac at Morristown, New Jersey before he boarded Air Force One and returned to Washington, D.C., Trump spoke about a range of topics as he fielded questions ranging from tariffs to manufacturing goals to Russia and Ukraine peace talks.
“I’m not happy with what Putin is doing,” Trump said. “He’s killing a lot of people, and I don’t know what the hell happened to Putin. I’ve known him a long time. Always gotten along with him, but he’s sending rockets into cities and killing people, and I don’t like it at all.”
“We’re in the middle of talking, and he’s shooting rockets into Kiev and other cities. I don’t like it at all,” he said, adding, “I don’t like what Putin is doing, not even a little bit. He’s killing people. Something happened to this guy, and I don’t like it.“
I have never heard Trump talk this way about Putin.
But I can understand why Trump is so frustrated. We are supposed to be trying to find a way to end this war, but the Russians just sent a massive wave of missiles and drones at Kyiv…
A massive Russian drone-and-missile attack targeted the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, and other regions in the country for a second consecutive night, killing at least 12 people and injuring dozens, officials said early Sunday.
The scale of the onslaught was stunning — Russia hit Ukraine with 367 drones and missiles, making this the largest single attack of the more than three-years-long war, according to Yuriy Ihnat, a spokesperson for Ukraine’s Air Force.
In all, Russia used 69 missiles of various types and 298 drones, including Iranian-designed Shahed drones, he told The Associated Press.
I really wish that the Russians had not done this.
But the Russians are steaming mad at the Ukrainians because it appears that they tried to blast Vladimir Putin’s helicopter out of the sky…
Ukraine made an audacious bid to blast Vladimir Putin’s presidential helicopter out of the sky over Russia’s Kursk region last week, according to reports. Air force Major-General Yuri Dashkin said repeated military drone attacks were launched at the moment when the Russian leader made a rare visit close to the war zone.
A Putin trip to Kursk region was previously reported as taking place on May 20. Dashkin said: “During the period when the President [Putin] was working in the Kursk region, the enemy launched an unprecedented attack with unmanned aerial vehicles. The air defence group in this area destroyed 46 aircraft-type [Ukrainian military drones].”
If another country tried to do a similar thing to President Trump, we would be extremely upset too.
Of course the corporate news outlets in the United States have barely said anything about this attempt on Putin’s life.
It comes as both sides of the conflict have claimed an increase in drone strikes, with Moscow’s Foreign Ministry claiming that Ukraine launched 764 drones into Russian territory between Tuesday and Friday.
On Saturday, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov blamed “some European nations led by the UK, France, Germany, and the EU leadership” for the increased level of Ukrainian drone strikes on Russia.
Why can’t both sides just stop the drone attacks for a few weeks and give peace a chance?
Sadly, if the Russians send tens of thousands of troops toward Kharkiv, and chance for peace will probably be completely gone.
It is Ukraine’s second largest city, and Sky News is telling us that approximately 50,000 Russian troops have been “positioned just across the border from Kharkiv”…
Russian forces are reportedly gathering across the border from Ukraine’s “fortress city” – but why?
After pushing Ukrainian troops out of Kursk, the Russian region they had occupied parts of for many months, what’s left of the 50,000-strong Russian force is positioned just across the border from Kharkiv.
Why would the Russians launch such an operation?
Don’t they understand how the western world would react?
Alex Jones is suggesting that the Russians would use an offensive toward Kharkiv as leverage to get Ukraine to sign a peace deal…
Major Ukraine War Escalation: 50,000 Russian troops are amassing near Ukraine’s second largest city, Kharkiv, in preparation for a major Russian offensive.
Putin is clearly putting massive pressure on the Ukrainian dictator, Zelensky, to accept Russia’s demands and sign a peace deal.
I think that it is quite likely that this is what the Russians are thinking.
But in my opinion a major offensive toward Kharkiv would completely kill the peace talks. European leaders would go completely nuts and President Trump would become extremely angry with Vladimir Putin.
If President Trump ultimately concludes that there is no peaceful way to end this war, he will try to find a military way to win it.
Needless to say, that would bring us right to the brink of the unthinkable.
Unfortunately, Vladimir Putin has made it clear that Russian forces will soon be creating buffer zones in three Ukrainian border regions. The following is a direct quote from Putin…
I reiterate: this concerns the Kursk Region, the Bryansk Region, and the Belgorod Region, which have also suffered and continue to endure shelling. Moreover, the adversary typically targets objectives devoid of military significance: civilian infrastructure and people’s homes.
The most recent events only confirm what I just said: drone attacks as well as sabotage and reconnaissance actions target civilian transport, including ambulances and agricultural machinery. Most of the casualties are women and children.
As I said, a decision has been made to create a buffer security zone along the Russian border. Our Armed Forces are working on this now. They are also effectively suppressing enemy firing points.
So we know that Russian forces will be coming across the border.
But we don’t know if they will try to go all the way to Kharkiv.
If they do, that will fundamentally alter the trajectory of this conflict.
The Israeli military announced on Friday that it is preparing for a potential multi-front war with Iran and its regional terror proxies amid stalled nuclear negotiations for a hostage release-ceasefire deal.
A recent Israeli military drill, dubbed “Barak Tamir,” reportedly simulated preparedness for a multifront regional conflict. The exercise tested emergency coordination between civilian and military agencies, with a focus on protecting critical infrastructure and the home front, as the Iranian regime continues to openly call for Israel’s destruction.
“This exercise was designed to refine coordination and improve the speed and quality of response during escalating scenarios,” an IDF spokesperson stated.
The IDF wouldn’t be “preparing” for such a conflict unless Israeli leaders felt like it was a very real possibility.
I have a feeling that things will soon get very “interesting” in the Middle East.
We live at a time when armed conflicts have been breaking out all over the globe. In fact, it is being reported that the number of armed conflicts that we witnessed last year was the highest that we have seen since World War II…
Last year, varying levels of conflict were reported across at least 50 different countries, from the civil war in Myanmar to extreme violence between drug cartels in Mexico, according to the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data (ACLED).
Experts predict that the trend will probably continue throughout 2025 and beyond.
Across the 50 countries, there were at least 56 active conflicts – one of the largest quantities since 1946 – “with fewer conflicts being resolved, either militarily or through peace agreements”, the Global Peace Index estimated.
There are many that believe that World War III has already begun.
But there are also many that believe that negotiations will be successful and world peace is just around the corner.
Without a doubt, global leaders will be making some critical decisions in the days ahead.
Russia wants to see more people who comprehend it and want to live in peace, the president has said
Some people in the West do not understand Russia, yet that fact does not hamper the country’s development, President Vladimir Putin has said.
The Russian president made those remarks on Wednesday during a meeting of the supervisory board of the Movement of the First, a Russian organization for children and youth.
”There are people in the so-called West who do not understand Russia. But this does not prevent us from living and developing. This should only motivate us to increase the number of people who understand us and want to live with us in peace and friendship,” Putin stated.
Such a goal could be achieved through extensive work with the youth in particular, the president emphasized. “Success awaits us in this area if we work actively and effectively with young people, with children, with teenagers, those who create the foundation of the country’s future and value this country,” he said.
Founded in 2022 with Putin’s direct backing, the Movement of the First has grown into a major nationwide organization. According to the president, it now brings together more than 11 million members.
The main goal of the group is helping the country’s young people become successful in their lives, Putin said. Helping a person find an “optimal” path in life is the key to success, he stressed.
“Almost every person wants success, even if they think that, in general, they do not need anything and everything is fine. No, in their souls, everyone strives for success. To achieve this success, you need to find your path in life and find a trade to which you are ready to dedicate your life. This is one of the reasons why the Movement of the First was created,” the president explained.
Middle East Envoy Steve Witkoff on “Fox News Sunday” with host Shannon Bream on 3/23/25
US Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff was on “Fox News Sunday” with host Shannon Bream and discussed ceasefire talks between Russia and Ukraine.
“Are you convinced he wants peace?” Bream asked of Putin.
“I feel that he wants peace. The President had two very productive calls this week, or last week I should say, one with President Zelensky, one with President Putin. I was in on, I sat and listened to both of them,” Witkoff said.
“Lots of progress got made last week. The parties agreed to an energy infrastructure moratorium on attacks,” Witkoff said.
“Where do you get to that assessment about him not being a bad guy?” Bream asked of Putin.
“You know Shannon, I met with President Putin twice at the direction of the President because everything I do is at his direction and they were, they were productive meetings,” Witkoff said.
“President Putin told me at the first meeting that he had no conversation with the prior administration, in particular President Biden for three and a half years,” Witkoff continued.
“We discussed real ways to end this conflict. That led to a second conversation,” Witkoff said.
Witkoff explained that President Trump’s strategy is peace through strength.
“This is at President Trump’s direction. His philosophy of peace through strength brings people to the table to clear up misconceptions and to get peace deals done,” Witkoff explained.
Bream also asked about how Putin is perceived regarding tyranny.
“Do you feel like there is a misconception though about the characterization of him as a tyrant,” Bream asked of Putin.
“There are grievances on both sides, but our job and at the direction, again I stress of the President, our job is to narrow the issues, bring the parties together, and stop the killing,” Witkoff said.
Watch:
WATCH: @SteveWitkoff says Putin "wants peace", as U.S. officials strategize ahead of the next round of Russia-Ukraine ceasefire talks. pic.twitter.com/hsKB3FDSJg
Witkoff on the Tucker show: Putin prayed for Trump when he got shot.
Special Envoy Steve Witkoff has turned into a key piece of manpower in the Donald J. Trump administration when it comes to high-level negotiations.
Witkoff comes from a real estate investor and lawyer background, having held no formal diplomatic posts until Trump called him to serve.
Despite that, the 45-47th US President has trusted him with not one, but two seemingly impossible tasks: to negotiate peace in the Middle East and also to head the détente process with Russia, achieving an end to the war in Ukraine.
The Special Envoy was received twice by Russian President Vladimir Putin, which is highly unusual, and has been able so far to move the needle in the peace negotiations.
Witkoff is not afraid to say he liked Putin, WATCH:
The Tucker Carlson interview with Witkoff is peppered with great moments, but the main revelation may be that, according to Witkoff, Putin attended church to pray for Trump after the 2024 assassination attempt: ‘he went to his local church and met with his priest and prayed for the president, not because he could become the president of the United States, but because he had a friendship with him and he was praying for his friend’.
Putin also presented Trump with a specially commissioned portrait painted by one of Russia’s leading artists.
WATCH: Putin prayed for ‘friend’ Trump after he was shot.
Putin PRAYED for ‘friend’ Trump after he was shot — Witkoff REVEALS new details from meeting with Russian President
‘President Putin had commissioned a BEAUTIFUL portrait of President Trump … went to church and prayed for the president’
Steve Witkoff: “In the second visit that I had, it got personal. The president, President Putin, had commissioned a beautiful portrait of President Trump from the leading Russian artist, and actually gave it to me and asked me to take it home to President Trump, which I brought home and delivered to him. It’s been reported in the paper, but it was such a gracious moment, and told me a story, Tucker, about how when the president was shot, he went to his local church and met with his priest and prayed for the president, not because he was the president of the United, he could become the president of the United States, but because he had a friendship with him and he was praying for his friend.
It was, I mean, can you imagine sitting there and listening to these kinds of conversations? And I came home and delivered that message to our president and delivered the painting, and he was clearly touched by it. So this is the kind of connection that we’ve been able to reestablish through, by the way, a simple word called communication.”
Watch: the regions conquered by Moscow want to be Russian.
🇺🇸🇺🇦🇷🇺 The US acknowledges that the 5 despite’s regions are Russian speaking and want to be Russian.
Watch: the 1,5 hour full interview of Steve Witkoff with Tucker Carlson.
Steve Witkoff has no background in diplomacy but has turned out to be the most effective American diplomat in a generation. Here’s how he’s trying to resolve the conflicts in Gaza and Ukraine.
(0:00) What Witkoff Has Learned as Trump’s Global Negotiator (4:10) Negotiating With… pic.twitter.com/7AUh4gvwke
History in the making: on March 18th, 2025, Presidents Donald J. Trump and Vladimir Putin spoke on the phone for over two and a half hours – a record between the US and Russia heads of state.
What follows below is a gathering of the official readouts from the White House and the Kremlin, as well as a few headlines and social media posts.
White House’ readout on Trump’s call to Putin:
“Trump and President Putin spoke about the need for peace and a cease-fire in the war in Ukraine. Both leaders agreed that the conflict must end with a lasting peace. They also emphasized the need to improve bilateral relations between the United States and Russia.
The leaders agreed that movement toward peace will begin with an energy and infrastructure ceasefire, as well as technical negotiations to realize a maritime ceasefire in the Black Sea, a full ceasefire, and permanent peace. These negotiations will begin immediately in the Middle East.
The leaders spoke broadly about the Middle East as a region of potential cooperation to prevent future conflicts. Both leaders agreed that Iran should never be able to destroy Israel.
Both leaders agreed that a future with improved bilateral relations between the United States and Russia has tremendous potential. This includes huge economic deals and geopolitical stability when peace is achieved.”
Full readout by the Kremlin: Telephone conversation with US President Donald Trump
“The leaders continued a detailed and frank exchange of views on the situation around Ukraine. Vladimir Putin expressed gratitude to Donald Trump for his desire to help achieve the noble goal of ending hostilities and human losses.
Having confirmed his fundamental commitment to a peaceful resolution of the conflict, the Russian President declared his readiness to work together with his American partners to thoroughly explore possible ways of resolving the conflict, which should be comprehensive, sustainable and long-term. And, of course, to take into account the absolute need to eliminate the root causes of the crisis, and Russia’s legitimate interests in the area of security.
In the context of the US President’s initiative to introduce a 30-day ceasefire, the Russian side outlined a number of significant points concerning ensuring effective control over a possible ceasefire along the entire line of combat contact, the need to stop forced mobilization in Ukraine and rearm the Ukrainian Armed Forces. Serious risks associated with the inability to negotiate of the Kyiv regime, which has repeatedly sabotaged and violated the agreements reached, were also noted. Attention was drawn to the barbaric terrorist crimes committed by Ukrainian militants against the civilian population of the Kursk region.
It was emphasized that the key condition for preventing the escalation of the conflict and working towards its resolution through political and diplomatic means should be the complete cessation of foreign military aid and the provision of intelligence information to Kyiv.
In connection with Donald Trump’s recent appeal to spare the lives of Ukrainian servicemen surrounded in the Kursk region, Vladimir Putin confirmed that the Russian side is ready to be guided by humanitarian considerations and, in the event of their surrender, guarantees the lives and decent treatment of the Ukrainian Armed Forces soldiers in accordance with Russian laws and international law.
During the conversation, Donald Trump put forward a proposal for the parties to the conflict to mutually refrain from attacks on energy infrastructure facilities for 30 days. Vladimir Putin responded positively to this initiative and immediately gave the Russian military the corresponding order.
The Russian President also responded constructively to Donald Trump’s idea of implementing a well-known initiative concerning the safety of navigation in the Black Sea. It was agreed to begin negotiations to further elaborate specific details of such an agreement.
Vladimir Putin informed that on March 19, a prisoner exchange of 175 for 175 people will be carried out between the Russian and Ukrainian sides. In addition, as a gesture of goodwill, 23 seriously wounded Ukrainian servicemen who are being treated in Russian medical institutions will be transferred.
The leaders confirmed their intention to continue efforts to achieve a Ukrainian settlement in a bilateral mode, including taking into account the above-mentioned proposals of the US President. For this purpose, Russian and American expert groups are being created.
Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump also touched upon other issues on the international agenda, including the situation in the Middle East and the Red Sea region. Joint efforts will be made to stabilize the situation in crisis areas, establish cooperation on nuclear non-proliferation and global security. This, in turn, will contribute to improving the overall atmosphere of Russian-American relations. One positive example is the joint vote in the UN on the resolution on the Ukrainian conflict.
Mutual interest in normalizing bilateral relations was expressed in light of the special responsibility of Russia and the United States for ensuring security and stability in the world. In this context, a wide range of areas in which our countries could establish interaction was considered. A number of ideas were discussed that are moving towards the development of mutually beneficial cooperation in the economy and energy sector.
Donald Trump supported Vladimir Putin’s idea to organize hockey matches in the USA and Russia between Russian and American players playing in the NHL and KHL.
The presidents agreed to remain in contact on all issues raised.”
Trump’s Truth Social post:
“My phone conversation today with President Putin of Russia was a very good and productive one.
We agreed to an immediate Ceasefire on all Energy and Infrastructure, with an understanding that we will be working quickly to have a Complete Ceasefire and, ultimately, an END to this very horrible War between Russia and Ukraine. This War would have never started if I were President!
Many elements of a Contract for Peace were discussed, including the fact that thousands of soldiers are being killed, and both President Putin and President Zelenskyy would like to see it end.
That process is now in full force and effect, and we will, hopefully, for the sake of Humanity, get the job done!”
Some headlines about the call:
Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev makes reference to the saying: ‘in a negotiation, if you are not at the table, you are in the menu’:
Top Russian official Kirill Dmitriev, after calling it ‘a perfect call!’:
Watch: Trump talks Putin and peace process with Fox News’ Laura Ingraham (first 6 minutes).
The two leaders addressed key issues, including a proposed 30-day ceasefire, a prisoner exchange, and maritime security
Russian President Vladimir Putin and his US counterpart Donald Trump have held a phone conversation lasting over two hours, discussing a peaceful resolution to the Ukraine conflict.
The Kremlin reported that the two leaders spoke about a suggested 30-day ceasefire, a prisoner exchange, and maritime security, with Putin responding positively to Trump’s proposals. Both leaders expressed interest in normalizing US-Russia relations, agreeing to continue discussions on global security, economic cooperation, and even cultural exchanges like NHL-KHL hockey matches.
The Kremlin has published a summary on the outcome of the call:
A phone conversation between Vladimir Putin and US President Donald Trump took place on March 18, 2025.
Reaffirming his commitment to a peaceful resolution of the conflict, President Putin expressed readiness to work closely with American partners on a thorough and comprehensive settlement. He emphasized that any agreement must be sustainable and long-term, addressing the root causes of the crisis while considering Russia’s legitimate security interests.
Regarding President Trump’s initiative for a 30-day ceasefire, the Russian side highlighted key concerns, including effective monitoring of the ceasefire across the entire front line, halting forced mobilization in Ukraine, and stopping the rearmament of its military. Russia also noted serious risks due to Kiev’s history of undermining previous agreements and drew attention to terrorist attacks carried out by Ukrainian militants against civilians in the Kursk region.
It was emphasized that a crucial condition for preventing further escalation and working toward a political-diplomatic resolution is the complete cessation of foreign military aid and intelligence sharing with Ukraine.
In response to Trump’s recent request to ensure the safety of Ukrainian troops encircled in Kursk Region, Putin confirmed that Russia is guided by humanitarian considerations. He assured his counterpart that Ukrainian soldiers who surrender will be granted safety and treated in accordance with Russian laws and international humanitarian norms.
During the conversation, Trump proposed a mutual agreement between both sides to refrain from striking energy infrastructure for 30 days. Putin welcomed the initiative and immediately instructed the Russian military to comply.
Putin also responded constructively to Trump’s proposal regarding maritime security in the Black Sea, and both leaders agreed to initiate negotiations to further refine the details of such an arrangement.
Putin informed Trump that on March 19, Russia and Ukraine would conduct a prisoner exchange involving 175 detainees from each side. Additionally, as a goodwill gesture, Russia will transfer 23 severely wounded Ukrainian soldiers who are currently receiving medical treatment in Russian hospitals.
Both leaders reaffirmed their commitment to continuing efforts toward resolving the Ukraine conflict bilaterally, incorporating the proposals discussed. To facilitate this, Russian and American expert groups will be established.
Putin and Trump also discussed broader international issues, including the situation in the Middle East and the Red Sea region. They agreed to coordinate efforts to stabilize crisis areas and enhance cooperation on nuclear non-proliferation and global security, which, in turn, would improve the overall state of US-Russia relations. A positive example of such cooperation was their joint vote at the United Nations on a resolution regarding the Ukraine conflict.
Both leaders expressed mutual interest in normalizing bilateral relations, recognizing the shared responsibility of Russia and the United States in ensuring global security and stability. In this context, they explored various areas for potential cooperation, including discussions on mutually beneficial economic and energy partnerships.
Trump supported Putin’s idea of organizing hockey matches in the US and Russia between players from the NHL and KHL.
The presidents agreed to remain in contact on all discussed matters.
JD Vance’s (L) speech highlighted examples of silencing of Christians in Europe—and there are many to choose from. Other examples are Rose Docherty (top right), arrested for praying silently outside an abortion clinic in Scotland, and Finnish former interior minister Päivi Räsänen (bottom right) repeatedly persecuted for quoting the Bible.
Photo: Rebecca Droke / AFP; Scottish Family Party (arrest); (Vance) ADF International (Räsänen);
Scottish woman arrested for “silent vigil,” UK veteran for an anti-gender ideology post, Päivi Räsänen prosecuted for quoting the Bible… Where were the defenders of liberal values then?
Vice President JD Vance confronted the European elites with their hypocrisies at the Munich Security Conference earlier this month. He detailed the democratic failings of Europe’s leaders; highlighted their fear of dissident voters who stubbornly insist on voting for populist parties; noted the growing migration crisis across the continent. But perhaps most importantly, he addressed an issue that few Western leaders are willing to discuss out loud: the growing censorship and prosecution of Europe’s Christians.
Vance’s speech has become something of a Rorschach test. For some, it was a deplorable and deliberately disruptive salvo aimed at the heart of the post-war international order. For others, it was a desperately needed and long overdue exercise in difficult truth-telling. The speech was effective because Vance brought in specific details. He cited the case of Adam Smith-Connor—the man arrested after praying for his own aborted child near an abortion clinic in the UK, the first conviction for a thought-crime in modern Britain—and the draconian “exclusion zones” in Scotland, in which even thinking pro-life thoughts is illegal.
Those outraged by Vance’s speech dismissed these examples, and this is no surprise—they have been doing so for decades. The same commentators who are reduced to wild-eyed babbling over the Hungarian government declining to subsidize institutions opposed to its values are content to dismiss the arrests and prosecutions of Christians as a bug (if not a feature) of the “norms” they seek to defend. But Vance could have cited dozens of additional cases from the past few years.
Anne Applebaum, for example, is one of the most prominent public prophets warning about the “twilight of democracy” in Europe, but has yet to mention the years-long persecution of Finnish politician Päivi Räsänenfor merely quoting the Bible—and Räsänen isn’t just a veteran like Smith-Connor. She was Finland’s Minister of the Interior for 2011 to 2015. One would think that the criminal prosecution of a political leader for citing Scripture in public media interviews would be precisely the sort of thing Applebaum and her comrades are so concerned about. You would be wrong.
But there is little doubt that if Räsänen was defending LGBT ideology in Hungary or Poland, the elites would rush to the barricades and shriek about the coming darkness.
Others are thrilled that Vance was willing to speak out. As Lois McLatchie Miller, a senior legal communications officer with Alliance Defending Freedom International, told me:
Vice President Vance’s speech was a much-needed reflection of the dire state of fundamental freedoms in Europe. Adam Smith-Connor was prosecuted and convicted on the basis of his silent thoughts—it doesn’t get much worse than that in a society that claims to be free. When individuals can be interrogated, arrested, prosecuted, and convicted for silent prayer, we must conclude that the state of fundamental freedoms is in crisis.
Smith-Connor’s arrest and conviction for thought crime is egregious, but his case is by no means an exception—as Vance pointed out in his speech. It isn’t just Christians, but any dissident who dares to disagree publicly with LGBT ideology, abortion, or other establishment sacred cows. A few additional examples:
In 2022, Vassilis Tsiartas, widely considered to be one of the greatest Greek soccer stars of all time, was convicted of “transphobic” social media posts and given a 10-month suspended prison sentence and 5,000 euro fine for “violence or hatred for reasons of gender identity.”
In 2023, French journalist Dora Moutot was investigated for “misgendering” a trans-identifying politician and further allegations of “insult” and “incitement.” They were ultimately dismissed, but as Moutot observed, street-level violence is also used to silence freedom of speech.
Harry Miller, a UK dockworker, was investigated by the police for retweeting a limerick mocking transgenderism. The experience turned him into a free speech activist.
In 2022, Kellie-Jay Keen, also known as “Posie Parker,” was told by police that she could be arrested if she didn’t attend a “voluntary” police interview after a rally opposing gender ideology because she’d been accused of a “hate crime.”
In 2023, the Norwegian filmmaker and actress Tonje Gjevjon was criminally investigated for stating that men cannot be lesbians; her compatriot, the feminist Christina Ellingsen, was investigated for saying that men cannot become women. (Gjevjon is a lesbian.)
The list goes on; groups like ADF International are kept very busy defending the rights of the censored and the suppressed. Many of these stories are easily sensational enough to warrant a column or two from the commentators currently warning us that Vance’s speech is “dangerous.” An ex-soldier who fought for his country put in handcuffs because he doesn’t think men can become women? A Greek soccer star convicted for social media posts condemning an ideology that gained cultural dominance less than a decade ago? A prominent cabinet minister quoting from the Book that gave birth to our civilization? Crickets. Where were the defenders of the liberal order then?
Vance’s speech was potent precisely because it was true—but this is the first time someone with hard power said it out loud in front of the very leaders responsible for these speech regimes.
Jonathon Van Maren is a writer for europeanconservative.com based in Canada. He has written for First Things, National Review, The American Conservative, and his latest book is Prairie Lion: The Life & Times of Ted Byfield.
One of the most loathsome figures in Deep State circles got owned over the weekend by Ric Grenell, the Trump administration’s special presidential envoy for special missions. Rice insulted President Trump and flipped out over allegations she played a role in the White House blow-up on Friday involving Trump, Vice-President JD Vance, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
The Gateway Pundit previously reported that President Trump and Vice President JD Vance teamed up during a fiery White House meeting on Friday to epically put Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in his place. The disgraced Ukrainian leader arrived in Washington, D.C., to meet with Trump to discuss his rare earth mineral rights proposal.
Things went off the rails toward the end of the meeting when Zelenskyy tried to re-litigate the Ukrainian War in front of the media and embarrass Trump. This moment came after Vance praised Trump’s diplomatic skills and slammed the Biden regime’s bumbling of the war.
Former National Security Adviser, Ambassador to the U.N., and infamous Barack Obama crony Susan Rice appeared on MSNBC following the blowup to complain that Team Trump had set up Zelenskyy and that the verbal brawl was “an embarrassment for the United States on the world stage.”
WATCH:
The Federalist’s Mollie Hemingway later pointed out she was wrong. Not only did Zelenskyy have previous opportunities to sign the mineral rights deal in Kyiv and Munich, but he also personally requested the meeting at the White House.
Hemingway also said that she and other Deep State goons might have been advising the Ukrainian President on how to behave in the meeting.
“It later came out that Rice and Tony Blinken, Victoria Nuland, and Alexander Vindman may have been personally advising Zelensky to do this meeting in the way he did — that they recommended him to be hostile and to try to goad Trump into blowing up.,” she wrote.
Rice blew up after reading this allegation and denied having ever spoken to the Ukrainian President. She proceeded to smear Trump, accusing him of sucking up to Vladimir Putin.
“You clowns are up to the same old tired crap. When your guy screws up and royally embarrasses himself and the U.S., you try to change the subject and lie about a favorite target to distract and deflect,” she wrote.
“For the record, I have never met Zelenskyy and never spoken to him. Ever. Or advised him or anybody around him,” Rice added. “It’s a shame that you contend that it is in the U.S. national interest to sell out Ukraine and suck up to Putin.”
You clowns are up to the same old tired crap. When your guy screws up and royally embarrasses himself and the U.S., you try to change the subject and lie about a favorite target to distract and deflect.
For the record, I have never met Zelenskyy and never spoken to him. Ever.… https://t.co/UHJHL1jrZR
After seeing Rice’s post, Grenell tore her to shreds in epic fashion.
“Your guy couldn’t even talk to Putin. For 3.5 years! Your policies helped usher in a war in Ukraine, Gaza…and Rwanda, if you remember,” he pointed out. “And then you lied about Libya – it wasn’t caused by a video. You made that up…. Donald Trump handed you peace in the Middle East and Europe – you handed us two wars.”
Secretary of State Marco Rubio dismantled George Stephanopoulos’s predictable left-wing narrative, exposing the media’s blatant double standard when it comes to President Trump’s efforts to end the war in Ukraine.
While Biden’s administration fumbled through foreign policy disasters, from Afghanistan to Ukraine, Rubio made it clear that Trump is taking the only logical approach—bringing Russia to the table to stop the bloodshed.
From the start, Stephanopoulos attempted to paint Trump’s push for negotiations with Russia as some kind of betrayal. He parroted the same tired narrative that daring to engage in diplomacy with Vladimir Putin is akin to “placating” him. But Rubio was having none of it.
One of Stephanopoulos’ most pathetic moments came when he tried to manufacture outrage over President Trump calling Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky a “dictator.” The ABC host demanded to know why Trump is willing to negotiate with Putin but has criticized Zelensky.
Rubio’s response was a masterclass in common sense.
George Stephanopoulos: Why is it okay to call President Zelensky a dictator but not, as you say, call Vladimir Putin names?
Marco Rubio: Listen, we’ve spent three years calling Vladimir Putin names. That’s not the point. The point that we’re at now is we’re trying to get the man to a table—the Russians. I’ve said from the very beginning, maybe they don’t want a deal either. We don’t know, but we haven’t talked to them in three years. But maybe they do.
The point is, do we want to make—I would ask everybody this—if there are no negotiations, what is the alternative? Another four years of war? Another three years of war in which the United States and Europe continue to pour billions of dollars into a war in Ukraine? Is there an alternative? I’ve asked every foreign minister I meet with, “Tell me your idea of how this turns out.” Most don’t have a plan. A few have said, “Well, let’s give them another year of fighting. A year from now, after another year of death, another year of destruction, then maybe Putin will be ready to negotiate at that point.”
That doesn’t sound like a good plan to me, and it certainly is not a plan the President is on board with.
Stephanopoulos tried to pivot to Putin’s history of broken agreements, but Rubio stayed on offense.
George Stephanopoulos: It’s not just about getting people to the table. It’s about keeping agreements that are made. That was one of the points the President made in the Oval Office on Friday—that Vladimir Putin has not kept the agreements that were made in the past. Wasn’t he right about that?
Marco Rubio: Moving forward is the question, not the past. No one here is claiming Vladimir Putin is going to get the Nobel Peace Prize this year or that he should be the Man of the Year for the Humanitarian Association.
What we’re arguing here is he has a very large country. They’re in full war footing. They’re cranking out weapons now at a war-footing pace, and we need to figure out: Is there a way to get them to stop the war? The only way you’re going to do that is to get the Russians engaged in negotiations—something the Europeans haven’t been able to do, the Biden administration wasn’t able to do, or didn’t even try.
That’s the goal here. It’s that simple. Can we try to sit with them and figure out: What are the Russians’ demands? Under what conditions would the Russians be willing to stop this war? As I said, we don’t know what those are because we haven’t talked to them in three years.
That’s the singular goal here—to try to bring about an end to this conflict, and it begins by getting them to the table. Ultimately, like any truce or any peace agreement anywhere in the world, those things will have to be enforced, they’ll have to be enduring, and safeguards will have to be put in place.
Everybody understands that, but it begins with the first step, and that is engaging them to see if it’s even possible. Because if it’s not possible, then what we’re looking at is a protracted, connected stalemate with thousands of people dying, billions of dollars pouring in, and more death and destruction. That’s not something the President wants to be a part of. He’s made it very clear.
When Stephanopoulos floated security guarantees for Ukraine as a prerequisite, Rubio swatted it down.
George Stephanopoulos: Aren’t those talks feasible only if the United States is willing to also provide security guarantees to Ukraine? That was the point President Zelensky was also making in the Oval Office.
Marco Rubio: Well, the security guarantees—which I actually like to call a deterrence—are all contingent upon there being a peace. Everybody is saying, “Security guarantees to secure the peace.” You first have to have a peace. We don’t even know if peace is possible.
This was understood by the Ukrainians. It was explained to them repeatedly. That is, “Here’s our strategy: We’re trying to get Putin to a negotiating table.” Everyone knows the history here, the back and forth. We understand that. We all understand that.
But the question now is: Can we get them to a table to negotiate? That’s our goal. Don’t do anything to disrupt that. That’s what Zelensky did, unfortunately—he found every opportunity to try to “Ukraine-splain” on every issue. Then he confronts the vice president. When the vice president says, “The goal here is diplomacy,” he immediately jumps in and challenges the vice president, saying, “Well, what diplomacy?”
We all understand that Putin is not going to be an easy negotiator in this regard. We all get that. But we have to start the process to see if something is even possible.
I honestly am puzzled. I just don’t understand. The Biden administration berated Benjamin Netanyahu and the Israelis, put all kinds of conditions and pressure on them to try to get a ceasefire. In this particular case, we’ve been nice by comparison. All we’re trying to do here is figure out whether a peace is possible.
All these other things that people keep bringing up, that’ll have to be a part of a negotiation. Right now, there is no negotiation. Shouldn’t we at least try to see if there is a way to end this war in a way that’s acceptable to both sides and is enduring and sustainable? How is that a bad thing? I really am puzzled why anyone thinks that trying to be a peacemaker is a bad thing. It’s only a bad thing when it’s Donald Trump trying to do it, when it’s President Trump. It’s absurd to me.
Stephanopoulos then tried another tired media trick—citing weak-kneed RINOs like Lisa Murkowski to attack Trump. Murkowski had accused the administration of “walking away from our allies” and “embracing Putin.”
Stephanopoulos then accused Trump of placating Putin, which triggered Rubio.
George Stephanopoulos: Well, even some of your Republican allies are puzzled by the steps that President Trump has taken to placate Vladimir Putin. I want to bring up a post of Lisa Murkowski.
Marco Rubio: Which one? What steps has the President taken to placate? Which steps has he taken?
George Stephanopoulos: Let me show you what Lisa Murkowski said.
Marco Rubio: Are we arming the Russians? Are we providing economic assistance to the Russians? Have we given the Russians $180 million? What are we doing to placate?
George Stephanopoulos: Please let me ask you the question. This is Lisa Murkowski, and here’s what she says:
“This week started with administration officials refusing to acknowledge that Russia started the war in Ukraine. It ends with a tense and shocking conversation in the Oval Office and whispers from the White House that they may try to end all U.S. support for Ukraine. I know foreign policy is not for the faint of heart, but right now, I am sick to my stomach as the administration appears to be walking away from our allies and embracing Putin, a threat to democracy and U.S. values around the world.”
Those are not my words. That’s Senator Lisa Murkowski. What’s your response?
Marco Rubio: Well, yeah, we’re a free country. People have a right to these opinions. I would just say to you, what have we done to placate the Russians? The only thing we’ve done is ask, “Are you guys willing to talk about peace?”
I’ll say the same point. We haven’t given them— You voted with North Korea, Russia, and Belarus in the United Nations and against our Western allies. No. Let me tell you. Do you know what the United Nations resolution was? I’ll tell you if you want to hear it.
It basically said, “This has been a horrible war. It’s time for it to end.” The job of the UN is to bring about peace in the world. I thought that’s what the UN was created to do—to stop wars and to prevent them. That’s what the resolution did. Was it antagonistic toward the Russians? No. But it also didn’t praise the Russians. All it said was, “This is a bad war. It needs to end.”
By the way, at the Security Council—which has not been widely reported—the first resolution on Ukraine that has passed the Security Council in three years passed this week because of the leadership of President Trump.
Marco Rubio: It’s a resolution that says, “Bad war, needs to end. Let’s bring the two sides together.” That’s what the resolution is. Again, what is the United Nations for? Is it not a forum to promote peace in the world?
Shouldn’t our President—shouldn’t we all—be happy that we have a President who’s trying to stop wars instead of start them? I just don’t get it. I really don’t. Other than the fact that it’s Donald J. Trump. If this were a Democrat doing this, everyone would be saying, “Well, he’s on his way to the Nobel Peace Prize.”
This is absurd. We are trying to end a war. You cannot end a war unless both sides come to the table, starting with the Russians. That is the point the President has made, and we have to do whatever we can to try to bring them to the table to see if it’s even possible.
I’m not promising you it’s possible. I’m not telling you it’s 90% likely. I’m saying it’s 0% likely if we don’t get them to a negotiating table. The sooner everyone grows up and realizes that this is a bad war heading in a bad direction—with death, destruction, and all kinds of dangers that could spiral into a broader conflict—the sooner we can make progress.
Marco Rubio: But the President is crystal clear. He campaigned on it, and he’s going to govern on it. That is, he is going to be a President who tries to achieve peace.
He has been very clear: this is a war that would have never happened had Donald Trump been in the White House. It needs to end, and we’re going to do everything we can to end it in an enduring, sustainable, and fair way.
Amendments to the Russian deterrence policy are almost ready and will take effect “as needed”, Dmitry Peskov has said
Changes to Russia’s nuclear doctrine are almost complete and will be formalized “as needed,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has told TASS.
The news agency asked on Tuesday about progress made since President Vladimir Putin first announced the amendments in late September, while chairing a Russian Security Council session on the issue.
Putin said the updates were necessary due to the shifting geopolitical landscape. The reviewed doctrine will list more military threats that Russia could counter with nuclear deterrence, he explained.
One key change will be to designate aggression by a non-nuclear state backed by a nuclear one as “their joint attack on the Russian Federation,” Putin stated. Moscow may also treat a mass air attack by a foreign power as meriting a nuclear retaliation, once enemy weapons cross the Russian border, he added.
At the time, Peskov said the announcement was meant as a warning for “hotheads” in the West, who continue to escalate tensions with Russia.
The spokesman’s latest remarks came after US President Joe Biden reportedly gave Kiev permission to use US-donated long-range ATACMS missiles for strikes deep inside Russia. The purported policy change, which has been confirmed by some US allies, but not by Washington, is perceived by Moscow as a significant escalation.
Putin previously said that an attack of that kind could only be conducted with the direct involvement of the nation providing the arms. If carried out, it would mean direct war between a NATO member and Russia, and would trigger an appropriate reaction, he warned.
Russian President Vladimir Putin announced Russia was not abandoing the dollar after President Trump’s historic win.
On Tuesday, President Donald Trump won reelection as President of the United States of America in an electoral landslide.
The announcement was made early Wednesday morning by analysts at the major networks.
President Trump swept all of the battleground states this year, flipping the US Senate and adding members to the Republican majority in the US House of Representatives.
On Thursday, Russian President Vladimir Putin praised Trump and announced that he was ready to speak with the incoming president.
Russian President Putin also immediately announced that Russia was not abandoning the US dollar.
Vladimir Putin:We are not abandoning dollar in Russia. They simply refuse us to allow to use dollar as a settlement tool. Well, even so, I think if we are denied that, it’s so foolish of the US authorities because the dollar is the pillar of the US power, and they’re undoing it by their own hand.
I thought that whatever happens, dollar is like a sacred cow. It should not be touched. It’s in discontinuation. The other is dirty. They got rid of the horns.
Well, they are to blame on their own. The payments in dollars are decreasing. Not too much as of yet, but as means of savings. It’s going down step by step, very gradually. It’s shrinking, but it’s a trend.
It’s their own doing. But we’re not fighting against it. Our proposals are not aimed against dollar. This is simply us rising to the challenge of modern times, a response towards the development of economy. We’re thinking about the future tools and what’s relevant today is what I’ve said before, creation of a system using already the groundwork of the systems in each country, exchanging of financial information, and those tools that I’ve mentioned will develop them.
In February, during an interview with Tucker Carlson, Vladimir Putin warned Americans about the dangerous actions of the political leaders, namely the Biden regime, in using the dollar as a foreign policy tool. Putin explained how this may come back and ruin the US economy.
This move by Joe Biden and his fanatical regime forced Russia and several members of the BRICS coalition to discuss “de-dollarization” in their country’s future.
President Trump in September vowed to place a 100% tariff on countries not doing business on the US dollar.
Vladimir Putin breaks his silence on Donald Trump’s election landslide.
Two months ago Russian president Vladimir Putin announced that he was supporting Kamala Harris for US president. Obviously, Putin was hoping Kamala would continue to the destruction of the US that the Biden-Harris regime started in January 2021.
Putin liked her “expressive and contagious laughter.”
Vladimir Putin: He can make a lot of mistakes. But from the outside, I can tell you that his behavior, when there was an attempt on his life, I was impressed. He’s a courageous person. It’s not just about the hand he raised and his call to fight for their common values and ideas.
Of course, there was a Rush of adrenaline, but a person shows their true color in these emergencies. This is precisely one of those cases. I think he acquitted himself admirably in a valiant fashion as a man.
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