An extraordinary day in Washington with US military support for Ukraine now hanging in the balance and talks over a minerals deal collapsing following a disastrous White House summit.
US president Donald Trump received the Ukrainian president on Friday to discuss a controversial mineral resources deal that Trump had said was the first step toward a ceasefire agreement that he is seeking to broker between Russia and Ukraine.
But the meeting degenerated after Zelenskyy suggested that vice-president JD Vance, a skeptic of US support for Ukraine, should come to the country to see the destruction from the invasion and that Russia was responsible for the continued fighting.
Trump and Zelenskyy cut talks short after fiery meeting
Donald Trump has warned Volodymyr Zelenskyy that the US could cut off military aid and said Ukraine was “gambling with world war three” in a disastrous White House summit that led to the US president cutting short talks and excoriating his Ukrainian counterpart as not being ready for peace.
Democrats defend Zelenskyy after ‘shameful’ meeting
Democratic lawmakers rushed to defend Zelenskyy after the Ukrainian leader was publicly berated by Trump in the disastrous Oval Office meeting.
Trump retreats in fight against Russian cyber threats
The Trump administration has publicly and privately signaled that it does not believe Russia represents a cyber threat against US national security or critical infrastructure, marking a radical departure from longstanding intelligence assessments. The shift in policy could make the US vulnerable to hacking attacks by Russia, experts warned, and appeared to reflect the warming of relations between Trump and Russia’s president, Vladimir Putin.
Hegseth saw few political drawbacks in backing joint chiefs ouster
The US defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, saw few political consequences in supporting Trump’s ouster of the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff because he never had the support of the senators who wanted Gen Charles Brown to remain in the role, advisers close to the secretary said.
Ex-defense chiefs urge hearings on Trump’s military firings
Five former US defense secretaries have demanded congressional hearings on Trump’s firings of several military commanders, including the chair of the joint chiefs of staff, saying it was done for “purely partisan reasons” and weakens national security.
FBI investigations of far right on road to nowhere under Kash Patel, experts warn
With Kash Patel officially appointed as the new FBI director and Dan Bongino as his number two, experts are warning the fate of federal law enforcement investigations into the far right faces a grim future.
What else happened today:
Donald Trump is planning to sign an executive order that would make English the official language of the US for the first time.
Marty Baron, a highly regarded former editor of the Washington Post, said Jeff Bezos’s announcement that the newspaper was narrowing its opinion section focus was a “betrayal of the very idea of free expression” that had left him “appalled”.
Director James Cameron voiced relief after becoming a New Zealand citizen in the aftermath of Trump’s re-election and said America was “a turn away from everything decent”.
