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Evening Report — Trump says Ukraine deal is close after Russia vote

February 24, 2025

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Evening Report

TRUMP FIRST 100 DAYS

Trump says Ukraine deal is close after Russia vote

IT’S A CRITICAL WEEK for global diplomacy in Washington, with the fate of Ukraine and longstanding relationships between the U.S. and its European allies potentially hanging in the balance.

President Trump held a press conference Monday with French President Emmanuel Macron at the White House, where he signaled a deal with Ukraine could be very close to getting signed.

Trump said he might meet with Ukrainian President Volodymy Zelensky in the coming days at the White House to finalize an agreement that would give the U.S. rare minerals in exchange for some kind of an implicit security guarantee.

“[Zelensky] may come in this week or next week to sign the agreement,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office. “They’re very close to a final deal. It’ll be a deal with rare earths and various other things. And he would like to come, as I understand it, here to sign it. And that would be great with me. I think they then have to get it approved by their council or whoever might approve it. But I’m sure that will happen.”

Zelensky said over the weekend that the U.S. and Ukraine are making progress in negotiations, although he said the original proposal of the U.S. getting $500 billion worth of rare minerals as repayment for aid is off the table.

The White House signaled over the weekend that the war between Russia and Ukraine could end as soon as “this week.”

Trump and Zelensky have a frosty relationship, with Trump recently calling the Ukrainian president a “dictator” and blaming him for Russia’s invasion.

Trump talked about the deal with Zelensky only hours after the U.S. voted against a United Nations resolution condemning Russia for invading Ukraine, sending a clear signal of weakening support for Ukraine and the U.S.’s Western allies who view Ukraine’s security as critical for stability in the region.

Trump’s national security team, led by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, have reestablished relations with Russia and have been negotiating an end to the war without Zelensky.

Last week, Trump drew pushback from GOP lawmakers after blaming Ukraine for Russia’s invasion.

“[Russian President Vladimir] Putin and Russia are very clearly the aggressor in this conflict,” Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) told Fox News Radio. “That’s just a fact.”

EUROPE PLOTS A POST-U.S. FUTURE

Trump and Macron joined a call with the Group of Seven on Monday to discuss the Russia-Ukraine war, among other things.

Trump and Macron left the meeting sounding positive.

“There was great unity in that room with those countries,” Trump said.

“I’m here as a friend because through centuries we’ve been friends, and we are personal friends and work very well together,” Macron added.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer will visit the White House later this week.

The sunny remarks from Trump and Macron were at odds with the Trump administration’s public posturing toward Ukraine, NATO and the European Union.

European leaders gathered in Kyiv on Monday to mark the third anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and they’ll hold an emergency summit on Ukrainian and European security in early March.

The European Union is scrambling to come up with a security plan for Ukraine and its own members, with the U.S. planning to scale back its presence in Europe.

“My absolute priority will be to strengthen Europe as quickly as possible so that, step by step, we can really achieve independence from the USA,” Germany’s new chancellor-in-waiting Friedrich Merz said. “This [Trump] administration [is] largely indifferent to the fate of Europe.”

💡Perspectives:

• The Washington Post: Trump upends century-old approach to the world.

• Foreign Affairs: The Right U.S. strategy for Russia-Ukraine negotiations.

• Gideon’s: Trump is treating Ukraine like a bad private equity investment.

• The Hill: On trade, Trump is a Democrat.

• The Hill: Trump resistance 2.0 is even more obtuse.

Read more:

• Trump’s jabs at Ukraine divide GOP.

• Xi says China, Russia true friends as Trump pursues Putin talks.

• These 17 countries voted with US against Ukraine UN resolution.

CATCH UP QUICK

President Trump holds a 52 percent approval rating in new polling after his first month back in office, according to a new poll.
Apple plans to spend more than $500 billion in the United States and hire more than 20,000 people over the next several years.

NEWS THIS AFTERNOON

Rift in Trump World as Musk move draws resistance

Elon Musk’s email blast to federal employees demanding they defend their productivity by midnight tonight or lose their jobs has sown confusion within the government workforce and faced pushback from those President Trump tapped to serve in his Cabinet.

Several federal agencies, including the departments of Defense, Homeland Security, Justice, State and the FBI, told their employees to disregard Musk’s directive, which was passed through by the Office of Personnel Management (OPM).

OPM informed agency leaders Monday that responding to the email is “voluntary,” putting them at odds with Musk, who said previously that failure to respond will be taken as a submission of resignation.

It’s the first sign of a schism in Trump World over Musk’s chaotic style and his uncaring attitude toward the federal workforce.

Trump, however, is cheering Musk on.

“There was a lot of genius in sending [the email],” Trump said Monday. “We’re trying to figure out if people are working.”

The president is adopting a similar attitude toward government workers as Musk, posting a SpongeBob Squarepants meme on social media mocking them.

Musk has defended the ultimatum, saying responses he likes could lead to a promotion and insisting that he’s merely seeking to root out “outright fraud.”

Federal employee unions expanded their lawsuit against Musk to challenge the OPM email.

GOP lawmakers are growing tired of what they view as civil servants getting pushed around.

“Please put a dose of compassion in this,” Sen. John Curtis (R-Utah) said on CBS’s “Face the Nation.” “These are real people… real lives. These are mortgages.’”

Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) was more pointed.

“Our public workforce deserves to be treated with dignity and respect for the unheralded jobs they perform,” Murkowski posted on X. “The absurd weekend email to justify their existence wasn’t it.”

EUROPE PLOTS A POST-U.S. FUTURE

Trump’s pick of conservative podcaster Dan Bongino, a former Secret Service agent, to serve as the No. 2 at the FBI behind Kash Patel could further strain the administration’s relationship with GOP senators.

The Hill’s Alexander Bolton reports that Bongino has a long history of attacking the Republican senators that he views as insufficiently loyal to Trump.

In one of his final podcasts before being tapped as a top leader at the FBI, Bongino promised to investigate Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) and other lawmakers who participated in the investigation into ties between Russia and Trump’s 2016 campaign.

ICYMI …

Trump late last week fired the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Air Force Gen. CQ Brown Jr., and appointed Air Force Lt. Gen. Dan “Razin” Caine to serve in that role.

Here’s what you need to know about Caine.

💡Perspectives:

• Sasha Stone: How far is too far for DOGE?

• The Hill: Musk may be the wedge Democrats need to take Trump’s base.

• The American Prospect: Trump’s coup has failed.

• The Hill: Democrats need to make a compelling case to win back America.

• The Hill: Opposition to Trump shakes off its slumber.

Read more:

• Trump’s control over independent agencies tees up test of power.

• FBI told to transfer 1,500 personnel from headquarters.

• 2,000 USAID staff to be cut, others put on administrative leave.

• The FDA plans to ask around 300 fired civil servants to come back.

• Judge blocks DOE, OPM from disclosing personal data to DOGE.

IN OTHER NEWS

Washington roundup: House GOP plan to pass Trump agenda faces key test

Can House Republicans unite around a plan to pass President Trump’s agenda and avoid a government shutdown?

That question is weighing on Washington, with key tests for Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) coming this week.

On Monday afternoon, the House Rules Committee will consider its budget resolution. If the measure advances out of committee, it could get a full floor vote as soon as Tuesday.

However, at least four Republican moderates are on the fence and could sink the measure, given the House GOP’s ultra-narrow majority. Republicans can only afford to lose one vote if all Democrats vote against it.

Rep. Victoria Spartz (R-Ind.) said over the weekend she’s “a no on the current version,” while at least three other GOP moderates remain on the fence.

The Hill’s Mike Lillis reports on the dynamics after Trump endorsed Johnson’s one-bill approach, even as Senate Republicans moved more quickly in passing their budget resolution:

“Trump’s surprise endorsement of the House package — which came amid the Senate process and blindsided GOP leaders — has heightened the stakes for Johnson and other top Republicans, who are now under even greater pressure to unite their divided conference behind the massive spending plan in order to secure an early win for the president, who’s facing mounting criticism for rising inflation and efforts to gut the federal bureaucracy.”

Johnson made a “prayer request” to those who attended an Americans for Prosperity event on Monday.

“Pray this through for us, because it is very high stakes and everybody knows that,” Johnson said.

House Democrats are united against the GOP plan, but Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) is taking nothing for granted. Jeffries wrote in a letter to Democratic lawmakers saying it’s “pivotal” they’re in attendance for the budget vote so as not to give Johnson any additional leeway.

• Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) barnstormed the Midwest over the weekend, attracting thousands to overflow events in Nebraska and Iowa as part of his “Fighting Oligarchy” tour.

Sanders held rallies in swing-districts held by vulnerable Republicans, showing he’s still a draw on the trail and in tune with the liberal base at a time when Democrats are seeking a message that resonates with working class voters.

“We are living in two Americas,” Sanders said to the more than 2,500 who gathered to hear him in Omaha. “What we do now will impact our lives. [Americans] need a grassroots movement that says no to oligarchy.”