NationalWatch

Russian President Vladimir Putin said he agreed with Donald Trump’s claim that the war in Ukraine would not have ever even begun if he had not lost the 2020 election and was serving as president when the carnage began, instead of former President Joe Biden.  

“I can confirm that,” Putin said at the tail-end of a press conferece that took place Friday evening after the pair met for a summit at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage, Alaska. 

Trump made the assertion multiple times on the campaign trail, and continued saying it after he took back the White House. Trump has faced pushback on the claim, as well as on claims that Ukraine instigated the war’s inception and the Biden administration failed to do things that could have thwarted it from beginning in the first place.

TRUMP AND PUTIN’S RELATIONSHIP TURNS SOUR AS PRESIDENT PUSHES FOR RESOLUTION WITH UKRAINE

“I’d like to add one more thing,” Putin said, as the two heads of state provided remarks to the press, according to a translation of the Russian president’s address. “I’d like to remind you that in 2022, during the last contact with a previous administration, I tried to convince my previous American colleague that the situation should not be brought to a point of no return when it would come to hostilities and I said it quite directly back then that it’s a big mistake. Today, when President Trump is saying that if he was the president back then there would be no war – I am quite sure that it would indeed be so. I can confirm that.”

Earlier in his address, Putin lamented that bilateral relations between the U.S. and Russia, prior to Trump, had “fallen to the lowest point since the Cold War,” and highlighted the fact that there have been no summits between the U.S. and Russia over the last four years.

“That’s not benefiting our counties and the world as a whole,” Putin said, adding that it was “apparent that sooner or later [U.S. and Russia] had to amend the situation to move on from the confrontation to dialogue.”

MSNBC HOST EXPLODES LIVE ON AIR OVER PUTIN TALKS, RANTS TRUMP ‘DOESN’T GIVE A S— ABOUT DEMOCRACY’

Meanwhile, Putin praised Trump for “his strive to get to the crux of the matter and to understand this history,” referring to the backstory surrounding the war. He called the commitment “precious.” 

The Russian president also remarked during his address that he hopes this new chapter of foreign diplomacy under Trump will “help us rebuild and foster mutually beneficial and equal ties at this new stage, even during the hardest conditions.”

“Overall, me and President Trump have built a very good business-like and trustworthy contact, and have every reason to believe that moving down this path we can come to the end of the conflict in Ukraine,” Putin said Friday. 

The optics of Trump’s meeting with Putin were slammed by critics, who compared the scene Friday to when Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy met with Trump at the White House. 

The infamous meeting saw Zelenskyy publicly argue back-and-forth with Trump and other top leaders in the administration, as President Trump criticized the Ukrainian president for his approach to ending the war.

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“Biden could’ve stopped it, Zelenskyy could’ve stopped it, and Putin should’ve never started it,” Trump said in April about the war in Ukraine.

After California Gov. Gavin Newsom announced he would move forward with a state redistricting plan – replete with implied mockery of President Donald Trump – California Republicans responded late Thursday.

Newsom had declared “liberation day” – an apparent reference to Trump’s own moniker for the day he introduced a comprehensive tariff regime – and preceded the announcement with “ALL CAPS” social media posts meant to mock the president’s penchant for doing the same on Truth Social.

California Republicans were not amused and pushed back on the project that could put an end to their already muted federal representation in America’s most populous state.

“Californians demand and deserve transparency from their government. Governor Newsom’s sinister redistricting scheme is the opposite,” the top Republican on the state’s Elections Committee said.

CALIFORNIA’S TOP REPUBLICAN RIPS DEMS BLOCKING ‘OIL GOLDMINE’ AFTER NEW TRUMP PROJECT REBUFFS SCHIFF

“There is no public input,” lamented state Assemblywoman Alexandra Macedo, R-Tulare, as the state hosts nine Republican federal House lawmakers of the 52 total. The state’s last Republican senator was Sen. John Seymour in 1991 – who had been appointed for a brief stint after Sen. Pete Wilson resigned to take the governor’s office.

Macedo suggested Newsom would go to great lengths just to grab national headlines, no matter what the “will of the voters” is in reality.

“Governor Newsom is on a mission to take power away from the California Citizens Redistricting Commission,” Macedo said of the panel that typically would help decide decennial mapping.

“Governor Newsom’s power-grab erodes public trust in our government. Undermining the commission’s hard work … is shortsighted and insulting to voters,” said Macedo, whose caucus holds 19 of the 60 assembly seats.

MAMDANI STUDIES ‘AMERICA’S WORST MAYOR’ BRANDON JOHNSON TO AVOID HIS POLITICAL PITFALLS: REPORT

Newsom, however, defended his decision, saying that Trump “poked the bear” – the animal which also appears on the Golden State’s flag – and that California will therefore push back.

“DONALD ‘TACO’ TRUMP, AS MANY CALL HIM, ‘MISSED’ THE DEADLINE!!! CALIFORNIA WILL NOW DRAW NEW, MORE ‘BEAUTIFUL MAPS,’ THEY WILL BE HISTORIC AS THEY WILL END THE TRUMP PRESIDENCY (DEMS TAKE BACK THE HOUSE!),” Newsom wrote in his Trump-esque post.

Trump has supported a “simple redrawing” of the Texas congressional map to represent the state’s Republican bent, he said.

“We have an opportunity in Texas to pick up five seats. We have a really good governor, and we have good people in Texas. And I won Texas, I got the highest vote in the history of Texas as you probably know. And we are entitled to five more seats,” Trump recently said.

Sen. Brian Jones, R-San Diego, leader of the upper chamber’s minority in Sacramento, directed Fox News Digital to recent comments prior to the official announcement by Newsom.

“Californians didn’t elect Newsom to play gerrymandering games to boost his presidential campaign, they elected him to solve problems here at home,” said Jones, who leads 10 senators compared to the Democrats’ 30.

“What he’s doing now undermines the independent redistricting commission that voters created to stop exactly this kind of political manipulation.”

He also ripped Democrats after hearing that California Secretary of State Shirley Weber told reporters the legislature would have only a short window to schedule a special election for redistricting to coincide with the November elections. 

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California lawmakers are on summer recess until Monday. The process would have to finish by next Friday; five days.

“Once again, Newsom convinced Senate and Assembly Democrats to roll over, ignore voters, rush sham hearings, and violate the California Constitution,” Jones said.

“Democracy is dead in California, killed by Newsom’s corrupt pursuit of the presidency.”

Fox News Digital’s Paul Steinhauser contributed to this report.

In 1992, then-Sen. Joe Biden, D-Del., sounded much like President Donald Trump does today, repeatedly warning about Washington, D.C.’s crime crisis — the same issue that ultimately led the current Republican leader to take control of the city’s authorities.

Biden argued in favor of the need to crack down on crime in Washington, D.C., as he took to the Senate floor that September to warn against stopping at red lights late at night and urged his colleagues to support what became the “Biden Crime Bill.”

The clip resurfaced as the Democratic Party, in which Biden has been the de facto leader, lambasted Trump’s takeover of Washington law enforcement agencies to quell what the clip itself laid out to now be a multi-decade crisis.

Biden addressed Senate Presiding Officer Robert Byrd, D-W.V., saying when he could not catch an Amtrak train back to the Wilmington station that now bears his name, he would either “get in my car outside this great citadel of justice and freedom and drive out to the Baltimore-Washington Parkway” or rent a room at the Hyatt Hotel on New Jersey Avenue.

WHITE HOUSE BLASTS FAR-LEFT DA’S WARNING THAT TRUMP ‘BETTER NOT TRY’ DC TAKEOVER ‘IN PHILLY’

Biden said he never worried about getting jumped, until one night a representative for the Senate Sergeant-at-Arms stopped him from walking to the hotel.

“Now I am not any more than my friend (Byrd) from West Virginia very big on perks here in the United States Senate. I don’t think either one of us have ever been accused of seeking the perks of office,” he said. “And I felt it was kind of silly.”

Biden said he was warned that a congressman “had been stabbed in the gutter outside the Hyatt” a short time prior and that “two people had been shot in the park.”

“Driving home, my staff, who lives here on the Hill, reminded me don’t stop at a stoplight until I’m out of town.”

AS TRUMP INTERVENES IN DC’S CRIME CRISIS, ANOTHER VIOLENT CITY’S DA GETS A CHALLENGER FROM INSIDE THE TENT

The future president said crime risks in Washington had gotten so bad that he would “slow up” halfway down a block when the next traffic signal turned red and “never come to a full stop” at the intersection.

“Because of carjackers: stopping at the light, people standing on the corner, walking up with a gun.”

Biden recounted a Sergeant-at-Arms official telling him that he unsuccessfully interrupted a carjacking at a 7-Eleven in Washington – as the official watched a woman pump gas and walk over to pay the attendant when someone jumped in her car and attempted to take off until the official intervened. The crook produced a pistol and the official relented.

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“What’s changed, Mr. President, is it used to be at least the women and men in this country, if they were very prudent about how they behaved… and didn’t walk certain places at night; didn’t do certain things that put themselves at risk, that they had a pretty good prospect of avoiding becoming the victims of violent crime.”

“Not today, Mr. President. Prudence in no way will determine whether or not you can avoid being the victim of violent crime — It may increase your chances of not being a victim, but there’s no place to hide, Mr President. And let’s look at what’s happened just in the last several years here [in Washington].”

In separate floor remarks, Biden slammed then-President George H.W. Bush for reportedly helping prevent passage of crime-crackdown legislation – and bragged that “we do everything but hang people for jaywalking in this bill.”

While Biden’s “Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1993” he was lobbying for never passed, the successful “Clinton Crime Bill” from Rep. Jack Brooks, D-Texas, the following year shared much of its substance.

The office of California Gov. Gavin Newsom continues to troll President Donald Trump on social media by mimicking his infamous writing style.

The press team for the Democratic governor has made several posts on X in recent days mirroring how Trump often writes when posting on X or Truth Social, including using all capital letters and nicknames.

In the latest post on Friday, Newsom’s team responded to the White House Rapid Response account, which shared a picture of Trump scowling and pointing a finger at Russian President Vladimir Putin following a meeting on Friday between the two world leaders in Alaska.

“TINY HANDS IS OUT HERE COPYING ME — BUT WITHOUT THE STAMINA (SAD), AND CERTAINLY WITHOUT THE ‘LOOKS.’ TOTAL BETA! — GCN,” the governor’s press team replied on X along with a similar picture from earlier this year of Newsom pointing a finger at Trump’s chest.

CALIFORNIA REPUBLICANS ACCUSE NEWSOM OF ‘SINISTER REDISTRICTING SCHEME’ AFTER TRUMP MOCKERY

After the meeting on Friday, the press team accused Trump of refusing to take questions and having low energy during his time with Putin — again in all caps.

“TRUMP JUST FLED THE PODIUM WITH PUTIN — NO QUESTIONS, NOTHING! TOTAL LOW ENERGY. THE MAN LOOKED LIKE HE’D JUST EATEN 3 BUCKETS OF KFC WITH VLAD. IS HE AFRAID THE PRESS WILL ASK ABOUT ME??? (AMERICA’S FAVORITE GOVERNOR) AND THE FACT I ‘STOLE THE CAMERAS’ THIS WEEK WITH ‘THE MAPS’?” the press team wrote.

“MANY PEOPLE ARE SAYING HE BEGGED PUTIN TO HOLD HIS HANDS (TINY) ON THE WAY OUT,” the post continued. “ADMIT IT, DONNIE J… YOU’RE TERRIFIED BECAUSE THIS WAS THE WORST WEEK OF YOUR LIFE BECAUSE OF ME, GAVIN C. NEWSOM. ‘THE MAPS’ WILL END YOUR PRESIDENCY, RETAKE CONGRESS FOR THE PEOPLE, AND EXPOSE YOUR RIGGED “LITTLE GAME.” MY “PERFECT MAPS” ARE MORE BEAUTIFUL THAN ANYTHING IN TRUMP TOWER (WHICH MANY SAY SMELLS WEIRD). @STEVENCHUENG47 — EXPLAIN THIS DISASTER!!! ENJOY YOUR FLIGHT HOME, DONALD — YOU’RE PUTIN’S PROBLEM NOW. I’M AMERICA’S SOLUTION. — GCN.”

The post referred to Newsom announcing that California Democrats would draw redistricting maps in their favor in response to Texas Republicans’ efforts to redraw maps in their favor in their state – a move supported by Trump.

The account also accused Trump of considering giving California to Russia during his meeting with Putin.

“MANY PEOPLE ARE SAYING THAT DONALD J. WOULD CONSIDER ‘GIVING AWAY’ THE FREE STATE OF CALIFORNIA TO HIS ‘BEST FRIEND’ VLADIMIR PUTIN — ALL BECAUSE I, GAVIN C. NEWSOM, STOLE THE CAMERAS THIS WEEK WITH “THE MAPS,” the post reads, in part. 

“…AMERICA WOULD COLLAPSE WITHOUT CALIFORNIA AND NOT EVEN ‘DUMMY DONALD’ (TINY HANDS) COULD MAKE SUCH A ‘DISASTROUS DEAL.’ BUT IF HE EVER TRIES TO ‘SWAP’ CALIFORNIA TO RUSSIA, MARK MY WORDS — THERE WILL BE BIG, BEAUTIFUL CONSEQUENCES FOR HIM!!! AND BELIEVE ME… HE WON’T LIKE THEM!!! THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION TO THIS VERY IMPORTANT MATTER!!! — GCN.”

CALIFORNIA GOVERNOR DEMANDS TRUMP ABANDON TEXAS REDISTRICTING PUSH, THREATENS BALLOT MEASURE RESPONSE

In another cap-filled post on Friday, the press team suggested Newsom should be nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize for his redistricting efforts, after a handful of world leaders announced they had nominated Trump for the award.

“MANY PEOPLE ARE SAYING — AND I AGREE — THAT I, GAVIN C. NEWSOM (AMERICA’S FAVORITE GOVERNOR) DESERVE THE NOBEL PEACE PRIZE,” the account wrote. “WHY? BECAUSE OF THE ‘MOST INCREDIBLE MAPS IN THE HISTORY OF MAPPING’ (EVEN COLUMBUS). THESE MAPS WILL END THE ‘VERY RIGGED’ ELECTIONS, MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN (MAGA!!!), RETAKE CONGRESS ‘FOR THE PEOPLE’, AND SAVE DEMOCRACY. NOBODY ELSE COULD HAVE DONE THIS — CERTAINLY NOT THE ‘SELF-PROCLAIMED’ MASTER DEALMAKER DONALD ‘TACO’ TRUMP (TINY HANDS) WHO MISSED ‘THE DEADLINE’ AND LOST (SAD!).”

“PEACE THROUGH MAPS — NO ONE HAS EVER THOUGHT OF THIS BEFORE,” the account continued. “I AM THE ‘PEACE TIME’ GOVERNOR NOW, STOPPING ‘POLITICAL WARS’ BEFORE THEY START. HARMONY, UNITY, EVEN LOVE. THE NOBEL COMMITTEE HAS GIVEN THIS AWARD TO LESSER PEOPLE FOR MUCH LESS. I, GAVIN C. NEWSOM, ACTUALLY EARNED IT. THE WORLD WILL BE SAFER, KINDER, AND FRANKLY MORE ‘BEAUTIFUL’ BECAUSE OF MY MAPS. GIVE GAVIN THE NOBEL, MANY ARE SAYING. THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION TO THIS MATTER! — GCN.”

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Before the series of posts on Friday, Newsom’s press team made several other posts targeting Trump and mocking “MAGA” Republicans throughout the week. 

“Vaxxed?” the account wrote on Friday in response to a picture another user shared of Trump and Putin in which the user said the U.S. president “looks awful.”

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Saturday he will travel to Washington, D.C. on Monday to meet with President Donald Trump.

Zelenskyy’s announcement comes a day after Trump met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska on Friday to negotiate an end to the war in Ukraine.

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This is a breaking news story. Check back for updates.

Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., is launching an investigation into Meta after reports found that the company green-lit internal rules that allowed AI chatbots to have “romantic” and “sensual” exchanges with children. 

Hawley, who chairs the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime and Counterterrorism, wrote in a letter to Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg that his committee will dive into whether Meta’s generative-Al products enabled exploitation, deception or other criminal harms to children. Further, the probe will look at whether Meta misled the public or regulators about its safeguards on AI.

REPUBLICANS SCRAP DEAL IN ‘BIG, BEAUTIFUL BILL’ TO LOWER RESTRICTIONS ON STATES’ AI REGULATIONS

“I already have an ongoing investigation into Meta’s stunning complicity with China — but Zuckerberg siccing his company’s AI chatbots on our kids called for another one,” Hawley told Fox News Digital. “Big Tech will know no boundaries until Congress holds social media outlets accountable. And I hope my colleagues on both sides of the aisle can agree that exploiting children’s innocence is a new low.”

Hawley demanded that the company must produce a trove of materials related to internal policies on the chatbots, communications and more to the panel by Sept. 19.

His announcement on Friday comes after Reuters first reported that Meta, which is the parent company to Facebook, had given the go-ahead to policies on chatbot behavior that allowed the AI to “engage a child in conversations that are romantic or sensual.”

SOCIAL MEDIA GIANT HIT WITH SCATHING AD CAMPAIGN AMID ANGER OVER AI CHATBOTS SEXUALLY EXPLOITING KIDS

Hawley noted that Meta acknowledged the reports and charged that the company “made retractions only after this alarming content came to light” in his letter to Zuckerberg.

“To take but one example, your internal rules purportedly permit an Al chatbot to comment that an 8-year-old’s body is ‘a work of art” of which ’every inch… is a masterpiece — a treasure I cherish deeply,’” he wrote.

“Similar conduct outlined in these reports is reprehensible and outrageous and demonstrates a cavalier attitude when it comes to the real risks that generative Al presents to youth development absent strong guardrails,” Hawley continued. “Parents deserve the truth, and kids deserve protection.”

A spokesperson for Meta confirmed to Fox News Digital that the document reviewed by Reuters was real but countered that “it does not accurately reflect our policies.” 

SCHUMER CLAIMS TRUMP ADMIN WITHHOLDING EPSTEIN FILES, THREATENS TO SUE

“We have clear policies on what kind of responses AI characters can offer, and those policies prohibit content that sexualizes children and sexualized role play between adults and minors,” the spokesperson said. “Separate from the policies, there are hundreds of examples, notes, and annotations that reflect teams grappling with different hypothetical scenarios. The examples and notes in question were and are erroneous and inconsistent with our policies, and have been removed.”

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The document in question, known as the “GenAI: Content Risk Standards,” included over 200 pages of rules that outlined what workers at Meta should consider as acceptable behavior when building and training chatbots and other AI-generative products for the company.

Hawley demanded that the company produce all iterations of the GenAI: Content Risk Standards, all products that fall under the scope of the guidelines, how the guidelines are enforced, risk reviews and incident reports that reference minors, sexual or romantic role-play, in-person meetups, medical advice, self-harm, or criminal exploitation, communications with regulators and a paper trail on who decided and when to revise the standards and what changes were actually made. 

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem temporarily relocated her personal residence as she’s facing an increase in threats against her and “vicious doxxing,” a department spokesperson told Fox News Digital on Friday. 

“Following the media’s publishing of the location of Secretary Noem’s Washington D.C. apartment, she has faced vicious doxxing on the dark web and a surge in death threats, including from the terrorist organizations, cartels, and criminal gangs that DHS targets. Due to threats and security concerns, she has been forced to temporarily stay in secure military housing,” Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said. “Secretary Noem continues to pay rent for her Navy Yard residence.

 “It’s a shame that the media chooses sensationalism over the safety of people enforcing America’s laws to keep Americans safe,” McLaughlin added.

Noem said last week that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents “are now facing a 1000% increase in assaults against them as they risk their lives to arrest the worst of the worst criminal illegal aliens.” 

NOEM SAYS ICE AGENTS ARE FACING ‘1000% INCREASE IN ASSAULTS’ 

“We will not and have not let this violence stop us or slow us down. Everyday our law enforcement continues to enforce the law and arrest the most depraved criminals including pedophiles, terrorists, murderers, gang members, and sexual predators,” she added in a post on X.   

NOEM, IN ILLINOIS, CALLS OUT GOV. PRITZKER, CHICAGO’S MAYOR OVER THEIR HANDLING OF CRIMINAL ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS 

In July, Fox News Digital reported that ICE officials faced an 830% increase in assaults between Jan. 21, 2025 and July 14, 2025, compared to the same period in 2024.   

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That timeframe began the day after President Donald Trump returned to the Oval Office. 

The U.S. Air Force has issued updated guidance that centralizes and standardizes separation boards for service members who no longer meet military requirements, including those affected by transgender policy changes.

The Associated Press first reported the change, citing an internal memo dated Aug. 12, 2025.

According to the memo, once a board confirms a member meets the policy’s criteria, “the board must recommend separation.”

Hearings are closed and will not be recorded. Instead, the case file includes an abbreviated transcript prepared after the hearing. The policy narrows the board’s role to a single factual finding.

NAVY SECRETARY PUSHES REVIEW BOARD TO PURGE DEI FROM NAVAL ACADEMY AND RESTORE ‘WARRIOR ETHOS’

Supporters of stricter readiness standards argue the change avoids drawn-out cases and clarifies discipline. The AP notes that, in the past, boards sometimes retained members despite serious infractions, discretion critics said led to inconsistency.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has made “restoring the warrior ethos” and tougher physical standards central to his tenure. In his Jan. 25 message to the force, he vowed to “restore the warrior ethos … rebuild our military and reestablish deterrence,” then directed a rapid, department-wide review of fitness, body composition and grooming standards.

‘RED TAPE’: TRUMP ADMIN UNLEASHES DOGE-ALIGNED PROCESS TO FIRE FEDERAL WORKERS FOR MISCONDUCT

In July, he tightened medical waiver rules for new recruits, writing that America’s warfighters must be physically and mentally capable of performing in the harshest conditions.

The memo says the rules apply across the Department of the Air Force, including the Space Force, under a single Consolidated Disposition Authority to ensure uniform process and oversight. The AP also reported last week that the Air Force moved to end early retirement benefits for those who do not meet service requirements.

The AP framed the shift within broader Trump-era directives affecting transgender service members and cited Pentagon figures putting the affected population in the low thousands. While some legal advisers have raised questions about appeals without recordings, supporters counter that swift, decisive action is essential for cohesion and defense.

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The Department of Defense did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment. The Air Force could not be reached.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

President Donald Trump was tight-lipped after his high-stakes summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday but offered some key insight into the meeting to Fox News’ Sean Hannity in an exclusive interview.

Here are the key takeaways from Trump’s highly anticipated meeting with the Russian leader as shared with Hannity. 

1. ‘No deal until there’s a deal’

Trump told Hannity that “as far as I’m concerned, there’s no deal until there’s a deal.” He noted, however, that “we did make a lot of progress.”

2. Putin ‘wants to see it done’

The president noted to Hannity that he believes Putin is not only open to peace but that he “wants to see it done.” 

TRUMP SAYS HE ‘WON’T BE HAPPY’ IF PUTIN DOES NOT AGREE TO A CEASEFIRE IN UKRAINE DURING ALASKA SUMMIT

3. Not prepared to share what the sticking point was

Pressed by Hannity to share what the “one big issue you don’t agree on” that kept the leaders from walking away with a ceasefire deal, Trump declined to share. He said, “No, I’d rather not. I guess somebody’s going to go public with it, they’ll figure it out, but no, I don’t want to do that, I want to see if we can get it done.” 

4. Up to Zelenskyy and Europeh

After taking such a major step as to physically meet with the Russian president, Trump said it is now “up to [Ukrainian] President [Volodymyr] Zelenskyy to get it done and maybe the European nations, they have to get involved a little bit.”

5. Trump open to trilateral meeting

The president said that he would be open to attending a trilateral meeting with the presidents of Ukraine and Russia, saying, “If they’d like, I’ll be at that meeting. They’re going to set up a meeting now between President Zelenskyy and President Putin and myself, I guess, not that I want to be there, but I want to get it done.” 

He added, “I’ll be there.” 

PUTIN PRAISES TRUMP’S ‘SINCERE’ PEACE EFFORTS, SIGNALS POSSIBLE US-RUSSIA NUCLEAR DEAL

6. Meeting a ‘10’

Trump said that he would rate the meeting a 10 out of 10, saying, “I think the meeting was a 10 in the sense that we got along great.” 

7. Russia respects America now

Asked what he thought finally brought Putin to the negotiating table, Trump answered, “I don’t want to say anything brought him, he’s a very smart guy, nothing brought him to the table, so to speak.” 

“I think he respects our country now, he didn’t respect it under Biden, I can tell you that, he had no respect for it.” 

8. No war if Trump was in office

Trump also commented that he “was so happy” that Putin shared his belief during their joint press conference that the Russia-Ukraine war would have never happened had he been in office at the time. 

ZELENSKYY NOT INVITED TO UPCOMING TRUMP, PUTIN TALKS — WHITE HOUSE SAYS THIS WAS THE REASON

9. Advice to Zelenskyy

Without hesitating, Trump said that his advice to Zelenskyy after Friday’s meeting with Putin would be “make a deal.” 

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10. 2020 election rigged

Trump shared that Putin told him he believed the 2020 election was rigged because of the widespread mail-in voting, saying, “you can’t have a great democracy with mail-in voting.” 

As President Donald Trump met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska on Friday, reactions from lawmakers back in Washington, D.C., flooded in, including one Republican who said he wants the president nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize following the summit. 

While Republicans largely praised Trump for an assertive posture and for his efforts working towards peace, Democrats accused the president of being too friendly with Putin. 

“President Trump, I think, is just crystal clear that Putin’s back is against the wall and I think he demonstrated that clearness with his very first action before saying a word with the fact that he flew B-2 bombers over [Putin’s] head,” said Rep. Brian Mast, R-Fla. “That was not on accident, obviously. For him to fly a B-2 bomber over Vladimir Putin’s head, it was a signal to him that when President Trump says, ‘Hey there could be very serious consequences.'”

MIKE POMPEO ADVISES AMERICANS NOT TO ‘OVERREAD’ THIS PART OF TRUMP AND PUTIN’S MEETING 

However, while Mast expressed that he saw Trump challenging Putin, Democratic California Rep. Eric Swalwell described the summit as akin to “Trump toast[ing] Putin like he was giving him the lifetime achievement award.”

“What a Kremlin kiss a– our president is,” Swalwell added. 

Meanwhile, as the meeting was kicking off, Rep. Eugene Vindman, D-Va., said, “The very fact that Putin will be on American soil is a huge win for him.”

“First, he is legitimized and not a global pariah. Second, he would be subject to arrest in 123 countries due to his ICC arrest warrant. Here [sic] is walking free,” Vindman lamented. 

FROM ADMIRATION TO ALASKA: A TIMELINE OF TRUMP AND PUTIN’S HIGH-STAKES ENCOUNTERS

“Trump invited a dictator onto U.S. soil just to get his s*** rocked,” added the official X account for the Democratic Party.

But Republicans rallied around the president’s handling of the summit, with Rep. Andy Ogles, R-Tenn., announcing Friday night after the summit concluded that he intends to draft a Nobel Peace Prize nomination for Trump.

Some Republicans took the opportunity Friday to slam the former Biden administration for failing to take the necessary action to halt the war in Ukraine.  

“When Joe Biden became president he waved the sanctions on Nord Stream 2, he gave Putin and Russia a multi-billion dollar gift, and the reason that caused the war is because Putin had refrained from invading Ukraine because he didn’t want to damage the natural gas pipelines that run through Ukraine,” Republican Texas Sen. Ted Cruz said Friday in an interview on Fox News. 

During the summit, while Putin was addressing reporters, he said that he believed the claim from Trump and Republicans that had Trump been president when the war began instead of Biden, it likely never would have started in the first place.

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“The key to ending this war honorably and justly is to create an infrastructure of deterrence that Biden and Obama failed to do — which will prevent a third invasion,” Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said following Friday’s summit. 

The South Carolina senator added that following the summit, a meeting between Trump, Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will be necessary. The senator argued that, with such a meeting, he would be “cautiously optimistic” that the war could end “well before Christmas.”

“If that meeting fails to materialize, I think President Trump may have to go all in to punish those who buy cheap Russian oil and gas, propping up Putin’s war machine,” Graham concluded.

Zohran Mamdani confirmed to reporters that he spoke to former President Barack Obama on the phone soon after declaring victory in New York City’s Democratic primary in June. 

“It was a call that I was honored to receive,” Mamdani said during an anti-Trump event in the Bronx on Thursday.

The 33-year-old mayoral hopeful told reporters that after winning the primary, he discussed with Obama “the importance of hope in our politics and the ways in which we govern to deliver on that.” Mamdani said they focused on the campaign he ran, calling it an “honor to receive that time” with the former president. 

“We spoke about the importance in a moment such as this, where politics is often characterized by a language of darkness, the necessity of hope in how we speak and how we orient ourselves to the world,” Mamdani said. 

ZOHRAN MAMDANI FIRES BACK AT WHITE HOUSE MISPRONOUNCING HIS NAME: ‘M-A-M-D-A-N-I’

The democratic socialist said he is “lucky” to have an example in the former president of how to rise above the barrage of criticism that has been thrown his way on the campaign trail. 

DEMS AT A CROSSROADS AS ESTABLISHMENT PLANS ‘PROJECT 2029’ WHILE SOCIALIST CANDIDATE WINS NYC MAYORAL PRIMARY

During an anti-Trump stop on Staten Island on Wednesday, Mamdani was told to “go back to where you came from” and called a “commie” by some protesters outside his event. 

“I know that those New Yorkers are representative just of themselves. And yet, sadly, that is what politics has become for far too many,” Mamdani said. 

Mamdani answered a follow-up question about his discussion with Obama during the final stop on his anti-Trump tour across New York City in Queens on Friday. 

The Democratic nominee said Obama’s “stature speaks for itself.”

“It was an honor to have that conversation, and that presents for us an opportunity to continue to build on both the way in which we practice our politics, but also, as the borough president said, it is one thing to inspire hope. Our responsibility now is also to deliver on and take justice seriously,” Mamdani said. 

And as he spoke to reporters in his home borough, Mamdani began looking to the future, reflecting on the reality that he could very likely become the mayor of New York City. 

“The first 100 days, the first year, the first term of what it means to be the mayor of the city, such that the New Yorkers who got to vote for the very first time, more than 30,000 we registered in the last ten days, but they continue to vote because they continue to see themselves in their democracy,” Mamdani said. 

The details of Obama’s call to Mamdani were first reported by The New York Times on Wednesday. 

According to the reporting, Obama congratulated Mamdani, offered him advice about governing, and the two discussed the importance of hope during a dark time politically, citing people with knowledge of the conversation. 

The report also details how Obama’s former aides, including the “Obama Bros” of “Pod Save America,” Jon Favreau and Dan Pfieffer, have been in communication with Mamdani’s Democratic strategist, Morris Katz. 

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Obama has built a reputation since leaving office in 2016 for his strategic participation in politics.

The news about his call to Mamdani broke as ABC News reported this week that Obama praised a group of Texas Democrats for fleeing the state to avoid voting for an ever-controversial Trump-backed redistricting bill, calling it “inspiring.”

Former California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is pumping up for a new fight.

The longtime Hollywood action star, the last Republican governor in Democrat-dominated California, says he’s mobilizing to oppose the push by current Gov. Gavin Newsom to temporarily scrap the state’s nonpartisan redistricting commission.

“I’m getting ready for the gerrymandering battle,” Schwarzenegger wrote in a social media post Friday, which included a photo of the former professional bodybuilding champion lifting weights.

Schwarzenegger, who rose to worldwide fame as the star of the film “The Terminator” four decades ago, wore a T-shirt in the photo that said “terminate gerrymandering.”

ABBOTT, TEXAS REPUBLICANS MAKE NEW PUSH FOR TRUMP-BACKED REDISTRICTING AS FLEEING DEMOCRATS TO END WALKOUT

The social media post by Schwarzenegger comes as Democratic leaders in the Democrat-dominated California legislature are moving forward with new proposed congressional district maps that would create up to five more blue-leaning U.S. House seats in the nation’s most populous state.

Newsom on Thursday teamed up in Los Angeles with congressional Democrats and legislative leaders in the heavily blue state to unveil their redistricting playbook.

REDISTRICTING BATTLE: NEWSOM VOWS TO FIGHT ‘FIRE WITH FIRE’

Newsom and the Democrats are aiming to counter the ongoing effort by President Donald Trump and Republicans to create up to five GOP-friendly congressional districts in red state Texas at the expense of Democrat-controlled seats. 

“Today is liberation day in the state of California,” Newsom said. “Donald Trump, you have poked the bear, and we will punch back.”

Newsom vowed to “meet fire with fire” with his push for a rare — but not unheard of — mid-decade redistricting.

The Republican push in Texas, which comes at Trump’s urging, is part of a broader effort by the GOP across the country to pad its razor-thin House majority to keep control of the chamber in the 2026 midterms, when the party in power traditionally faces political headwinds and loses seats.

NEWSOM DEMANDS TRUMP GIVE UP TEXAS REDISTRICTING PUSH

Trump and his political team are aiming to prevent what happened during his first term in the White House, when Democrats stormed back to grab the House majority in the 2018 midterms. 

While the Republican push in Texas to upend the current congressional maps doesn’t face constitutional constraints, Newsom’s path in California is much more complicated.

The governor is pushing to hold a special election this year to get voter approval to undo the constitutional amendments that created the nonpartisan redistricting commission. 

A two-thirds majority vote in the Democrat-dominated California legislature as early as next week would be needed to hold the referendum. Democratic Party leaders are confident they’ll have the votes to push the constitutional amendment and the new proposed congressional maps through the legislature.

“Here we are in open and plain sight before one vote is cast in the 2026 midterm election, and here [Trump] is once again trying to rig the system,” Newsom charged.

Newsom said his plan is “not complicated. We’re doing this in reaction to a president of the United States that called a sitting governor in the state of Texas and said, ‘Find me five seats.’ We’re doing it in reaction to that act.”

The National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) said “Newsom’s made it clear: he’ll shred California’s Constitution and trample over democracy — running a cynical, self-serving playbook where Californians are an afterthought, and power is the only priority.”

But Newsom defended his actions, saying “we’re working through a very transparent, temporary and public process. We’re putting the maps on the ballot and putting the power to the people.”

Thursday’s appearance by Newsom, considered a likely contender for the 2028 Democratic presidential nomination, also served as a fundraising kickoff to raise massive amounts of campaign cash needed to sell the redistricting push statewide in California. 

SCHWARZENEGGER’S NEW STARRING ROLE: PUSHING BACK AGAINST NEWSOM’S REDISTRICTING DRIVE

The nonpartisan redistricting commission, created over 15 years ago, remains popular among most Californians, according to public opinion polling.

That’s why Newsom and California Democratic lawmakers are promising not to scrap the commission entirely, but rather replace it temporarily by the legislature for the next three election cycles.

“We will affirm our commitment to the state independent redistricting after the 2030 census, but we are asking the voters for their consent to do midterm redistricting,” Newsom said.

Their efforts are opposed by a number of people supportive of the nonpartisan commission.

Among the most visible members is likely to be Schwarzenegger.

“He calls gerrymandering evil, and he means that. He thinks it’s truly evil for politicians to take power from people,” Schwarzenegger spokesperson Daniel Ketchell told Politico earlier this month.

“He’s opposed to what Texas is doing, and he’s opposed to the idea that California would race to the bottom to do the same thing.”

Schwarzenegger, during his tenure as governor, had a starring role in the passage of constitutional amendments in California in 2008 and 2010 that took the power to draw state legislative and congressional districts away from politicians and placed it in the hands of an independent commission.

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“Most people don’t really think about an independent commission much, one way or another. And that’s both an opportunity and a challenge for Newsom,” Jack Pitney, an American politics professor at California’s Claremont McKenna College, told Fox News.

“It’s going to take a lot of effort and money to energize Democrats and motivate them to show up at the polls,” Pitney said, adding Newsom’s effort “is all about motivating people who don’t like Trump.”

Fox News’ Lee Ross contributed to this report 

A judge on Friday weighed limiting the power of the Trump administration to assume control of the police department in Washington, D.C., after suggesting the appointment of Drug Enforcement Administration head Terry Cole to assume the police chief’s duties was illegal.

Judge Ana Reyes gave lawyers for the Department of Justice and the D.C. government until early evening to reach a deal that would limit Cole’s authority, or she would issue a temporary restraining order.

Reyes, a Biden appointee, said broader questions over President Donald Trump’s sweeping executive order declaring a crime emergency in the nation’s capital would be addressed in a court hearing next week. 

In the immediate future, the Trump administration will still largely have control over the Metropolitan Police Department regardless of whether it reaches a deal with the D.C. government or becomes subject to a court order.

‘BRAZENLY UNLAWFUL’: DC OFFICIALS ESCALATE FIGHT WITH TRUMP OVER POLICE TAKEOVER

Reyes convened the emergency hearing after D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb sued to block Trump’s takeover of D.C.’s law enforcement operations. Schwalb argued the move was unconstitutional and violated the Home Rule Act, a federal law that gives D.C. residents the ability to self-govern.

The hearing was a small setback for the administration, as Reyes indicated that Cole must go through Mayor Muriel Bowser to give any further directives to the police force.

Schwalb on Friday framed the hearing as a win, telling reporters his “expectation is that the key issue with respect to control and command of [the MPD] has been resolved today, and that it is clear, as a matter of law, that it is under the chief of police appointed by the mayor.”

But the law also implies that Bowser must be heavily deferential to Cole, meaning he is likely to be able to continue carrying out the Trump administration’s policing priorities in D.C. regarding immigration and homelessness for a 30-day period.

DOJ attorney Yaakov Roth, arguing on behalf of the government, said the president has “a lot of discretion in determining what’s necessary and appropriate.”

Bowser and Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton, D-D.C., attended the hearing at the E. Barrett Prettyman Federal Courthouse. Outside the building, dozens gathered to protest the federal takeover, which has also included activating hundreds of National Guard soldiers in D.C. More protesters, including those from the “Free DC” movement, appeared inside the courtroom, underscoring the tension that has arisen over Trump’s orders.

“What we know is that D.C. residents are worried and concerned, and we have a surge of federal officers,” Bowser told reporters. “Chief [Pamela] Smith’s job during this week has been to make sure that if we have and while we have federal officers, that they are being used strategically.”

DEA HEAD SAYS PHONE CALLS ARE COMING FROM ‘ALL OVER THE COUNTRY’ FROM FED AGENTS WANTING TO HELP IN DC

At the outset of the hearing, Reyes observed that she will be the first judge to rule on a president’s authority to temporarily take control of the Metropolitan Police Department under the Home Rule Act since Congress passed the legislation in 1973, underscoring the significance of the case.

The judge made clear she did not plan to immediately rule on whether there was a crime emergency, as Trump stated in his executive order, but that some temporary resolution was still needed. 

“I want to get to a practical solution because time is short and there are people who need to know who they are taking direction from and what they are doing,” Reyes told both parties.

Reyes, who has become known for presiding over a fast-paced court that keeps litigators on their toes, struck a careful tone of moderation Friday.

“I don’t think the statute is as narrow as you think or as broad as Mr. Roth thinks,” she told attorney Mitchell Reich, who argued on behalf of the D.C. attorney general.

Schwalb’s lawsuit challenged Trump’s executive order that temporarily federalized D.C. under Section 740 of the Home Rule Act and Attorney General Pam Bondi’s more recent order Thursday that sought to install Cole as the emergency commissioner of the D.C. police force. Schwalb’s office argued the moves were unprecedented and could “wreak operational havoc” on the police department.

Schwalb urged the court to block both of the Trump administration’s orders, stating that the federal government’s temporary takeover of D.C. police under the Home Rule Act “does not authorize this brazen usurpation of the District’s authority over its own government.”

AG BONDI STRIPS POWER FROM DC POLICE CHIEF, RESCINDS SANCTUARY CITY PROTECTIONS IN CRIME CRACKDOWN OPERATION

“They infringe on the District’s right to self-governance and put the safety of DC residents and visitors at risk,” he said.

Critics have excoriated Trump’s executive order, arguing it is not reflective of any real emergency in the nation’s capital, which has seen a drop in violent crime (though by how much, exactly, remains a point of contention).

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Attorney Norm Eisen, the former White House ethics czar under President Barack Obama, told reporters Thursday that Trump’s order in D.C. is the latest in a “pattern of assaults on the rule of law” in his second term as president, which all involve declaring various forms of “emergency” as a means of sidestepping normal policymaking processes.

Trump “has declared a fake emergency” in D.C., Eisen said. “There is no ‘emergency’ upon which this action with MPD or the federal military is predicated.”

Jessica Sonkin contributed to this report.

Congressional Democrats remained skeptical that any progress toward an end to the war in Ukraine would be made ahead of the meeting between President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The high-stakes meeting in Anchorage, Alaska, comes as lawmakers have grown anxious to see an end to the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, and with many ready to slap a bone-breaking sanctions package on Moscow and its allies unless Putin relents.

But Democrats are not so sure that Trump will yield results in his closed-door meeting with Putin, the first between U.S. and Russian leaders since the invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

TRUMP TO HOLD HISTORIC SUMMIT WITH PUTIN IN ALASKA SEEKING AN END TO RUSSIA–UKRAINE WAR

“I fear this meeting could once again end with America ceding ground to an autocrat who has spent his career undermining democratic values,” Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., and the top Democrat on the Senate Intel Committee, said.

He warned that there could be no concessions without Ukraine’s involvement, Russia’s withdrawal from Ukrainian territory and “enforceable guarantees” for Ukraine’s security.

“Anything less would be an invitation for further aggression from Moscow and every autocrat watching to see if the United States still has the backbone to defend the principles that have kept Americans safe since the Second World War,” he said.  

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., accused Trump of previously “playing footsie” with Putin, but noted that it appeared that the president’s disposition toward his Russian counterpart had shifted.

He added that last year, House Democrats and Republicans worked together to pass another military aid package for Ukraine, and likened it to a “Churchill or Chamberlain moment.”

WHAT WE KNOW ABOUT TRUMP’S MEETING WITH VLADIMIR PUTIN IN ALASKA

“We are either going to appease the dictator or we’re going to aggressively oppose the dictator,” Jeffries said. “And as we saw with Chamberlain, appeasing the dictator never works.”

Trump himself sought to set expectations for the summit, telling Fox News Radio earlier this week that there would be a 25% chance that the meeting would end in failure.

And aboard Air Force One, Trump told reporters that he wanted to “see a ceasefire rapidly.”

“I don’t know if it’s going to be today, but I’m not going to be happy if it’s not today,” he said. “Everyone said it can’t be today, but I’m just saying I want the killing to stop.”

The Trump administration has threatened to slap secondary tariffs on India, a major buyer of Russian oil, if the meeting did not go well. That comes after Trump gave Putin a 50-day deadline to reach a ceasefire agreement, which the president recently shortened to “10 or 12” days.

PUTIN ALLY WARNS ‘TITANIC EFFORTS’ ARE UNDERWAY TO SINK TRUMP SUMMIT OVER UKRAINE WAR

Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Intelligence Committee, told reporters that “people have been willing to give the White House and the president the benefit of the doubt.”

“But if he doesn’t produce anything at this summit, after drawing red line after red line … there will be growing concern and a growing pressure to try and get something done,” the New Hampshire Democrat said.

One area where many lawmakers in the upper chamber agree is the necessity for a sanctions package against Russia. Currently, Sens. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., have a bill in the works that would slap up to 500% tariffs on countries buying energy products from Moscow.

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Blumenthal told MSNBC earlier this week if Trump stood firm and insisted on a ceasefire, Putin come to the table with European leaders and secure security guarantees “he has the makings of a potential agreement that could win him the Nobel Peace Prize.”

“But my fear is that he will be the mercurial Donald Trump who allowed the deadline for sanctions to pass last Friday without any imposition of new levies on Russia, and that he will fail to adhere to those principles adopted yesterday by the European countries in their meeting,” he said. 

As President Donald Trump greeted Russian President Vladimir Putin on the tarmac at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, a B-2 stealth bomber soared overhead, flanked by four F-35 jets. 

Putin looked up at the sky as the planes buzzed overhead while he walked alongside Trump, and then made a comment to the U.S. president. 

The display was as much a symbol as it was a show of force—a pointed reminder of America’s military reach at the very moment the two leaders prepared to discuss the future of global security.

The dramatic arrival underscored the high-stakes nature of the Alaska summit, the first face-to-face meeting between Trump and Putin since Trump’s return to the White House earlier this year. Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, situated just outside Anchorage, was chosen for its robust security, strategic location, and symbolic position—physically closer to Russia than Washington, D.C., yet firmly on American soil.

FROM ADMIRATION TO ALASKA: A TIMELINE OF TRUMP AND PUTIN’S HIGH-STAKES ENCOUNTERS

Onlookers in Anchorage and across social media quickly seized on the moment. Many called it an “insane flex,” noting the B-2 bomber’s recent combat history.

Only two months ago, the stealth aircraft played a central role in U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities, dropping bunker-buster bombs in a move that drew both praise and condemnation on the world stage.

The B-2 Spirit, built by Northrop Grumman, is one of the most advanced aircraft ever created—capable of penetrating dense air defenses and striking targets anywhere in the world without refueling. Its distinctive flying-wing design and radar-absorbent coating make it nearly invisible to enemy radar. 

ALASKA GOVERNOR HOPES FOR END TO UKRAINE WAR AS STATE PREPARES FOR HISTORIC TRUMP-PUTIN SUMMIT

With a range of over 6,000 nautical miles and the ability to carry both conventional and nuclear weapons, the B-2 serves as a critical component of America’s nuclear triad. Only 21 were ever built, and fewer than 20 remain in service, making any public appearance a rare and deliberate statement.

“Absolutely incredible,” wrote one X user. Another added, “Putin now knows what will be greeting him if he were to ever cross that line that should never be crossed.”

After the brief tarmac ceremony, Putin entered “The Beast” alongside Trump. The heavily armored presidential limousine rolled past a row of American fighter jets lined up in silent formation, their presence another visual reminder of the stakes surrounding the talks.

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The two leaders traveled to a secure meeting hall on the base, beginning discussions at about 3:30 p.m. Eastern Time. Trump has said he plans to “set the table” during the meeting for a future summit that includes Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. But still, he told Fox News’ Bret Baier he “won’t be happy” if Putin does not agree to a ceasefire in Ukraine. 

President Donald Trump said Friday he “won’t be happy” if he does not walk away from his meeting with President Vladimir Putin with a ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine. 

Trump told Fox News’ Bret Baier he doesn’t like to have “too many expectations,” but “I’d like to have a ceasefire.” 

“I wouldn’t be thrilled if I didn’t get it,” he said. “Everyone says, ‘You’re not going to get a ceasefire. You – it’ll take place on the second meeting,’ … but I’m not going to be happy with that.”

The president said he might cancel talks entirely if Friday’s summit does not go well. 

“I won’t be happy if I walk away without some form of a ceasefire. Now, I – I say this, and I said it from the beginning: This is really setting the table today. We’re going to have another meeting, if things work out, which will be very soon, or we’re not going to have any more meetings at all, maybe ever.”

ZELENSKYY, AHEAD OF TRUMP-PUTIN MEETING, SAYS THERE IS ‘NO SIGN’ RUSSIA WANTS TO END THE WAR

Trump spoke while flying on Air Force One toward Anchorage, Alaska, where he and his team met with the Russian delegation in the first face-to-face meeting with Putin of the new administration.

Trump said that he would not be negotiating peace on Ukraine’s behalf, but would rather “set the table” for negotiations between Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

“Well, look, it’s not for me to negotiate a deal for Ukraine, but I can certainly set the table to negotiate the deal,” he said. “Our next meeting will have President Zelenskyy and President Putin and probably me.”

PRESIDENT TRUMP CONFIDENT PUTIN WANTS PEACE WITH UKRAINE, THINKS HE’S ‘HAD ENOUGH’ OF WAR

Trump also added that he “may have to start liking” Hillary Clinton, after the former Democratic presidential candidate said she would nominate Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize if he negotiated a peace deal and did not “capitulate” to Russia. 

“That was very nice. I may have to start liking her again,” Trump said. 

Clinton, a former Secretary of State, said that there are several things Trump needs to get Putin to agree to if he were to deserve the Nobel Peace Prize. 

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“But maybe this is the opportunity to make it clear that there must be a ceasefire, there will be no exchange of territory, and that, over a period of time, Putin should be actually withdrawing from the territory he seized in order to demonstrate his good faith efforts, let us say, not to threaten European security,” she said.

Fox News’ Gabriel Hays contributed to this report.

Welcome to the Fox News Politics newsletter, with the latest updates on the Trump administration, Capitol Hill and more Fox News politics content. Here’s what’s happening…

–DC sues Trump administration over ‘unlawful’ federal takeover

-Newsom, California Dems move forward with redistricting effort to counter Trump-backed push in Texas

-Schumer claims Trump admin withholding Epstein files, threatens to sue

From Admiration to Alaska

President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin are set to meet in person on Friday for the first time in six years when they get together in Anchorage, Alaska. 

Here is a history of Trump’s high-stakes interactions with Putin while being President of the United States…Read more

White House

CRIME CONTROL CRISIS: Biden warned of DC crime crisis in 1992 as Dems blast Trump crackdown: ‘Don’t stop at a stoplight’

BATTLE FOR WASHINGTON: White House fires back as Trump’s use of D.C. police for crime crackdown is placed in the crosshairs by Dems

‘FAILED POLICIES’: Top Trump official vows to end ‘cycle of government dependency’ in homeless crackdown

DEAL ‘DREAMING’: Hillary Clinton says she’d nominate Trump for Nobel prize herself if he brokers peace between Russia, Ukraine

World Stage

MORE GAMES: NATO defense minister signals ‘absolute distrust’ that Putin wants any peace deal ahead of Trump summit

Capitol Hill

DIGITAL PREDATORS: Hawley opens probe into Meta after reports of AI romantic exchanges with minors

Across America

GOP RESPONDS: California Republicans accuse Newsom of ‘sinister redistricting scheme’ after Trump mockery

‘VICIOUS DOXXING’: DHS says Noem is temporarily staying in military housing after facing ‘vicious doxxing,’ death threats

COMING HOME: Zohran Mamdani closes out his anti-Trump tour in his home borough in Queens

WALKOUT OVER?: Abbott, Texas Republicans launch new Trump-backed redistricting push as fleeing Democrats plan to end walkout

ARMED AND READY: DC gun permit wait slashed from months to days as Trump’s crime crackdown continues

‘I SCREWED UP’: Former Washington Post fact-checker admits he ‘screwed up’ on COVID-19 lab leak theory

LABOR TAKES AIM: Union boss compares ICE to Al Pacino mobster as more Dems pile on immigration enforcement

Get the latest updates on the Trump administration and Congress, exclusive interviews and more on FoxNews.com.

The Department of Homeland Security took more rhetorical fire this week from the left over its “mass deportation operation” enforcement of immigration laws, and growing numbers of detainees in federal installations.

In Pennsylvania, lawmakers and advocates came together to back a new state bill that would ban law enforcement from obscuring their identity – as many ICE officers wear masks to protect themselves from being doxxed – where a union boss accused ICE of “disappearing innocent people.”

“I frankly have been horrified by the conduct of these federal agents as has been reported in the media,” said AFL-CIO Philadelphia Council President Danny Bauder.

Bauder, flanked by state Sen. Nikil Saval, D-Center City, and Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner, went on to accuse ICE of acting like a famous mob informant from an Al Pacino film.

ILLINOIS DEMOCRATS TELL FEDS TO STOP TRYING TO ‘USURP’ STATE AUTHORITY OVER IMMIGRATION

“I want to be very clear: kidnapping and disappearing innocent people is disgusting, it’s shameful, it’s un-American, and any claims to the contrary are absurd,” he said Thursday outside ICE’s office in Chinatown. 

“There is no good reason why a public servant would ever have to obscure or hide their identity while working in uniform. These ICE agents are not Donnie Brasco in some sort of deep cover situation to take down this enormous organized crime gang.”

“These are people who are engaged in violent, warrantless kidnapping and detention, and they need to be held accountable for their actions,” Bauder said.

Saval, sponsor of the “No Secret Police” bill in the Republican-controlled Senate, characterized ICE operations as “heavily-armed, masked, unidentifiable individuals roaming our public spaces … disappearing our neighbors … and violat[ing] basic vital rights.”

State Sen. Amanda Cappelletti, D-Norristown, added that ICE has “actively undermine[d] public trust in our law enforcement agencies” and encourages bad actors to impersonate police due to their anonymous nature, according to City & State PA.

THREE STATES SIGN NEW AGREEMENTS WITH ICE AMID EXPANDED IMMIGRATION ENFORCEMENT OPERATIONS

State Rep. Rick Krajewski, a democratic socialist representing West Philadelphia’s University City, introduced a companion bill in the Democratic-majority State House and told the outlet the effort is notably bolstered by a former cop: state Rep. Brian Munroe, D-Warminster.

“My job will be a lot easier if we don’t have a crime wave of people pretending to be ICE,” added Krasner.

Just down I-95, Maryland Democrats finally made it into the Baltimore ICE office they were rebuffed from a few weeks ago.

After their visit, the lawmakers blasted ICE for the process and the conditions inside the Charm City complex.

Rep. Kweisi Mfume, D-Md., told Baltimore press that ICE has a “great deal of inefficiency” in its operations.

“Shame on them,” Mfume – who represents much of the city – said. “The people of this nation deserve better no matter how you feel about immigration.”

Mfume warned against public complacency, appearing to allege that ICE could easily grab anyone off the street in the future.

“We recognize that today it’s somebody; or else tomorrow, it could in fact be one of us.”

In July, House Assistant Minority Leader Joe Neguse and Rep. Jason Crow, both D-Colo., sued the Trump administration over lawmakers being denied access to ICE facilities.

This week, they were able to take a sanctioned tour of an Aurora, Colo., facility along with Reps. Diana DeGette and Brittany Pettersen, both Democrats from Colorado. 

According to a release from Pettersen entitled, “House Democrats hammer ICE after Aurora facility visit,” the agency required the group to sign privacy releases to speak with detainees.

DeGette called that another way of “stopping” lawmakers from visiting, according to Pettersen.

Meanwhile, back east, a congresswoman arrested during a prior ICE facility visit said she would not stop fighting for her cause.

Rep. LaMonica McIver, D-N.J., told the New Jersey Monitor that she had been criminally charged for doing her job and that being told she could face 17 years in prison is “nothing to joke with.”

“I’m a mother, I’m a wife, I have a family,” said McIver, who was joined both at the press availability and the raucous Newark ICE detention center visit by Rep. Robert Menendez Jr., D-N.J. – whose formerly senatorial father is behind bars on corruption convictions.

“I think they have an insatiable appetite for this, and it’s not about violent criminals,” Menendez Jr. said of the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement.

Fox News Digital reached out to DHS for comment.

Several Democratic lawmakers are pushing a joint resolution that aims to put the kibosh on President Donald Trump’s move this week to leverage the services of the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department as he tries to crack down on crime in the nation’s capital.

The resolution reads, in part, “Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That pursuant to section 740(b) of the District of Columbia Home Rule Act … the emergency determined by the President on August 11, 2025, in the Executive Order titled ‘Declaring a crime emergency in the District of Columbia’ is hereby terminated.”

White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson sounded off in a statement emailed to Fox News Digital.

‘BRAZENLY UNLAWFUL’: DC OFFICIALS ESCALATE FIGHT WITH TRUMP OVER POLICE TAKEOVER

“President Trump is taking bold action to address the out-of-control crime that has been plaguing Washington D.C. for far too long. But instead of supporting what should be a bipartisan measure to Make DC Safe Again, Democrats are burying their heads in the sand, denying there is a problem, and carrying the torch for dangerous criminals that terrorize DC communities,” Jackson asserted.

“DC residents know the reality on the ground – crime was out of control and President Trump’s actions are making the city safer. The left’s refusal to support widely popular issues with the American public – like stopping violent crime – are why their approval ratings are at historic lows and will continue to tank,” she added. 

The House Democrats introducing the joint resolution include Reps. Jamie Raskin of Maryland, Robert Garcia of California, and Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton of the District of Columbia, while Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., will introduce it in the upper chamber, according to a House Judiciary Committee Democrats press release.

AG SHOWDOWN: DC ATTORNEY GENERAL REJECTS US ATTORNEY GENERAL PAM BONDI ORDER AS ‘UNLAWFUL’

“Trump has made clear that his efforts in D.C., where 700,000 taxpaying American citizens lack the protections of statehood, are part of a broader plan to militarize and federalize the streets of cities around America whose citizens voted against him. The legislation we are introducing today would stop this campaign by ending Trump’s hostile takeover of D.C.’s police force,” Raskin said, according to the press release.

“Under the D.C. Home Rule Act, Congress has given the president the power only to direct the Mayor to make the Metropolitan Police Department available for a specific federal purpose but has given him no power simply to take over the Department. In any event, there is no federal emergency justifying such a takeover even if Congress sought to use its lawmaking power to effectuate it,” he asserted.

Part of the joint resolution asserts that the president did not point out emergency conditions that compel utilization of the police for federal purposes in D.C.

In the executive order issued this week, the president declared, in part, “I determine that special conditions of an emergency nature exist that require the use of the Metropolitan Police Department of the District of Columbia (Metropolitan Police force) for Federal purposes … ” 

DC GUN PERMIT WAIT SLASHED FROM MONTHS TO DAYS AS TRUMP’S CRIME CRACKDOWN CONTINUES

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The order notes, “Effective immediately, the Mayor of the District of Columbia (Mayor) shall provide the services of the Metropolitan Police force for Federal purposes for the maximum period permitted under section 740 of the Home Rule Act.”

The Home Rule Act that the president cited in his order notes that the police services for federal purposes will terminate if Congress enacts a joint resolution to provide for that termination.

“Subject to the provisions of subsection (c) of this section, such services made available in accordance with subsection (a) of this section shall terminate upon the end of such emergency, the expiration of a period of thirty days following the date on which such services are first made available, or the enactment into law of a joint resolution by the Congress providing for such termination, whichever first occurs,” a portion of the pertinent provision in the Home Rule Act reads.

Fox News Digital’s Elizabeth Elkind contributed to this report

Democratic leaders in the Democrat-dominated California legislature are expected as early as Friday to unveil their new proposed congressional district maps that would create up to five more blue-leaning U.S. House seats in the nation’s most populous state.

The revealing of the maps is coming after two-term Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom teamed up in Los Angeles with congressional Democrats and legislative leaders in the heavily blue state to unveil their redistricting playbook.

Newsom and the Democrats are aiming to counter the ongoing effort by President Donald Trump and Republicans to create up to five GOP-friendly congressional districts in red state Texas at the expense of currently Democrat-controlled seats.

“Today is liberation day in the state of California,” Newsom said. “Donald Trump, you have poked the bear, and we will punch back.”

ABBOTT, TEXAS REPUBLICANS MAKE NEW PUSH FOR TRUMP-BACKED REDISTRICTING AS FLEEING DEMOCRATS TO END WALKOUT

Newsom vowed to “meet fire with fire” with his push for a rare—but not unheard of—mid-decade redistricting.

Newsom says Trump missed a deadline to stand down on his push to redistrict in Texas.

“DONALD ‘TACO’ TRUMP, AS MANY CALL HIM, ‘MISSED’ THE DEADLINE!!! CALIFORNIA WILL NOW DRAW NEW, MORE ‘BEAUTIFUL MAPS,’ THEY WILL BE HISTORIC AS THEY WILL END THE TRUMP PRESIDENCY (DEMS TAKE BACK THE HOUSE!),” Newsom wrote earlier this week in a social media post posted by his press office, which was meant to mock how Trump writes his own social media posts.

The Republican push in Texas, which comes at Trump’s urging, is part of a broader effort by the GOP across the country to pad their razor-thin House majority to keep control of the chamber in the 2026 midterms, when the party in power traditionally faces political headwinds and loses seats.

NEWSOM DEMANDS TRUMP GIVE UP TEXAS REDISTRICTING PUSH

Trump and his political team are aiming to prevent what happened during his first term in the White House, when Democrats stormed back to grab the House majority in the 2018 midterms. 

But while the Republican push in Texas to upend the current congressional maps doesn’t face constitutional constraints, Newsom’s path in California is much more complicated.

The governor is pushing to hold a special election this year, to obtain voter approval to undo the constitutional amendments that created the non-partisan redistricting commission. 

A two-thirds majority vote in the Democrat-dominated California legislature as early as next week would be needed to hold the referendum. Democratic Party leaders are confident they’ll have the votes to push the constitutional amendment and the new proposed congressional maps through the legislature.

“Here we are in open and plain sight before one vote is cast in the 2026 midterm election, and here [Trump] is once again trying to rig the system,” Newsom charged.

Newsom said his plan is “not complicated. We’re doing this in reaction to a President of the United States that called a sitting governor in the state of Texas and said, ‘Find me five seats.’ We’re doing it in reaction to that act.”

The National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) charged that “Newsom’s made it clear: he’ll shred California’s Constitution and trample over democracy – running a cynical, self-serving playbook where Californians are an afterthought, and power is the only priority.”

But Newsom defended his actions, saying “we’re working through a very transparent, temporary and public process. We’re putting the maps on the ballot and putting the power to the people.”

Thursday’s appearance by Newsom, who is considered a likely contender for the 2028 Democratic presidential nomination, also served as a fundraising kickoff to raise massive amounts of campaign cash needed to sell the redistricting push statewide in California. 

SCHWARZENEGGER’S NEW STARING ROLE: PUSHING BACK AGAINST NEWSOM’S REDISTRICTING DRIVE

The non-partisan redistricting commission, created over 15 years ago, remains popular with most Californians, according to public opinion polling.

That’s why Newsom and California Democratic lawmakers are promising not to scrap the commission entirely, but rather replace it temporarily by the legislature for the next three election cycles.

“We will affirm our commitment to the state independent redistricting after the 2030 census, but we are asking the voters for their consent to do midterm redistricting,” Newsom said.

But their efforts are opposed by a number of coalition of figures supportive of the non-partisan commission.

Among the most visible members is likely to be former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, the last Republican elected governor in Democrat-dominated California.

Schwarzenegger, during his tenure as governor, had a starring role in the passage of constitutional amendments in California in 2008 and 2010 that took the power to draw state legislative and congressional districts away from politicians and placed it in the hands of an independent commission.

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“Most people don’t really think about an independent commission much, one way or another. And that’s both an opportunity and a challenge for Newsom,” Jack Pitney, an American politics professor at California’s Claremont McKenna College, told Fox News.

But he added that “it’s going to take a lot of effort and money to energize Democrats and motivate them to show up at the polls” and that Newsom’s effort “is all about motivating people who don’t like Trump.”