U.S. President Donald Trump said Wednesday that there will be “very severe consequences” if Russian President Vladimir Putin does not agree to stop his war in Ukraine after their Friday summit in Alaska, though he did not say what those consequences might be.
Trump’s comment came after a virtual meeting with European leaders, including Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who told the group that Putin “is bluffing” about seeking peace. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said the leaders had a “constructive and good” discussion with Trump.
Here's the latest:
Federal agents will patrol the streets 24/7 in Washington, White House says
Officials said the number of National Guard troops will ramp up and federal officers will be out around the clock.
The changes starting Wednesday night come days after the president made the unprecedented announcement that his administration would take over the police department for at least a month.
Democratic Mayor Muriel Bowser is walking a political tightrope. She has called the takeover an “authoritarian push” but also framed the infusion of officers as a boost to public safety.
Hundreds of federal law enforcement and city police officers who patrolled Tuesday night made 43 arrests, compared with about two dozen the night before.
Councilmember Christina Henderson downplayed the arrest reports as “a bunch of traffic stops” and said the administration is seeking to disguise how unnecessary the intervention is.
“I’m looking at this list of arrests, and they sound like a normal Saturday night in any big city,” Henderson said.
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Administration steps up sanctions against Cuban program sending doctors to developing countries
Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced visa restrictions on an unspecified number of Cuban, Brazilian, Grenadan and other officials, including some in Africa and former employees of the Pan American Health Organization.
Rubio said they are being targeted “for their complicity in the Cuban regime’s medical mission scheme in which medical professionals are ‘rented’ by other countries at high prices and most of the revenue is kept by the Cuban authorities.”
None of the officials, except for two Brazilian health ministry employees, were named in the statements.
Rubio accused them of being “responsible for or involved in abetting the Cuban regime’s coercive labor export scheme, which exploits Cuban medical workers through forced labor.”
Rubio previously imposed similar sanctions on other officials after announcing the new policy to punish Cuba and countries that accept Cuban health care workers in February.
Trump administration’s lawsuit against all of Maryland’s federal judges meets skepticism in court
U.S. District Judge Thomas Cullen questioned why it was necessary for the administration to sue the state’s entire federal bench over an order pausing the immediate deportation of migrants challenging their removals.
Cullen did not issue a ruling following a hearing in Baltimore, but he expressed skepticism about the legal maneuver, which attorneys for the Maryland judges called completely unprecedented.
All of Maryland’s 15 federal judges are named as defendants in the suit, a highly unusual circumstance that reflects the administration’s aggressive response to courts that slow or stop its policies.
At issue in the lawsuit is a judicial order barring the administration from deporting any immigrants seeking review of their detention until 4 p.m. on the second business day after their habeas corpus petition is filed.
The Justice Department says that impedes Trump’s authority to enforce immigration laws.
Attorneys for the Maryland judges counter that the suit aims to limit the power of the judiciary.
Indiana Democrats warn they ‘may be next in line’ in redistricting fights
Rep. Cherrish Pryor, a Democrat from Indiana, warned Wednesday that the Texas redistricting fight would have impacts far beyond the Lone Star state, saying “while Texas is on the frontlines of this fight, Indiana may be next in line.”
President Donald Trump has been pressuring Republican-run states, including Indiana, to redraw Congressional boundaries and dispatched Vice President JD Vance to the state this month to call for a new federal caucus.
Rep. Ed DeLaney, from Indiana, decried Vance’s visit to Indiana, telling the Associated Press it was “insulting and embarrassing.”
“Never in my life did I think the vice president of the United States would come to my state and ask them to shoplift two districts,” he said.
DeLaney also said he has seen potential drafts of redistricting maps for Indiana “floating around” and said he sensed hesitancy about them from his Republican colleagues. There’s always the risk, he said, that redistricting would backfire for the party that calls for it.
“If they have any brains, they’d look at this and ask ‘How does this play out for me?’” He said. “Every one of them won the district they have, and they won them fairly easily.”
Texas Dems undecided on when to go home, celebrate national attention
Rep. Jon Rosenthal, a Democrat from Houston, told the Associated Press they have not yet decided how long the Texas Democrats in Chicago will hold out before returning to Texas, calling it a “complicated and emotional discussion.”
Rosenthal said going home after the current special session ends Friday “is definitely one of the options.”
At a Wednesday news conference at the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.. memorial on Chicago’s South Side, Rosenthal and other Democrats from Texas and Indiana defined success for the walkout as building awareness for the redistricting fight in Texas rather than blocking the redrawn maps.
“They may still pass these maps, but we’re going to do everything we can to awaken America,” said Rep. Gene Wu, a Democrat from Texas.
Man arrested hurling sandwich at a federal law-enforcement official
A man has been arrested on a charge that he hurled a sandwich at a federal law-enforcement official in the nation’s capital amid a surge in law-enforcement patrols ordered by the White House, according to a court filing Wednesday.
Sean Charles Dunn, 37, of Washington, D.C., approached a group of U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents late Sunday, pointed a finger in an agent’s face and swore at him, calling him a “fascist,” a police affidavit says. An observer’s video captured Dunn throwing a sub-style sandwich at the agent’s chest, the affidavit says.
“Why are you here? I don’t want you in my city!” Dunn shouted, according to police.
Dunn tried to run away but was arrested on a federal assault charge, police said.
Online court records don’t list an attorney for Dunn.
The incident coincided with President Donald Trump’s push to flood the city with National Guard troops and federal officers. Trump claims crime in the city has reached emergency levels, but city leaders point to statistics showing violent crime at a 30-year low.
Trump-Putin meeting at Alaska military base offers security — and more
President Donald Trump and Russian leader Vladimir Putin meeting at an American military base this week allows them to avoid any protests and provides an important level of security.
That’s according to Benjamin Jensen, senior fellow for defense and security at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington-based think tank.
“For President Trump, it’s a great way for him to show American military strength while also isolating the ability of the public or others to intervene with what he probably hopes is a productive dialogue,” Jensen said.
He said the location means Trump can cultivate ties with Putin while “signaling military power to try to gain that bargaining advantage to make a second meeting possible.”
Treasury Secretary Bessent calls for a ban on members of Congress trading individual stocks
“It is the credibility of the House and the Senate,” Bessent said during an interview. “It brings down trust in the system because, I can tell you, if any private citizen traded this way, the SEC would be knocking on their door.”
Bessent’s call makes him the latest federal official to call for some limits on congressional stock trading. Members of Congress have received mounting criticism in recent years for operating investment portfolios while serving in Congress.
Insider trading by members of Congress is already illegal under the STOCK Act of 2012, though concerns over enforcement and the perception of bias persist among the public.
Members of Congress have shown interest in imposing limits on their own stock trading. Senators on both sides of the aisle have introduced legislation that would limit federal officials and their families from managing the buying and selling of assets ranging from publicly traded stocks and bonds. Other lawmakers and government watchdogs have proposed bans on trading other financial assets, such as cryptocurrency and real estate.
Former President Joe Biden in December called for a ban on congressional stock trading.
US issues sanctions waiver to allow Russia to spend money in support of Putin-Trump meeting
The Treasury Department has issued a license that temporarily waives sanctions to allow Russia to spend money inside the United States to support Russian President Vladimir Putin’s summit with President Donald Trump later this week.
The license, which will expire on Aug. 20, five days after the summit, authorizes the Russian government to spend and American companies and others to accept summit-related payments that might otherwise be prohibited by U.S. sanctions.
Payments that “are ordinarily incident and necessary to the attendance at or support of meetings in the State of Alaska between the Government of the United States of America and the Government of the Russian Federation” are allowed by the license.
Wednesday’s Treasury notice did not specify what specific transactions would be allowed.
Trump pledged to move homeless people from Washington. What we know and don’t know about his plans
Trump says homeless people in the nation’s capital will be moved far from the city as part of his federal takeover of policing in the District of Columbia and crackdown on crime.
With his exact plans unclear, there is concern among advocates and others who say there are better ways to address the issue of homelessness than clearing encampments, as the Republican administration has pledged to do.
Washington’s status as a congressionally established federal district gives Trump the opportunity to push his tough-on-crime agenda, though he has not proposed solutions to the root causes of homelessness or crime.
▶ Read more about Washington’s homeless population
Texas Democrats rebuff Republican calls to stop their walkout by Friday
Texas Democrats will not return to the state capitol on Friday, the deadline given by Republican leaders to compel them back to Austin to pass new U.S. House maps that would give the GOP an advantage in the 2026 midterm elections.
Democratic members have been camped out in Illinois, Massachusetts and New York for more than a week to block the new congressional maps sought by President Donald Trump. House Speaker Dustin Burrows said if lawmakers are not present the next time they reconvene Friday, he will end the current session and the governor will immediately call another one.
“Texas House Democrats will issue our demands for a second special session on Friday. Abbott can choose to govern for Texas families, or he can keep serving Trump and face the consequences we’ve unleashed nationwide,” party leader Gene Wu said in a statement on Wednesday.
Expect more National Guard presence, federal patrols in Washington
The White House says the National Guard presence in Washington will ramp up Wednesday night and federal patrols will be around the clock rather than focused on the evening.
The steps come days after Trump’s unprecedented moves to take over the D.C. police department and send in National Guard troops to deal with crime. Statistics show it’s been on the decline after a sharp rise in 2023.
About 1,450 federal and local officers fanned out Tuesday night and made 43 arrests.
They included driving under the influence, unlawful entry and resisting arrests, as well as a warrant for assault with a deadly weapon, according to the White House. Seven illegal guns were also seized.
Trump tours Kennedy Center
After announcing the Kennedy Center Honors recipients, Trump went on a tour of the performing arts venue that sits along the Potomac River.
He’s walking around to discuss upcoming renovations, the White House said.
Trump says he was ‘about 98%’ involved in the selection of the new Kennedy Center honorees
“They all went through me,” he said of his five choices, including Sylvester Stallone, Gloria Gaynor and George Strait.
In previous years, presidents have received recommendations through a bipartisan advisory committee.
Trump referred only to conferring with such hand-picked Kennedy Center officials as Board Chair Ric Grennell and Vice Chair Sergio Gor. Still, he added, he turned down “plenty” of suggestions because they were “too woke. I had a couple of wokesters.”
Trump says there will be ‘severe consequences’ if Putin doesn’t agree to stop the war after summit
U.S. President Donald Trump said Wednesday there will be “very severe consequences” if Russian President Vladimir Putin doesn’t agree to stop the Ukraine war after Friday’s summit.
Trump was “very clear” in a virtual meeting Wednesday with European leaders that the U.S. wants to achieve a ceasefire at the upcoming U.S.-Russia summit in Alaska, French President Emmanuel Macron said.
In the same meeting, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said, he told the group that Putin “is bluffing” ahead of the planned meeting with Trump.
Putin, Zelenskyy said, “is trying to apply pressure ... on all sectors of the Ukrainian front” in an attempt to show that Russia is “capable of occupying all of Ukraine.”
▶ Read more about Russia-Ukraine War
Trump says his call with European leaders went well
The president said that his call with Ukraine’s president and European leaders was “very friendly” and rated it a 10 out of 10.
Trump is meeting with Putin in Alaska on Friday and says the one-on-one will happen before any discussions involving Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
European leaders organized a call on Wednesday so that Trump could speak with Zelenskyy. But Trump didn’t answer questions subsequently on whether he insisted the Putin meeting be done without Zelenskyy.
Trump also said there would be “very severe consequences” if Putin doesn’t agree to take steps to end Russia’s war in Ukraine.
Trump says his DC crackdown could be a model for actions in other cities
The president says his using federal crackdown on Washington can be extended beyond 30 days if he declares a state of emergency, which he said he’d do if he had to.
But he also called on Congress to act, saying, “We’re going to need a crime bill that we’re going to be putting in, and it’s going to pertain initially to D.C.”
He suggested that a crackdown on crime in the nation’s capital could be a model for similar actions around the country.
Asked about the possibility of the District of Columbia getting statehood, Trump called the concept “ridiculous.”
“We want to straighten the place out,” he said. Trump added that the city would benefits Democrats and added, “They want to pick up two senators, and that’s not going to happen. It’s not going to happen. And that’s the least of the reasons why, by the way.”
Trump is dismissive of report of Russian hacking of US court files
Asked about reports that Russian hackers breached the federal court filing system, the president said, “Hacking is what they do.”
Press on if he’d bring it up during his meeting on Friday with Putin in Alaska, Trump said, “I guess I could.”
Trump says his call with European leaders went well
The president said that his call with Ukraine’s president and European leaders was “very friendly” and rated it a 10 out of 10.
Trump is meeting with Putin in Alaska on Friday and says the one-on-one will happen before any discussions involving Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
European leaders organized a call on Wednesday so that Trump could speak with Zelenskyy. But Trump didn’t answer questions subsequently on whether he insisted the Putin meeting be done without Zelenskyy.
Trump also said there would be “very severe consequences” if Putin doesn’t agree to take steps to end Russia’s war in Ukraine.
The Associated Press
