Trump vows not to send U.S. troops to Ukraine for a peacekeeping mission

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said today that the U.S.-Mexico border wall will be painted black at Trump's request, reasoning that a dark wall in the heat will "to make it even harder for people to climb."

"Today, we are also going to be painting it black. That is specifically at the request of the president, who understands that in the hot temperatures down here, when something is painted black, it gets even warmer and it will make it even harder for people to climb," Noem said at a news conference at the border wall in New Mexico.

"So we are going to be painting the entire southern border wall black to make sure that we encourage individuals to not come into our country illegally," she added.

The sweeping domestic policy bill that Trump signed into law last month includes $46.5 billion for Customs and Border Patrol to continue building the border wall and related infrastructure that was started during his first term.

U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff said tonight that security guarantees will play a key role in any Ukraine peace deal.

“The president, Sean, has said that the Ukrainians actually can make a peace deal if they want to. Now we’re not suggesting that they — they have to take it. The president has also said it’s going to be for President Zelenskyy to make that judgment call,” Witkoff said on Fox News’ "Hannity."

“I think that judgment call is all going to be, it’s going to begin with security guarantees. They want to make sure that this can never happen again to them, and that’s exactly how they ought to be thinking,” he added.

Witkoff said that in the negotiations, the U.S. role is to bridge the divide between Ukraine and Russia enough for them to engage in negotiations. He went on to say that Trump's "got a real sense of what it’s going to take for Ukraine to meet in the middle and to move the Russians.”

In a joint town hall tonight, two Colorado Democrats said there's no "master plan" in the works to turn the trajectory of the party around.

Asked by a town hall attendee whether a “master plan” was underway or in development, Sen. Michael Bennet responded, “I think the answer is no. That’s what I believe,” adding that Democrats must run on more than just opposition to Trump.

“He’s not doing anything, basically, that he didn’t promise to do when he was running for office, which is part of the problem, when he built a majority coalition to get elected president, and we couldn’t stop it. Knowing what we know about it sitting in this room, and we have to ask ourselves why are we not able to build a governing coalition to beat them either time?” Bennet said.

Rep. Joe Neguse said the Democratic Party hasn’t offered Americans an “optimistic, hopeful vision for the future.”

Rep. Debbie Dingell, D-Mich., said at a town hall tonight in Northville, Michigan, that members of Congress face "very real" threats against their safety for opposing Trump.

“I don’t think people really understand what it’s like to be in the Trump tunnel of hate. Unfortunately, I’ve been there more than once. There’s something about me that triggers him,” Dingell said.

She was answering a question about what voters can do to ensure Republicans in Congress who are helping Trump carry out his plans aren't re-elected.

"It's different out there now," Dingell said. "I can handle screaming. I can handle people disagreeing. But there are people that want to see me die — that's real these days. It is very real that there are people that are threatening people, and people fear that."

A White House official confirmed to NBC News tonight that Trump plans to expand his review of museums beyond the Smithsonian.

The official said, “President Trump will explore all options and avenues to get the Woke out of the Smithsonian and hold them accountable. He will start with the Smithsonian and then go from there.”

Trump said on Truth Social this afternoon that he has ordered his attorneys to conduct a review of Smithsonian museums, characterizing their portrayal of U.S. history as too negative and too focused on “how bad Slavery was.”

Seven European leaders joined Zelenskyy in Washington yesterday in a rare display of trans-Atlantic unity. The gathering marked the first time in decades that such a broad delegation of allies had assembled at the White House under such pressing circumstances.

Shortly after noon, one by one, the heads of state and NATO partners passed the White House gates, where they were met by Trump’s chief of protocol and, in Zelenskyy’s case, by Trump himself.

Some met with Trump’s special envoy for Ukraine and other officials that morning. Others made their way to the White House directly from Dulles and other airports. They were there to bolster Zelenskyy after a disastrous White House visit in February, when he clashed with Trump and Vice President JD Vance — and after Trump held a nearly three-hour one-on-one with Russian President Vladimir Putin last week.

The show of support for Zelenskyy involved French President Emmanuel Macron, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Finnish President Alexander Stubb, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, who pivoted from their own national agendas to present a united front as Trump seeks an urgent end to Russia’s war in Ukraine.

Read the full story here.

In a radio interview this evening, Trump explained his thinking behind trying to set up a bilateral meeting with Putin and Zelenskyy.

"I thought it would be better if they met without me, just to see. I want to see what goes on. You know, they had a hard relationship, very bad, very bad relationship. And now we’ll see how they do and, if necessary, and it probably would be, but if necessary, I’ll go and I’ll probably be able to get it close," Trump said in a phone interview on “The Mark Levin Show."

"I just want to see what happens at the meeting. So they’re in the process of setting it up, and we’re going to see what happens," he added.

Trump said on social media yesterday after having met with Zelenskyy and other European leaders that he was arranging a meeting between Zelenskyy and Putin and that a trilateral meeting including the United States would follow. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said this afternoon that Putin told Trump he would meet with Zelenskyy.

An analysis by NBC Washington of Metropolitan Police Department data shows that while crime is down slightly across Washington since last week's federal takeover of the D.C. police and the deployment of the National Guard, there do not appear to have been major shifts in policing or in the number of people taken off the streets.

Of the 622 people arrested by D.C. police and federal agents from Aug. 11 — when Trump announced the federal takeover of MPD — to yesterday, about a third were charged with misdemeanors under D.C. law: simple assault, driving without a valid license and trespassing.

During the same week after the takeover, 25% of the people arrested were charged with felonies. That’s down 3% from the previous week — Aug. 3 to Aug. 10 — when 28% of those arrested were charged with felonies.

A review of publicly available crime data for D.C. shows that reports of crime appear to be down 10% when the two one-week periods are compared.

The White House joined TikTok today, with its first post featuring imagery of Trump at rallies and a UFC fight and shaking the hands of law enforcement officials and U.S. Steel workers.

In the short video, Trump says, "Every day I wake up determined to deliver a better life for the people all across this nation."

Trump nearly banned TikTok through a 2020 executive order, which ordered its closely held Chinese parent company to divest ownership of the app. Congress later passed a bipartisan law that banned the app, which President Joe Biden signed into law. But after Trump took office again, he has repeatedly allowed it to continue operations in the United States.

Trump spoke on the phone today with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, a White House official told NBC News.

Orbán, a close Trump ally, has been one of the few European leaders who have stood by Putin’s side during Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. 

A senior administration official said that the United States is looking to secure a meeting location and date for a Putin and Zelenskyy sit-down and that Budapest and Geneva are among the sites that have been discussed. Various countries have offered to host, the official added.

The number of countries available to offer a venue is limited since the International Criminal Court previously issued an arrest warrant for Putin that all of its member states are obliged to follow. Hungary, which voted to withdraw from the ICC this year, could host Putin without risk of his arrest. Other countries that aren't ICC members include Turkey and Qatar.

Democrats on the Senate Homeland Security Committee are renewing their demand for “the full and complete files” on Jeffrey Epstein from the Justice Department, according to a letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi shared exclusively with NBC News.

All seven Democrats on the committee signed the letter, citing a little-known law that requires the Justice Department to provide information relating to “any matter within the jurisdiction of the committee” should at least five members of the panel request it.

The Justice Department failed to meet the deadline last Friday set in the Democrats' initial request for Epstein-related material. Instead, that night, Bondi sent a letter to Democrats stating that “the Department is continuing to evaluate whether it may appropriately provide documents” and referred to the Justice Department's requests for several courts to unseal grand jury transcripts in the case.

In their newest letter to Bondi, Democrats argue that the court requests are “irrelevant” to their inquiry and set a new deadline of Sept. 2 to release the files.

House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer, R-Ky., announced that the Justice Department will begin providing Epstein-related documents to his committee Friday. Comer had initially requested that it provide all files by today.

Questions about the Epstein file controversy continue to arise at town halls around the country as lawmakers hear from constituents over the congressional recess.

Reporters this afternoon briefly toured the renovations around the Rose Garden, where they saw Trump briefly step out of the Oval Office, waving and pumping his fist as music blasted.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said that Trump was testing a sound system for an upcoming party and that he was able to control the music from the White House. She said the party "will be the best event in the history of the White House" but did not provide any details about it.

“A Whiter Shade of Pale” by Procol Harum could be heard from the speakers, and Leavitt reposted on social media a video post from White House deputy chief of staff Dan Scavino, which showed the White House patio with “God Bless the USA,” a Lee Greenwood song frequently played during Trump's campaign rallies, coming through the speakers.

The Rose Garden renovations are part of Trump's plans to make major changes to the White House. A project to renovate the East Wing with a 90,000-square-foot ballroom is set to begin next month and cost an estimated $200 million.

Finnish President Alexander Stubb has proved pivotal in the efforts to end the war between Russia and Ukraine, taking on new importance after he bonded with Trump over their mutual love of golf.

Minutes after he emerged from a four-hour meeting with Trump, Zelenskyy and several other European leaders at the White House yesterday, Stubb described the results to NBC News.

“What we have agreed on is to work on European and American security guarantees, essentially, which will be secure from the European perspective, coordinated with the Americans,” Stubb said. “It’s us who decide what kind of security guarantees we put up for Ukraine, not the Russians.”

Read the full story here.

A group of Texas Democrats are returning to the state House in Austin, where they will spend the night on the statehouse floor — the latest step in a broader protest over Republican plans to redraw congressional districts in the state.

The state House Democratic caucus said in a news release that eight of its members will return to the floor tonight, “publicly tearing up the permission slips required by Republicans for members to leave the chamber.”

The Democrats will join Rep. Nicole Collier, their colleague who has remained locked in the statehouse chamber since yesterday afternoon after she refused the condition of a security escort to leave the chamber.

After Democratic lawmakers fled the state for two weeks, denying the House a quorum to move forward with redistricting legislation, Republican leaders have demanded that Democrats agree to around-the-clock security escorts to ensure they’d return to the chamber tomorrow for the redistricting vote.

Read the full story here.

National Intelligence Director Tulsi Gabbard today announced the revocation of 37 security clearances, including those of some former intelligence officials who worked on an investigation ordered by the Obama administration of Russian influence during the 2016 presidential election.

Gabbard said on social media that people on the list “abused the public trust by politicizing and manipulating intelligence, leaking classified intelligence without authorization, and/or committing intentional egregious violations of tradecraft standards.”

“Those in the Intelligence Community who betray their oath to the Constitution and put their own interests ahead of the interests of the American people have broken the sacred trust they promised to uphold,” Gabbard wrote on X. “In doing so, they undermine our national security, the safety and security of the American people and the foundational principles of our democratic republic.”

Trump voiced outrage this afternoon on Truth Social about the types of exhibits shown in the Smithsonian and other museums across the country.

"The Museums throughout Washington, but all over the Country are, essentially, the last remaining segment of 'WOKE.' The Smithsonian is OUT OF CONTROL, where everything discussed is how horrible our Country is, how bad Slavery was, and how unaccomplished the downtrodden have been — Nothing about Success, nothing about Brightness, nothing about the Future," he said.

A man wanted for war crimes sitting across the table from the leader of the country he invaded?

That is the spectacle that Trump is pushing to arrange in the next few weeks, convinced he can break the deadlock between Putin and Zelenskyy with a summit that could help forge an end to the Kremlin’s war.

The plan, however, is tangled from the start.

Read the full story here.

The United States plans to deploy three warships near Venezuela as it ramps up its fight against drug cartels at sea, according to a source briefed on the matter. 

The ships are the USS Gravely, the USS Jason Dunham and the USS Sampson, the source said.

With illegal border crossings at record lows, the administration is increasing its efforts to stop drug trafficking at sea. A spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security said that as part of Operation Pacific Viper over the weekend, the Coast Guard Cutter Stone interdicted two vessels, seized about 3,500 kilograms of cocaine south of the Galapagos Islands and detained six Ecuadorian smugglers.

Trump has declared several Latin American drug cartels to be foreign terrorist organizations. 

Reuters first reported the warships. 

Ukrainians are expressing relief that their country has broad diplomatic support from Europe as Trump tries to mediate a peace deal with Russia. Despite frequent Russian attacks, many Ukrainians appear pleased that Zelenskyy successfully navigated a meeting with Trump without it backfiring again. NBC News’ Richard Engel reports for "TODAY."

First, Texas House Democrats refused to meet in their legislative chamber in an act of resistance. Now, one of them won’t leave.

State Rep. Nicole Collier of Fort Worth said in an interview today she would sleep on the House floor until Labor Day if she had to. Since yesterday, Collier has entered a new existence, eating, sleeping and working from the locked chamber after she refused to acquiesce to Republican demands that Democrats agree to around-the-clock security escorts in be released from the building.

Read the full story here.

The Justice Department is investigating whether Washington, D.C., police manipulated crime data to make the crime rates appear lower than they really are in the city, two senior law enforcement officials confirmed today.

The investigation is being run out of the U.S. attorney’s office in Washington, led by U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro.

Trump spoke of a probe on social media last night. The Washington Post first reported that the Justice Department is formally investigating the crime statistics.

NBC Washington reported last month that Metropolitan Police Cmdr. Michael Pulliam was suspended and put on leave in May after the department began investigating allegations he altered crime data.

Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., was met with boos and jeers at an outdoor ceremony for late local politician John Zurlo yesterday.

The booing began when she approached the podium and continued as she tried to speak — so much so that she turned the mic over to another speaker. After the event, which was in her congressional district, Stefanik told reporters that “it is a disgusting disgrace that this is what the far left does.”

Rep. Elise Stefanik repeatedly booed during Plattsburgh event

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Stefanik, who is House GOP leadership chair, has teased a possible run.

The latest salvo in Trump’s campaign against mail-in voting arrived yesterday, as he announced he wants to “lead a movement” against mail ballots and advocate instead for in-person and paper ballots, which he says are “faster, and leaves NO DOUBT, at the end of the evening, as to who WON, and who LOST, the Election.”

Trump has criticized mail-in ballots since their rapid rise in 2020, when after years of slower growth they exploded as a key innovation of the Covid election. But the logistics of counting mail-in votes helped keep the nation in suspense over who won for nearly four days after polls closed.

Read the full story here.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Vladimir Putin told Trump during their call yesterday that he would meet with Zelenskyy in the coming weeks.

She made the comment at the news briefing when asked what indications Trump received from Putin that he wants to have a bilateral meeting with Zelenskyy.

"Because he spoke to him directly yesterday, he spoke to that directly yesterday, and the president put that in a statement that he gave to all of you, the news media, knowing you'd be asking following that conversation in the effort of transparency," she said.

A reporter noted that the Kremlin seemed to indicate Putin didn't firmly agree to the meeting, and Leavitt said, "I can assure you that the United States government and the Trump administration is working with both Russia and Ukraine to make that bilateral happen as we speak."

While Trump has ruled out U.S. boots on the ground in Ukraine as part of a security agreement, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said there could be a U.S. presence in the air.

"That was something the president mentioned on his interview this morning," she said. "It is an option and a possibility. I won't certainly rule out anything as far as military options that the president has at his disposal. I'll let him do that."

During a "Fox & Friends" interview this morning, Trump kept open the possibility of being involved in Ukraine's security with a U.S. presence in the air.

"When it comes to security, they’re willing to put people on the ground," he said, referring to European allies. "We’re willing to help them with things, especially — probably, if you talk about by air, because there’s — nobody has the kind of stuff we have, really, they don’t have," he said.

The U.S. government aims to take an equity stake in Intel, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said Tuesday morning.

“We should get an equity stake for our money, so we’ll deliver the money which was already committed under the Biden administration,” Lutnick told CNBC. “We’ll get equity in return for it,” he added, and “get a good return for the American taxpayer.”

Read the full story here.

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Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., was repeatedly booed by a crowd of protesters at a ceremony held to rename a county government center in Plattsburgh.

The European Union's top diplomat, Kaja Kallas, said in a post to X that the E.U. hopes to have the latest Russia sanctions package ready by September.

She also noted that the E.U. would contribute to security guarantees for Ukraine "by the training of Ukrainian soldiers and strengthening Ukraine’s armed forces and defence industry."

Kallas said that the sanctions package and security guarantees will be at the top of the agenda for discussions next week with E.U. foreign ministers and defense ministers.

There was a muted response from Israel after Hamas said it had agreed to the latest proposal from Arab mediators for a ceasefire in Gaza and to free the remaining hostages.

Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty told NBC News today that the deal was based on a proposal by Trump’s Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, for a 60-day ceasefire, during which some of the remaining 50 hostages would be released and the sides would negotiate a lasting ceasefire and the return of the rest.

He added that the proposals would allow for “the flow of humanitarian and medical aid into Gaza as soon as possible to address the ongoing starvation there.”

Read the full story here.

On the streets of the major Ukrainian city of Kharkiv, there was little sense that the threat of Russian attacks had eased."I don’t feel safe," 23-year-old Maria Takhtamyrova told NBC News.

Maria Takhtamyrova.  NBC News

"All the meetings that are happening doesn’t make me feel like something is changing," said Takhtamyrova, a software engineer.

"It’s just words," and "bombs are still arriving," she said, referring to the attack on this northeastern city that killed at least seven people a day earlier.

As we track a potential trilateral meeting, Putin’s travel is limited.

In March 2023, the International Criminal Court issued a warrant for his arrest for war crimes tied to the forced relocation of Ukrainian children. As a result, the 125 countries that are party to the court under the Rome Statute are obligated to arrest the Russian president and transfer him to ICC detention at The Hague if he steps foot on their territory.

Countries that could host a meeting without violating their treaty obligation are those in gray on this map. Notably, the U.S. and Russia are not member states of the court, which is why Trump could host Putin in Alaska last week.

Other notable countries that aren’t members of the court include Turkey, which has hosted several Russia-Ukraine talks below the leader level, Belarus, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Israel, China, India, Thailand, Vietnam, Singapore and Indonesia. 

Hungary formally notified the United Nations secretary general of its intent to withdraw from the court in June, which will be finalized on June 2 of next year.

Iowa state Rep. Lindsay James, a Democrat, announced she is running for Congress, seeking to unseat GOP Rep. Ashley Hinson in the state's 2nd Congressional District.

James is also a chaplain, and she highlighted her faith in a video announcing her decision.

"You may know me as a state representative, but I'm also a chaplain, and I work every day to live my life by the parable of the good Samaritan," she said. "When people are struggling, and those in power are looking the other way, my faith tells me to step up and lend a hand."

Hinson won re-election last year with 54.1% of the vote.

James isn't the first Democratic faith leader to announce congressional candidacy in Iowa. State Sen. Sarah Trone Garriot is also a Democrat and a minister, and she is running for Iowa's 3rd Congressional District seat, where Republican Rep. Zach Nunn was narrowly elected last year.

After a weekslong standoff, Texas Democratic lawmakers who fled the state to slow a Republican plan to redraw voting maps have returned to the state’s Capitol. Republicans wasted no time passing the new congressional maps out of committee and barred the Democrats from leaving the chamber without a police escorts assigned to watch them around the clock. NBC’s Ryan Chandler reports for "TODAY."

Texas Democratic lawmakers return to cheers and consequences

02:04

The U.S. Postal Service announced it will issue a Forever stamp in honor of former President Jimmy Carter, who died last year.

The postal service unveiled the stamp's design yesterday, alongside representatives from the National Park Service and the group Friends of Jimmy Carter.

"The stamp program celebrates the best in American culture, places and people, and it is difficult to consider a more fitting honoree than former President Jimmy Carter," Peter Pastre, a Postal Service vice president, said in a statement.

USPS

The stamp will be released on Oct. 1, Carter’s 101st birthday, the Postal Service said.

Carter died last December at 100 years old. He was elected to the Oval Office in 1976 and lost re-election in 1980.

The former president was remembered as a humanitarian, who after his presidency helped build homes with the nonprofit Habitat for Humanity and pushed for peace around the world. In 1982, Carter and his wife established the Carter Center, which promotes human rights.

Switzerland has indicated it would be willing to host a potential summit between Putin and Zelenskyy despite the fact that the Russian leader is subject to an arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court.

Geneva has been floated as a possible site for any bilateral talks by European leaders.

Asked by a reporter whether Putin could travel to Switzerland without being arrested, Swiss Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis said it was possible as long as he was coming for the purposes of peace.

“The goal of receiving Mr. Putin in Switzerland without him being arrested is one hundred percent achievable, and we can establish that in a few days," Cassis told Swiss television SRF. "This has to do with our diplomatic role," he said.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer co-led a virtual meeting with more than 30 world leaders to provide an update on the D.C. meetings on Ukraine, according to a Downing Street spokesperson.

Starmer said that the so-called coalition of the willing, referring to allies of Ukraine, will meet soon with U.S. counterparts "to further strengthen plans to deliver robust security guarantees and prepare for the deployment of a reassurance force if the hostilities ended," the spokesperson said.

"The leaders also discussed how further pressure — including through sanctions — could be placed on Putin until he showed he was ready to take serious action to end his illegal invasion," the spokesperson added.

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., slammed the State Department's recent move to end medical-humanitarian visas for Gazans, pointing to the impact on children.

"I’m not saying bring in refugees or use tax payer dollars, not at all, but when did America’s heart grow so cold to refuse innocent children privately funded surgeries and then they return home after they recover?" Greene said in a post to X.

"Wouldn’t we allow Israeli children if they were the ones needing surgery?" she continued. "Or war torn children from any other country?"

The State Department announced Saturday that it would stop "all visitor visas" while the department conducts "a full and thorough review of the process and procedures" for issuing them, NBC News has previously reported

Finnish President Alexander Stubb said in an interview with NBC News that Geneva could be a possible location for a bilateral meeting between Putin and Zelenskyy, if it comes to fruition.

"I think that would be neutral territory for it," Stubb said.

Stubb, however, made clear "it’s up to the Russian president and the Ukrainian president to decide where they want to meet."

Finland president: Ukraine ceding land to Russia would be like U.S. giving up multiple states

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A White House official said 52 people were arrested last night in Washington, D.C., including a member of the MS-13 gang who had convictions for driving while intoxicated and drug possession.

Nine illegal firearms were taken, and four homeless encampments were removed, the official said.

Since the Trump administration stepped up the federal law enforcement presence and took over the police force in D.C., there have been a total of 450 arrests, the official said.

Since he took office in 2019, Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., has sought to place himself on the front lines of orienting the Republican Party around a mix of economic populism and social conservatism to appeal to an increasingly working-class base.

But now, with Republicans in full control of Congress for the first time since he arrived in Washington, Hawley’s mission is coming into conflict with members of his party, who are frustrated with his tendency to follow the beat of his own drum as he grows more critical of some of their policy aims.

Read the full story here.

The administration of President Donald Trump has revoked more than 6,000 student visas for overstays and breaking the law, including a small minority for “support for terrorism,” a State Department official said yesterday.

The move, first reported by Fox Digital, comes as the Trump administration has adopted a particularly hard-line approach toward student visas as part of its immigration crackdown, tightening social media vetting and expanding screening.

Directives from the State Department this year have ordered U.S. diplomats abroad to be vigilant against any applicants whom Washington may see as hostile to the United States and with a history of political activism.

Read the full story here.

Washington, D.C., resident Tyler DeSue woke up tired and craving breakfast Saturday morning, so he did what many people in that situation would do: He used Uber Eats to put in an order for burritos.

When his driver took longer than usual, DeSue checked the app and noticed something seemed wrong — the delivery driver’s GPS location had stopped short of his address. He went outside to look for him.

“I stepped into the street, I looked down and see lights in the direction, like police lights, in the direction of where my driver was,” DeSue said in an interview. “It was my driver by himself and, like, nine different officers all wearing different uniforms. ... Most of them had face coverings on.”

Read the full story here.

The credit rating of the United States government was affirmed overnight at 'AA+' by S&P, which said "it appears that meaningful tariff revenue has the potential to offset the deficit-raising aspects of the recent budget legislation.”

The legislation it was referring to was the Trump-backed "Big, Beautiful Bill," a sweeping Republican domestic policy package that included an extension of expiring tax cuts and other tax deductions as well as new spending for Trump's immigration policies.

On CNBC this morning, Treasury Secretary Bessent touted the credit rating news and said that the Trump administration plans to use tariff revenue to help pay down the nation's debt.

What a difference a suit makes.

After his February fiasco in the Oval Office, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s “fabulous” fashion decision — as well as the golf club, personal letter and supportive European leaders he brought with him — appear to have helped shift the mood of his high-level White House talks on peace with Russia.

That optimism was thanks at least in part to the tone set by the Ukrainian leader’s arrival in a blazer-style jacket and collared shirt, a departure from his trademark military garb.

A fixation on attire might seem trivial given the stakes as the world leaders gathered to discuss ending the brutal conflict, but style mattered here.

Read the full story here

Trump pledged that the U.S. would not send troops to Ukraine as part of efforts to bring the conflict to an end.

“You have my assurance,” Trump said in response to a question from Fox News about putting U.S. boots on the ground. “You know, I’m president, and I’m just trying to stop people from being killed.”

As talks over possible guarantees for Kyiv continue, Trump suggested Ukraine’s European allies, including France, Germany, and the United Kingdom, would “front-load” its security, with offers of committing troops. 

"We’re willing to help them with things, especially — probably, if you talk about by air," Trump added.

A meeting between Putin and Zelenskyy would be "pointless" for the Russian leader and will not happen "under the current circumstances," according to one analyst.

Tatiana Stanovaya, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center, a Berlin-based think tank, said in a post on X that Putin will only meet Zelenskyy "if there were well-prepared grounds, which in practice means Zelenskyy's acceptance of Russia's terms for ending the war."

Trump "may be eager to hand responsibility back to the Russian and Ukrainian leaders," she added, but for Putin, "such a meeting would appear to be a pointless ambush."

"Another disappointment for Trump is therefore inevitable," she said.

Trump said he plans to set up a direct meeting between Russia’s Vladimir Putin and Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskyy

Zelenskyy's team came away from yesterday's talks relieved that worst case scenarios were avoided, a source familiar with the Ukrainian government’s thinking told NBC News.

The source added that the Ukrainian team was pleased that Trump now appears to recognize the crucial importance of security guarantees for Kyiv to come to any peace agreement — and the need for the U.S. to play a role in those arrangements.

Russia may never agree to such a concept, and Trump may yet change his mind. But for the moment, they were satisfied with the day’s conversations, the source said.

Trump spoke positively about his relationship with Putin, specifically pointing to their interactions on Friday when they met in Alaska.

"I maintained a very good relationship. I mean, you saw that when he got off his plane. I got off my plane. There's a warmth there," he told the hosts of “Fox & Friends.”

"It's a good thing, not a bad thing," he continued. "People would say, 'Oh, that's such a terrible thing.' Not a terrible thing. You know what? We've got the most nuclear weapons in the world, and the most powerful — he's got second."

Asked about potential land swaps in a future agreement between Russia and Ukraine, Trump suggested Ukraine may need to concede territory to achieve peace.

“Look, everybody can play cute and this and that, but, you know, Ukraine is going to get their life back, they’re going to stop having people killed all over the place, and they’re going to get a lot of land, but this was a war,” Trump said.

"You know, a big chunk of territory is taken, and that territory has been taken," Trump said. "Now they're talking about Donbas. Donbas right now, as you know, is 79% owned and controlled by Russia. So they understand what that means.”

Trump reiterated in an interview on "Fox & Friends" that Ukraine should not join NATO — a key Russian demand.

"'We don't want them on our border,'" Trump said, referring to Russia's attitude toward NATO. "And they were right. They were OK."

Trump argued that Ukraine "shouldn't have asked" for NATO membership.

"They said, put us into NATO. And everybody knew you can’t, you just can’t do that. They would never have agreed to it — this is before Putin," he said.

"It was just a no-no. It was something that was never going to happen," Trump added. "So they asked for it, and they shouldn’t have asked for it, because it was, you know, very insulting."

Trump said in his interview on "Fox and Friends" that it's possible Putin doesn't want to negotiate an agreement to end Russia's war in Ukraine, which he started three years ago.

"I think Putin is tired of it," Trump said. "I think they're all tired of it. But you never know. We're going to find out about President Putin in the next couple of weeks, that I can tell you, and we're going to see where it all goes. It's possible that he doesn't want to make a deal."

Trump reaffirmed his administration's efforts to arrange a meeting between Presidents Zelenskyy and Putin, sounding cautiously optimistic. “I hope President Putin is going to be good," Trump said in an interview on “Fox & Friends." "If he’s not, it’s going to be a rough situation.”

And Zelensky “has to show some flexibility also,” the president added. "We’re 7,000 miles away, you know, in all fairness."

Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry, a Republican, announced yesterday that he had approved the deployment of 135 National Guard troops to D.C.

"We cannot allow our cities to be overcome by violence and lawlessness," Landry said in a post to X. "I am proud to support this mission to return safety and sanity to Washington DC and cities all across our country, including right here in Louisiana."

A spokesperson for Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee also agreed to send National Guard troops to D.C., The Associated Press reported.

Previous GOP governors who said they were providing troops include Ohio, South Carolina and West Virginia.

Graham Platner, a 40-year-old Army and Marine veteran who served four combat tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, launched his campaign for the Senate in Maine on Tuesday, joining a growing Democratic primary field seeking to take on Republican Sen. Susan Collins.

Platner, an oyster farmer who was born and raised in Sullivan, Maine, will run on a platform of universal health care, housing affordability and ending U.S. involvement in foreign wars.

Read the full story here.

Rep. Harriet Hageman, R-Wy., faced fiery criticism yesterday at her town hall when asked about mail-in ballots, Jeffrey Epstein and other issues.

Hageman countered a constituent who referred to mail-in ballots as “foundational tools,” saying, “Mail-in ballots are not foundational tools.”

The question, and her answer, follow Trump's comments yesterday that he plans to try to do away with the use of mail-in ballots, which he falsely claimed was rife with fraud.

Hageman was met with boos before adding, “You are fully capable of exercising your right to vote without a mail-in ballot.”

She expressed doubt that Trump would be successful in his bid to dramatically alter the election landscape. She noted that elections are run by the states, adding, “I don’t know that President Trump is going to succeed at that.”

Zelenskyy said in a post to X this morning that yesterday's talks represented "truly a significant step toward ending the war and ensuring the security of Ukraine and our people."

"We are already working on the concrete content of the security guarantees," he added.

The Ukrainian leader thanked supporters and emphasized that "we will do everything to make the path to peace a reality."

Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov said that the Kremlin does not reject any bilateral or trilateral meetings related to Ukraine, Russian state media reported today. 

Lavrov also criticized European leaders, who have been pushing for a ceasefire ahead of a peace agreement, appearing to try to highlight divisions between the U.S. and Europe.

“You could outright see that the U.S. leader and his team, first of all, truly want to reach a result that will be long-term, sustainable and secure, unlike the Europeans who at the time would repeat at every turn ‘only ceasefire’ and after that they would continue to arm Ukraine,” Lavrov told state media. 

Putin has long been against a ceasefire. Trump previously promoted a halt in the fighting, but after meeting with Putin, he shifted his stance and began pushing for a peace agreement without a ceasefire in the interim.

Zelenskyy and European allies have consistently advocated for a ceasefire in order to immediately stop Russian attacks in Ukraine. Not doing so could allow Putin to stall talks while working to improve Russia’s war positions, according to analysts. 

In the wake of a high-stakes summit with European leaders at the White House and his subsequent 40-minute phone call with Putin, Trump said that arrangements are underway for a historic meeting between the Russian president and Zelenskyy. At one point while hosting the European leaders, Trump was caught on a hot microphone while talking to French President Macron about Putin, saying, “I think he wants to make a deal for me, you understand that? As crazy as it sounds.” NBC’s Gabe Gutierrez reports for TODAY.

Trump on Hot Mic: I Think Putin Wants to Make a Deal for Me

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The Democratic National Committee is looking to refresh the technology it uses to help organize voters and volunteers with the aim of winning future elections.

It’s the first time the DNC has overhauled its technology infrastructure in nearly 20 years, a DNC spokesperson said.

Read the full story here.

There must be a push for peace to end the war between Russia and Ukraine, but French President Emmanuel Macron is skeptical that Russian President Vladimir Putin is ready to resolve the conflict.

“When I look at the situation and the facts, I don’t see President Putin very willing to get peace now,” Macron told NBC News’ “Meet the Press” moderator Kristen Welker in an exclusive interview Monday after a high-stakes White House meeting. “But perhaps I’m too pessimistic.”

Read the full story here.