Russia launched a sweeping attack on Ukraine which killed one person, injured at least 24 others, and damaged infrastructure and residential buildings, authorities said on Saturday.
Three children were among the 24 wounded in the southeastern city of Zaporizhzhia, its Regional Governor Ivan Fedorov said.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky reported impacts on 14 regions by the attack, which used over 500 drones and 45 missiles.
Diplomatic efforts to end Russia&#8217;s full-scale invasion have so far yielded little, even after U.S. President Donald Trump met separately with Russian and Ukrainian leaders earlier this month.
On Friday, Zelensky brought up Trump&#8217;s self-imposed deadline for deciding on new measures against Russia if President Vladimir Putin fails to commit to a one-on-one meeting with the Ukrainian leader.
&#8220;Two weeks will be on Monday. And we will remind everybody,&#8221; he said.
Russia has said there is no agenda for a potential summit between Putin and Zelensky.
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&#8220;It is absolutely clear that Moscow used the time meant for preparing a leaders-level meeting to organize new massive attacks,&#8221; Zelensky said on Saturday, calling for sanctions on Russian banking and energy sectors.
The air force recorded five missile and 24 drone hits at 7 locations with debris falling on 21 sites, according to the statement on the Telegram messaging app.
The attack on Zaporizhzhia cut power to 25,000 residents, Fedorov said. The local energy facility said the attack damaged its equipment and that repairs were underway.
As of early Saturday, Ukrainian state-owned railway Ukrzaliznytsia said it had repaired the damage to its infrastructure in the Kyiv region.
(Reporting by Anastasiia MalenkoEditing by Bernadette Baum)

Ukraine

Russia Hits Ukrainian City With Massive Drone And Missile Attack

Donald Trump

Global Politics

Ukraine-Russia War

Vladimir Putin

Volodymyr Zelensky

World

U.S. President Donald Trump said on Tuesday he is prepared to impose economic sanctions against Russia if its president, Vladimir Putin, fails to agree to a ceasefire in the war in Ukraine.
&#8220;It&#8217;s very, very serious what I have in mind, if I have to do it, but I want to see it end,&#8221; Trump told a reporter who asked if Putin would face consequences. &#8220;We have economic sanctions. I&#8217;m talking about economic because we&#8217;re not going to get into a world war.&#8221;
The president has withheld long-threatened sanctions against Putin in his latest push to end the more than three-year-long war that has so far defied his efforts at mediation.
Trump is seeking one-on-one talks between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Putin. Though Zelensky has agreed in principle to such talks, Putin has not. The Kremlin has suggested no such meeting is currently on the cards.
&#8220;It will not be a world war, but it will be an economic war,&#8221; Trump said at a White House Cabinet meeting. &#8220;An economic war is going to be bad, and it&#8217;s going to be bad for Russia, and I don&#8217;t want that.&#8221;
He added: &#8220;Zelensky is not exactly innocent, either.&#8221;
Despite slow diplomatic progress, U.S. and European officials have been discussing potential security guarantees that Washington might provide Kyiv after a hypothetical deal is reached, potentially including support by air or intelligence sharing.
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Trump has long suggested using economic tools as leverage against warring nations. He is preparing to slap 25% more in tariffs on India&#8217;s U.S.-bound exports on Wednesday over New Delhi&#8217;s Russian oil buying.
India is one of the biggest consumers of Russian oil.
Trump suggested on Tuesday that he was open to &#8220;using a very strong tariff system that&#8217;s very costly to Russia or Ukraine&#8221; to make peace.
(Reporting by Trevor Hunnicutt; Additional reporting by Nandita Bose; Editing by Don Durfee and Nia Williams).

U.S. President Trump And Russian  President Putin Meet On War In Ukraine At U.S. Air Base In Alaska

Trump Still Weighing ‘Very Serious’ Economic Sanctions On Russia

Russia

Sanctions

U.S. President Donald Trump renewed a threat to impose sanctions on Russia on Friday if there is no progress toward a peaceful settlement in Ukraine in two weeks, showing frustration at Moscow a week after his meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska.
&#8220;I&#8217;m going to make a decision as to what we do and it&#8217;s going to be, it&#8217;s going to be a very important decision, and that&#8217;s whether or not it&#8217;s massive sanctions or massive tariffs or both, or we do nothing and say it&#8217;s your fight,&#8221; Trump said.
He was unhappy about Russia&#8217;s deadly strike on a factory in Ukraine this week, he said.
&#8220;I&#8217;m not happy about it, and I&#8217;m not happy about anything having to do with that war,&#8221; Trump told reporters at the White House.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, meanwhile, said on Friday that Russia was doing everything it could to prevent a meeting between him and Putin, while Russia&#8217;s foreign minister said the agenda for such a meeting was not ready.
Zelensky has repeatedly called for Putin to meet him, saying it is the only way to negotiate an end to the war.
Trump had said he had begun the arrangements for a Putin-Zelensky meeting after a call with the Russian leader on Monday that followed their Alaska meeting on August 15.
Zelensky accused Russia of stalling.
&#8220;The meeting is one of the components of how to end the war,&#8221; he said on Friday at a press conference in Kyiv with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte. &#8220;And since they don&#8217;t want to end it, they will look for space to (avoid it).&#8221;
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told NBC there was no agenda for such a summit.
&#8220;Putin is ready to meet with Zelensky when the agenda would be ready for a summit. And this agenda is not ready at all,&#8221; he said.
The statement echoed Moscow&#8217;s established rhetoric about a leaders&#8217; meeting being impossible unless certain conditions were met.
Asked for his response to Lavrov&#8217;s comments and what the next steps are, Trump told reporters earlier on Friday: &#8220;Well, we&#8217;ll see. We&#8217;re going to see if Putin and Zelensky will be working together. It&#8217;s like oil and vinegar a little bit.&#8221;
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Trump had taken sanctions off the table in preparation for his summit in Anchorage with Putin. But at the same White House event where he mentioned possible sanctions, he showed a photograph of his meeting with Putin on the red carpet in Alaska, saying Putin wanted to attend the World Cup 2026 soccer tournament in the United States.
&#8220;I&#8217;m going to sign this for him. But I was sent one, and I thought you would like to see it, it&#8217;s a man named Vladimir Putin, who I believe will be coming, depending on what happens. He may be coming, and he may not, depending on what happens,&#8221; Trump said.
Trump&#8217;s comments did not address the fact that Russia was banned from international competitions such as the World Cup after the 2022 invasion of Ukraine and has not taken part in qualification for the 2026 tournament, which will be hosted by the U.S., Canada and Mexico.
During a visit to a nuclear research center on Friday, Putin said Trump&#8217;s leadership qualities would help restore U.S.-Russia relations.
&#8220;With the arrival of President Trump, I think that a light at the end of the tunnel has finally loomed. And now we had a very good, meaningful and frank meeting in Alaska,&#8221; Putin said.
Thousands of Ukrainian civilians have been killed in the full-scale invasion of Ukraine that Russia launched in 2022. Analysts estimate that more than a million soldiers on both sides have been killed or wounded and fighting is continuing unabated, with both sides also attacking energy facilities.
Russia has maintained its longstanding demand for Ukraine to give up land it still holds in two eastern regions while proposing to freeze the front line in two more southerly regions Moscow claims fully as its own and possibly hand back small pieces of other Ukrainian territory it controls.
Zelensky meanwhile has dropped his demand for a lengthy ceasefire as a prerequisite for a leaders&#8217; meeting, although he has previously said Ukraine cannot negotiate under the barrel of a gun.
At the press conference with Rutte, Zelensky said they had discussed security guarantees for Ukraine. He said the guarantees ought to be similar to NATO&#8217;s Article 5, which considers an attack on one member of the alliance as an attack against all.
Rutte said NATO allies and Ukraine are working together to ensure security guarantees are strong enough that Russia will never try to attack again.
&#8220;Robust security guarantees will be essential, and this is what we are now working on to define,&#8221; he said.
(Reporting by Yuliia Dysa, Sabine Siebold, Steve Holland, Andrea Shalal and Jonathan Spicer; Writing by Max Hunder and Patricia Zengerle; Editing by Philippa Fletcher, Rosalba O&#8217;Brien and Daniel Wallis)

With No Ukraine Peace Deal, Trump Again Threatens Russia Sanctions

President Donald Trump said on Thursday that Ukraine should have been allowed to conduct more offensive strikes against Russia early on in the war, arguing that former President Joe Biden didn&#8217;t let the country &#8220;FIGHT BACK.&#8221;
Trump <a href="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/115067017601499775">posted</a> on Truth Social that a nation must fight both offensively and defensively to have any &#8220;chance of winning.&#8221; The president&#8217;s comments come as he continues to push Russia and Ukraine toward a peace deal, while Russian President Vladimir Putin doubles down on his drone and missile attacks targeting Ukrainian cities.
&#8220;It is very hard, if not impossible, to win a war without attacking an invaders [sic] country. It’s like a great team in sports that has a fantastic defense, but is not allowed to play offense. There is no chance of winning!&#8221; Trump wrote. &#8220;It is like that with Ukraine and Russia. Crooked and grossly incompetent Joe Biden would not let Ukraine FIGHT BACK, only DEFEND. How did that work out? Regardless, this is a war that would have NEVER happened if I were President &#8211; ZERO CHANCE. Interesting times ahead!!!&#8221;
When the United States first began sending weapons to Ukraine at the beginning of the war, the Biden administration held back on giving Kyiv any long-range missiles that could strike Russia within its borders. Last November, however, Biden <a href="https://www.wsj.com/world/europe/biden-approves-ukraines-use-of-long-range-missiles-inside-russia-003154be?mod=article_inline">approved</a> of Ukraine firing long-range U.S.-made missiles inside Russia.
When Biden authorized Ukraine&#8217;s use of long-range missiles to target Russia, then-president-elect Trump called the move &#8220;stupid,&#8221; according to The Wall Street Journal.
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“I disagree very vehemently with sending missiles hundreds of miles into Russia. Why are we doing that? We’re just escalating this war and making it worse,” he said.
The president&#8217;s comments on Thursday could be a negotiating tactic to keep pressure on Putin as the Russian dictator is expected to meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in the coming weeks. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said that “the president is making an observation, which happens to be true,&#8221; according to the WSJ.
On Wednesday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov <a href="https://www.wsj.com/world/europe/moscow-draws-hard-line-over-security-guarantees-for-ukraine-4b1e8428?gaa_at=eafs&amp;gaa_n=ASWzDAj0voDE1VVEYWsO0kxr-PPysLoc2J7XGdZ6ZXqHWakNyRjtJ7-A3rSiKVcoxgU%3D&amp;gaa_ts=68a77756&amp;gaa_sig=Z5E9i-Wzt5X0yX8iKE96lJUVBMuzpyNWHaiTGIxTqD87Z3fWXkx4z6pjzOyKIY3TNmJ8G_ye6MRwdtjRb6kHOg%3D%3D">raised</a> some doubts over whether a Putin-Zelensky summit would happen. The Kremlin also said that it would have veto power over any security guarantees for Ukraine after Trump and other European leaders vowed on Monday to provide security for Kyiv if a peace deal is reached. Lavrov added that China should be involved in the discussions on security guarantees.
Trump envoy Steve Witkoff <a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-witkoff-ukraine-russia-putin-war-048aa829a69b4020ca368577bfe18aee">said</a> that during Trump&#8217;s summit with Putin last week, the Russian dictator agreed to U.S. and European security guarantees for Ukraine, adding that it “was the first time we had ever heard the Russians agree to that.&#8221;

‘Biden Would Not Let Ukraine FIGHT BACK’: Trump Says Kyiv Should’ve Launched More Attacks On Russia

KYIV (Reuters) -Russia targeted a U.S.-founded electronics manufacturer near Ukraine&#8217;s border with the European Union in a major air attack on Thursday as President Volodymyr Zelenskiy sought U.S. support to bring Russian leader Vladimir Putin to the negotiating table.
The overnight attack, which included 574 drones and 40 missiles, was one of the largest of Russia&#8217;s full-scale invasion of its neighbour, now in its fourth year.
One person was killed and 22 were wounded, most of them in the attack that damaged storage facilities at the electronics manufacturer in Ukraine&#8217;s far-Western Zakarpattia region, authorities said.
&#8220;It was a regular civilian business, supported by American investment, producing everyday items like coffee machines. And yet, it was also a target for the Russians,&#8221; Zelenskiy wrote on X.
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&#8220;This is very telling.&#8221;
Mukachevo mayor Andriy Baloha said the damaged enterprise belonged to the U.S.-listed company Flex Ltd. The corporate headquarters of the company, a global technology, supply chain and advanced manufacturing solutions partner, is in Austin, Texas and its registered office is in Singapore.
The company employed thousands of the area&#8217;s residents, Baloha said. Flex, which grew from a family firm founded in Silicon Valley in 1969, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
In Ukraine&#8217;s western city of Lviv, the attack killed one person, wounded three others and damaged 26 homes, said Governor Maksym Kozytskyi. Authorities in southeastern Ukraine&#8217;s Dnipropetrovsk region also reported damage to businesses, homes and gas lines. Two industry sources told Reuters a key gas pumping facility had been attacked, without giving a location.
Russia said Putin had repeatedly said he was ready to meet Zelenskiy but that Ukraine was trying to undermine Trump&#8217;s efforts to resolve the conflict and its leader was illegitimate.
The defence ministry in Moscow said it had struck Ukrainian energy and airfield infrastructure as well as military industrial facilities overnight, and captured another frontline village &#8211; Oleksandro-Shultyne, Russian news agency RIA reported. Ukraine said it had hit a Russian oil refinery, a drone warehouse and a fuel base.
Reuters could not independently verify the battlefield reports.
SECURITY TALKS
U.S. President Donald Trump met both Zelenskiy and Vladimir Putin over the past week in pursuit of a diplomatic end to the fighting but has acknowledged that his Russian counterpart may not want to make a deal. Zelenskiy urged Trump to react firmly if that was the case.
&#8220;We are ready. But what if the Russians are not ready?&#8221; he said in comments released on Thursday. &#8220;If the Russians are not ready, we would like to see a strong reaction from the United States.&#8221;
U.S. and European military planners have begun exploring post-conflict security guarantees for Ukraine, according to U.S. officials and sources, but the path to peace remained uncertain.
A defence ministry source in Turkey, which has opposed sanctions on Russia while also giving military help to Ukraine and joining a &#8220;Coalition of the Willing&#8221; to help it with post-conflict security, said peace was still far off.
&#8220;It is necessary to first secure a ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine, then determine the framework of a mission with a clear mandate, and clarify the extent to which each country will contribute,&#8221; the Turkish source said on condition of anonymity.
The Kremlin said Putin had discussed Ukraine with Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday, when Moscow also said attempts to resolve security issues without Russian involvement were a &#8220;road to nowhere&#8221;.
On Thursday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Moscow was ready for an honest talk about security guarantees for Ukraine and accused Ukraine&#8217;s European backers of &#8216;adventurism&#8217; by excluding Moscow from their discussions.
Russia, which denies targeting civilians, has used missiles and drones to strike Ukrainian towns and cities far from the front lines throughout the war.
Thousands of civilians, the vast majority of them Ukrainian, have been killed since Moscow&#8217;s full-scale invasion of February 2022. More than a million Russian and Ukrainian soldiers are estimated to have been killed or wounded.
(Reporting by Anastasiia Malenko; Writing by Dan Peleschuk; Editing by Christian Schmollinger, Tomasz Janowski, Philippa Fletcher)
&nbsp;

Russian drone and missile strike in Lviv

Russia Slams Ukraine In Massive Strikes, Blames Kyiv For Blocking Peace Talks

Politics

Ukraine Russia

Overnight Tuesday into Wednesday, NATO scrambled two German warplanes after Russia launched missiles and drones at a Ukrainian city near the border with Romania, a NATO member.
The Russian missiles and drones targeted an area less than a mile from Romania&#8217;s border, Fox News <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/world/nato-scrambles-warplanes-russia-hits-near-romanian-border-ukraine">reported</a>. The Romanian government said that two German Eurofighter Typhoon aircraft were flown out &#8220;to monitor the air situation&#8221; as part of NATO&#8217;s Enhanced Air Policing. No Russian missiles or drones crossed over into NATO territory.
Russia also targeted Ukraine&#8217;s northern Sumy region on Tuesday night in an attack that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said wounded 14 people.
&#8220;A family with wounded children – 5 months, 4 years, and 6 years old – sought assistance after the attack. In Kostiantynivka, Donetsk region, a glide bomb strike damaged five apartment buildings, and at least three people still remain under the rubble,&#8221; Zelensky posted on X early Wednesday morning. &#8220;The rescue operation continues. There was also a treacherous strike on a gas distribution station in the Odesa region. Shelling also targeted the Chernihiv, Kharkiv, and Poltava regions. In total, more than 60 drones and a ballistic missile were used.&#8221;
Zelensky added that Russia&#8217;s attacks &#8220;only confirm the need to put pressure on Moscow, the need to impose new sanctions and tariffs until diplomacy is fully effective.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Last night, a drone strike on Okhtyrka in the Sumy region injured 14 people. A family with wounded children – 5 months, 4 years, and 6 years old – sought assistance after the attack. In Kostiantynivka, Donetsk region, a glide bomb strike damaged five apartment buildings, and at… <a href="https://t.co/TWRPo4Po6F">pic.twitter.com/TWRPo4Po6F</a>
— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) <a href="https://twitter.com/ZelenskyyUa/status/1958080483100700983?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 20, 2025</a></blockquote>
&nbsp;
The attack is just the latest in a major Russian offensive that has taken place as President Donald Trump attempts to get Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to work out a peace deal. Earlier this week, Russia launched its largest attack of the month shortly after Zelensky and other European leaders met with Trump at the White House to discuss a potential path to peace with Russia. On Monday night and into Tuesday morning, Moscow fired 270 drones and 10 missiles at Ukraine, with at least 40 drones and four missiles striking in Ukraine&#8217;s central Poltava region, ABC News <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/International/russia-launches-largest-attack-august-ukraine-after-trump/story?id=124768391">reported</a>.
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Despite Putin&#8217;s continued aggression, President Trump still believes Russia and Ukraine can reach a peace agreement and end the bloodshed. Trump set up a one-on-one meeting for Putin and Zelensky, scheduled to take place in the next two weeks. The president also said he would be willing to step in for a trilateral meeting with Putin and Zelensky if the Ukrainian leader wants him to.
Following his meeting with Putin last week, Trump said he wanted more than a &#8220;mere Ceasefire Agreement&#8221; between Russia and Ukraine, <a href="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/115037569702889410">writing</a> on Truth Social that &#8220;it was determined by all that the best way to end the horrific war between Russia and Ukraine is to go directly to a Peace Agreement, which would end the war, and not a mere Ceasefire Agreement, which often times do not hold up.&#8221;
Trump vowed to provide security guarantees for Ukraine if Kyiv reaches a deal with Moscow, but he promised that U.S. troops would not be on the ground in the country. The president also left the door open to the United States providing air support for Ukraine if a peace agreement is reached.

Tactical Leadership Programme Albacete

Russian Attack Hits Close To NATO Ally, Warplanes Scrambled

WASHINGTON — White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt tore into the White House press corps on Tuesday afternoon, accusing the media of &#8220;negative and downright false coverage&#8221; of President Donald Trump and his efforts to bring peace between Russia and Ukraine.
Leavitt spoke from the James S. Brady Briefing Room podium, where she argued that &#8220;much of the left-wing media has been actively rooting against the president of the United States in the pursuit of peace&#8221; from the very beginning of Trump&#8217;s peace-making efforts.
&#8220;Initially, the media ridiculously claimed that President Trump was somehow beholden to Russia for even agreeing to have a face-to-face discussion with President Putin inside of the United States,&#8221; Leavitt argued. &#8220;The media said President Trump was making a grave mistake by, quote, &#8216;legitimizing&#8217; Putin.  They were aghast that President Trump would treat another world leader like a world leader.&#8221;
The White House press secretary accused the press of &#8220;relentlessly&#8221; attacking the president and claiming that he suffered a &#8220;major defeat&#8221; for not leaving that initial meeting with Vladimir Putin with a final agreement — &#8220;even though he said, heading into that meeting, this was a meeting to listen and to understand how to move the ball forward,&#8221; Leavitt argued.
<div id="attachment_962629" style="width: 874px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/karoline-leavitt-blasts-white-house-press-for-actively-rooting-against-trumps-peace-efforts/us-politics-briefing-leavitt-6" rel="attachment wp-att-962629"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-962629" class="wp-image-962629 size-large" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/08/GettyImages-2230300432-864x576.jpg" alt="" width="864" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/08/GettyImages-2230300432-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/08/GettyImages-2230300432-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/08/GettyImages-2230300432-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/08/GettyImages-2230300432.jpg 1024w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px" /></a>White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt speaks during the daily briefing in the Brady Briefing Room of the White House in Washington, DC, on August 19, 2025. (Photo by MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images)</div>
Leavitt pointed to the pundits, hosts, reporters, and &#8220;so-called experts in the foreign policy establishment&#8221; who suggested over the weekend that the U.S.-Russia bilateral talks had been a failure, though President Trump &#8220;has solved seven global conflicts in seven months&#8221; and &#8220;brokered the Abraham Accords in his first term, on top of more than half a dozen other peace deals this year alone.&#8221;
And she reminded the press that the president of Ukraine and all the major leaders of Europe flew across the Atlantic to meet with Trump at the White House because of the progress that was made in that meeting with Putin.
&#8220;It was highly productive,&#8221; Leavitt said of the Trump and Putin meeting, &#8220;and it was successful.&#8221;
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&#8220;This is why Americans&#8217; trust in the mass media is at a lowest point in more than five decades,&#8221; she said from the podium. &#8220;Diplomacy is a delicate process, and instead of reporting the facts about what is happening here at this White House and what is happening between this president and other leaders around the world, many outlets in this room continue to try to actively undermine the president and sabotage the efforts toward peace.  That is why I felt the need to set the record straight.&#8221;
Leavitt&#8217;s remarks caused a stir not only in the briefing room, but among other members of the president&#8217;s administration. Vice President JD Vance was watching Leavitt&#8217;s briefing and posted approvingly on X in real time: &#8220;Karoline Leavitt lighting the American media up for lying about our negotiations with Russia and Ukraine.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Karoline Leavitt lighting the American media up for lying about our negotiations with Russia and Ukraine.
— JD Vance (@JDVance) <a href="https://twitter.com/JDVance/status/1957855752447496341?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 19, 2025</a></blockquote>
The White House press secretary was following up on a promise she had made during her very first briefing in January: to hold the press accountable.
&#8220;While I vow to provide the truth from this podium, we ask that all of you in this room hold yourselves to that same standard,&#8221; she told the assembled press in late January. &#8220;We know for a fact there have been lies that have been pushed by many legacy media outlets in this country about this president, about his family, and we will not accept that.&#8221;
&#8220;We will call you out when we feel that your reporting is wrong or there is misinformation about this White House,&#8221; she warned. &#8220;So, yes, I will hold myself to the truth, and I expect everyone in this room to do the same.&#8221;
<div id="attachment_962635" style="width: 876px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/karoline-leavitt-blasts-white-house-press-for-actively-rooting-against-trumps-peace-efforts/white-house-press-briefing-10" rel="attachment wp-att-962635"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-962635" class="wp-image-962635 size-large" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/08/GettyImages-2195915513-866x576.jpg" alt="" width="866" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/08/GettyImages-2195915513-866x576.jpg 866w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/08/GettyImages-2195915513-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/08/GettyImages-2195915513-768x511.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/08/GettyImages-2195915513.jpg 1024w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 866px) 100vw, 866px" /></a>Press secretary Karoline Leavitt holds her first official news briefing at the White House on Tuesday, January 28, 2025. (Photo by Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post via Getty Images)</div>
Leavitt has certainly held true to her promise, singling out reporters when she considers their questions unfair or duplicitous. On Tuesday, for example, a New York Times reporter questioned Leavitt: &#8220;If the point is to get everybody on the same page, why wouldn&#8217;t Trump just take the call from Putin while the other leaders were in the room. He said it would be disrespectful to do that, but why is that disrespectful?&#8221;
The reporter was referring to Trump&#8217;s move to leave the room to take a private call from President Putin on Monday amid negotiations with European leaders.
&#8220;With all due respect,&#8221; responded Leavitt with a smile, &#8220;only a reporter from the New York Times would ask a question like that.&#8221;
A White House official reminded The Daily Wire that the president himself repeatedly called out the media and similar naysayers on Truth Social only a few days ago, reminding his critics: &#8220;Despite all of my lightweight and very jealous critics, I’ll get it done — I always do!!!&#8221;
&#8220;The president set the tone in his Truth Social posts over the past few days — we are not going to allow the left-wing legacy media to derail the progress made in this historic peace process,&#8221; the White House official told The Daily Wire. &#8220;President Trump has broken a three and a half year deadlock and the media wants you to believe that’s somehow actually a failure. Karoline, following the president’s lead, is cutting through their dishonest narrative and taking the truth directly to the American people.&#8221;
And Leavitt chimed in further at the end of the day on Tuesday.
&#8220;From the beginning of this process, much of the left-wing media has been actively rooting against the President of the United States in his pursuit of peace,&#8221; she argued. &#8220;President Trump finally broke the deadlock between Russia and Ukraine and created a real opportunity for a lasting peace for the first time in 3.5 years of brutal war.&#8221;
&#8220;But instead of accurately reporting the facts, dishonest outlets are actively trying to sabotage these peace efforts,&#8221; she concluded, reiterating her statement during the briefing: &#8220;This is why Americans’ trust in the mass media is at its lowest point in more than five decades.&#8221;

US-POLITICS-BRIEFING-LEAVITT

Karoline Leavitt Blasts White House Press For ‘Actively Rooting’ Against Trump’s Peace Efforts

Karoline Leavitt

White House

President Donald Trump <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/no-u-s-boots-on-the-ground-in-ukraine-trump-pledges?topStoryPosition=undefined&amp;author=Leif+Le+Mahieu&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=0&amp;row=1&amp;rowHeadline=Top+Stories&amp;rowType=Top+Stories&amp;title=No+U.S.+Boots+On+The+Ground+In+Ukraine%2C+Trump+Pledges">vowed</a> not to place U.S. troops on the ground in Ukraine on Tuesday, but he didn’t rule out providing air support for the country as he pushes for a peace deal between Kyiv and Moscow.
Trump told the hosts of “Fox &amp; Friends” Tuesday morning that European countries “are willing to put people on the ground” in Ukraine, and that the United States could potentially provide air support.
“We’re willing to help them with things, especially, probably, if you talk about by air because nobody has stuff we have,” Trump said.
The president added that he doesn’t believe the United States or its European allies would have to step in to push back against further Russian aggression if a peace deal is reached.
“I don’t think it’s going to be a problem. I think if a deal is made — you know, famous last words, right? — but I think if a deal is made, I think Russia’s had it, they’ve all had it. And for a very extended period of time, I don’t think there will be a problem,” Trump said. “But there will be some form of security. It can’t be NATO because that’s just not something that would ever, ever happen.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-media-max-width="560">
Trump tells <a href="https://twitter.com/foxandfriends?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@foxandfriends</a> that the U.S. may give Ukraine air support as part of the peace deal.
&#8220;It&#8217;s a different kind of a thing for them&#8230;when it comes to security, they are willing to put people on the ground, we &#8216;re willing to help them with things, especially, probably,… <a href="https://t.co/7CxucrpMMy">pic.twitter.com/7CxucrpMMy</a>
— Reagan Reese (@reaganreese_) <a href="https://twitter.com/reaganreese_/status/1957796884694671719?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 19, 2025</a></blockquote>
&nbsp;
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt added later on Tuesday that air support for Ukraine remains “an option and a possibility.”
“The president understands that security guarantees are crucially important to ensure a lasting peace,” Leavitt said.
Trump told “Fox &amp; Friends” that the American people have his “<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/no-u-s-boots-on-the-ground-in-ukraine-trump-pledges?topStoryPosition=undefined&amp;author=Leif+Le+Mahieu&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=0&amp;row=1&amp;rowHeadline=Top+Stories&amp;rowType=Top+Stories&amp;title=No+U.S.+Boots+On+The+Ground+In+Ukraine%2C+Trump+Pledges">assurance</a>” that no American boots would be on the ground in Ukraine under any security guarantees.
“You have my assurance — and I’m president. I’m just trying to stop people from being killed,” Trump said.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky would likely only accept the terms of a peace deal with Russia if Kyiv receives security guarantees from the United States and Europe, such as peacekeepers on the ground in Ukraine. Russia, however, has repeatedly shot down the idea of troops from any NATO countries being deployed to Ukraine. The Kremlin said on Monday, “We reiterate our longstanding position of unequivocally rejecting any scenarios involving the deployment of NATO military contingents in Ukraine, as this risks uncontrollable escalation with unpredictable consequences.”
In February, Trump said that Russian President Vladimir Putin was open to European troops being sent to Ukraine to ensure peace if a deal is made with Ukraine, The New York Times <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/live/2025/08/19/us/trump-zelensky-ukraine-russia/western-forces-nato-peacekeepers-trump?smid=url-share">reported</a>.
“He will accept that,” Trump said. “I specifically asked him that question. He has no problem with it.”

National-Independence-Day-Celebration-July-4-2025

Trump ‘Willing’ To Back Ukraine With American Air Power

As the media and Democrats fulminate over President Trump&#8217;s supposed capitulation to Vladimir Putin, precisely the opposite seems to be happening.
But leave it to the media and the Left to deliberately misinterpret what is going on.
On Monday, President Trump <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/with-historic-zelensky-visit-donald-trump-moves-the-world-one-step-closer-to-peace?author=Mary+Margaret+Olohan&amp;category=undefined&amp;elementPosition=14&amp;row=3&amp;rowHeadline=Latest+News&amp;rowType=Vertical+Carousel&amp;title=With+Historic+Zelensky+Visit%2C+Donald+Trump+Moves+The+World+One+Step+Closer+To+Peace">met with</a> Volodymyr Zelensky, the president of Ukraine, along with a bunch of European leaders.
Everything seems to be moving toward Ukrainian territorial concessions in return for serious security guarantees for Ukraine.
Those guarantees would presumably be some form of European trigger force in Ukraine that would implicate a mutual defense pact. It wouldn&#8217;t exactly be NATO, but it would be NATO-lite. The problem is that to be a credible deterrent, you need tens of thousands of troops.
The second possibility is a trip-wire force that would trigger the possibility of the mutual defense coming into effect if Russia were to walk across the border.
A third possibility would be a kind of observer force, perhaps a few hundred troops or so, to report on incoming military action, which could be accomplished with satellites and ground cameras.
Of course, all of this flies in the face of the fact that Russia wants to leave Ukraine utterly defenseless and prostrate before them.
But here’s the thing: The fact that President Trump is willing to hold Russia&#8217;s feet to the fire by even talking about these kinds of significant security guarantees is a major move from the president, and pretending that it&#8217;s a pro-Russia move is silly. If there were a significant security guarantee, a sort of NATO-lite and Article Five-lite approach to Ukraine in exchange for territorial concessions in Donbas, that would be a masterstroke from the president of the United States, because otherwise this war just keeps going.
All of Trump’s forward movement on this issue is to the great consternation of both the media and the Democrats, who claim that Donald Trump was a Putin catspaw. They thought that Trump was going to welcome Zelensky to the White House yesterday by berating him and telling him he needed to basically surrender in the war: No security guarantees, no economic health, no nothing.
None of that happened. In fact, it was pretty warm. You could see Trump and Zelensky getting along. This was not an antagonistic meeting.
<h3><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/ep-2262-the-ben-shapiro-show?elementPosition=2&amp;row=2&amp;rowHeadline=Latest+Episodes&amp;rowType=Horizontal+Show+Episodes+Carousel">WATCH: The Ben Shapiro Show</a></h3>
One of the things that Zelensky also said is that as part of any of the security guarantees put forward by Europe and the United States, Ukraine would buy $90 billion in American weapons via Europe. The rest of the NATO nations and the United States military would benefit from it. The defense industries in the United States would end up benefiting from that. He expressed gratitude to both President Trump as well as the EU leaders for their hard work on the possibility of a peace deal.
There are still a lot of steps to go. We still have to see whether Vladimir Putin actually is interested in ending the war in any serious way.
As I’ve said before, a good thing about President Trump is that he&#8217;s heterodox in his views, which means he does very creative things. But if things don&#8217;t happen, he will respond. He&#8217;s responsive. He doesn&#8217;t just stick with an idea, no matter what.
The idea that endless diplomacy is something that President Trump is going to pursue here is not true. If Russia does not come to the table, if he feels that Putin is jacking him around again, he&#8217;ll walk away. He is not going to be bullied by Vladimir Putin here.
Trump remains optimistic, saying that he thinks that Putin wants to make a deal.
For the media and the Left to pretend that somehow Trump is doing Putin&#8217;s work here is to ignore everything that&#8217;s actually going on in favor of a pre-established narrative.
<a href="https://get.dailywire.com/subscribe/plus/?utm_campaign=summer&amp;utm_content=editorialsummersale&amp;utm_medium=website&amp;utm_source=editorial">End of Summer Sale &#8211; Get 40% off New DailyWire+ Annual Memberships</a>
Even Michael McFaul, who was President Obama&#8217;s Russian ambassador, <a href="https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/5459351-mcfaul-praises-trump-peace-efforts/">admitted</a> that Trump is actually doing a pretty good job here. “I think this was a very positive meeting,” he said. “And whoever had the idea to bring all these European leaders together, in addition to President Zelensky, that was a brilliant, brilliant idea. And having it come so quickly after Alaska was also very important because now they&#8217;ve changed the talking points here. Just in this meeting alone, they&#8217;ve walked back some of the positions that the president was echoing, when he met with President Putin. So this is very positive progress.”
If you&#8217;re honest —even if you&#8217;re a Democrat — you should be acknowledging that President Trump not only is not doing anything wrong here, he&#8217;s actually moving the ball forward.
To pretend that this was somehow a gigantic Trump capitulation to Putin is to ignore the actual reality of the situation, and it demonstrates the wild disconnect between reality and what Democrats think of President Trump.
But then, Democrats and reality are like oil and water.

TOPSHOT-US-UKRAINE-RUSSIA-CONFLICT-DIPLOMACY

Could Trump’s Masterstroke End The Russia-Ukraine War?

Could Trump's Masterstroke End The Russia-Ukraine War?

Ben Shapiro

Democrats

Europe

Legacy Media

NATO

Opinion

President Trump

President Donald Trump said Tuesday that there would be no American troops on the ground in Ukraine under his watch.
Trump made the comments in an interview on “Fox and Friends” as he recapped his Monday meeting at the White House with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, European leaders, and a phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Trump added that European nations like France, Germany, and the U.K. might have boots on the ground in Ukraine at some point.
“You have my assurance — and I’m president. I’m just trying to stop people from being killed,” Trump <a href="https://x.com/RapidResponse47/status/1957779018746355883">said</a> when asked by Fox News host Charles Hurt if he would confirm that American soldiers would not be used to defend Ukraine. “Look, they’re losing from five to seven thousand people a week.” 
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
&#8220;What kind of assurances do you feel like you have that&#8230; it won&#8217;t be American boots on the ground defending that border [in Ukraine]?&#8221; <a href="https://twitter.com/POTUS?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@POTUS</a>: &#8220;You have my assurance — and I&#8217;m President. I&#8217;m just trying to stop people from being killed.&#8221; <a href="https://t.co/mzmYxtK0HJ">pic.twitter.com/mzmYxtK0HJ</a>
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) <a href="https://twitter.com/RapidResponse47/status/1957779018746355883?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 19, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
That vow came after Trump declined on Monday to rule out the possibility that American troops would be in Ukraine as part of a security guarantee. 
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Trump said during the same interview that he initially thought the Ukraine-Russia War would be” one of the easier” conflicts to end, but that it has turned out to be the “most difficult” to resolve. He said Putin needed to cooperate, and that Zelensky would have to show some “flexibility.”
After the White House meetings, Trump said that Putin and Zelensky would meet in the coming weeks. Following that discussion, Trump said he would meet with both leaders to attempt to negotiate an end to the war. Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and Special Envoy Steve Witkoff will be coordinating the meetings with Russia and Ukraine, Trump wrote on Truth Social Monday night. 
Trump also recapped his “very good” phone call with Putin, telling “Fox and Friends” that he pressed the Russian dictator to come to the table with Zelensky.
“I told him that we’re going to set up a meeting with President Zelensky, and you and he will meet, and then after that meeting, if everything works out OK, I’ll meet and we’ll wrap it up,” he said. “It takes, in this case, two to tango. They have to have somewhat of a relationship, otherwise we’re just wasting a lot of time.”
Trump joked that ending the war might be his ticket through the pearly gates.
“If I can save 7,000 people a week from being killed…I want to try and get to heaven if possible. I’m hearing I’m not doing well. I hear I’m really at the bottom of the totem pole. But if I can get to heaven, this will be one of the reasons,” he said.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy meets with US President Donald Trump in DC

No U.S. Boots On The Ground In Ukraine, Trump Pledges

Executive

Fox News

President Donald Trump said on Tuesday morning that he pushed back on a European leader&#8217;s suggestion to wait one or two months before setting up another meeting to discuss a peace deal between Ukraine and Russia.
In a phone interview with &#8220;Fox &amp; Friends,&#8221; Trump said one of the European leaders he met with at the White House on Monday told him they should set up more peace talks &#8220;in a month or two,&#8221; an idea that the president immediately shot down. Trump did not name the European ally in question, only saying he&#8217;s &#8220;a great gentleman&#8221; whom he did not want to offend.
&#8220;I said, &#8216;A month or two? You&#8217;re going to have another 40,000 people dead in a month or two. You have to do it tonight!&#8221; Trump said.
&#8220;And I did, actually,&#8221; Trump added. &#8220;I called President Putin and we&#8217;re trying to work out a meeting with President Zelensky.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-media-max-width="560">
.<a href="https://twitter.com/POTUS?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@POTUS</a>: &#8220;One of the gentlemen&#8230; he said, &#8216;Well, let&#8217;s meet in another month or two&#8230;&#8217; I said, &#8216;A MONTH OR TWO? You&#8217;re going to have another 40,000 people dead in a month or two — you have to do it TONIGHT.&#8217; And I did actually, I called President Putin and we&#8217;re trying to work… <a href="https://t.co/418xxn9apH">pic.twitter.com/418xxn9apH</a>
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) <a href="https://twitter.com/RapidResponse47/status/1957779870865305750?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 19, 2025</a></blockquote>
Along with Zelensky, Trump met with European Union President Ursula von der Leyen, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, French President Emmanuel Macron, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, and Finnish President Alexander Stubb.
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In the middle of the meeting, Trump called Russian President Vladimir Putin to set up a face-to-face meeting with the Ukrainian president. Trump told &#8220;Fox &amp; Friends&#8221; that he did not call Putin in front of the European leaders.
&#8220;I thought that would be disrespectful to President Putin. I wouldn&#8217;t do that because they have not had the warmest relations,&#8221; Trump continued. &#8220;And, actually, President Putin wouldn&#8217;t talk to the people from Europe. That was part of the problem. They had no communication.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-media-max-width="560">
.<a href="https://twitter.com/POTUS?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@POTUS</a> on his call with President Putin: &#8220;I didn&#8217;t do it in front of them&#8230; because they have not had the warmest relations &#8230; It was years that he didn&#8217;t speak to anybody from the White House — and it was a long time that he didn&#8217;t speak to anybody from Europe.&#8221; <a href="https://t.co/ss7LoSZn5F">pic.twitter.com/ss7LoSZn5F</a>
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) <a href="https://twitter.com/RapidResponse47/status/1957782144639545613?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 19, 2025</a></blockquote>
German Chancellor Merz said on Monday evening that Trump successfully <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/putin-zelensky-to-meet-face-to-face-within-two-weeks-german-chancellor?topStoryPosition=undefined&amp;author=Tim+Pearce&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=1&amp;row=1&amp;rowHeadline=Top+Stories&amp;rowType=Top+Stories&amp;title=Putin%2C+Zelensky+To+Meet+Face-To-Face+Within+Two+Weeks%3A+German+Chancellor">set up</a> a meeting between Putin and Zelensky that is set to take place within two weeks. After the Russian and Ukrainian leaders meet one-on-one, Trump said he would step in to take part in a trilateral discussion.
&#8220;We had a very good call, and I told [Putin] that we&#8217;re going to set up a meeting with President Zelensky, and you and he will meet, and then after that meeting, if everything works out okay, I&#8217;ll meet and we&#8217;ll wrap it up,&#8221; Trump <a href="https://x.com/RapidResponse47/status/1957782313737056640">added</a>. &#8220;It takes, in this case, two to tango. They have to have somewhat of a relationship. Otherwise, we&#8217;re just wasting a lot of time. I don&#8217;t want to be doing that. I just want to end it.&#8221;
Both Trump and Zelensky described Monday&#8217;s discussions as constructive. The U.S. president vowed to provide Ukraine with security guarantees if a peace deal is reached with Russia, and Zelensky was open to meeting with Putin to hash out a deal.

European Leaders Join Ukrainian President Zelensky For White House Meeting With Trump

Trump Rips European Leader Who Wants To Wait ‘A Month Or Two’ For Next Ukraine-Russia Meeting

Emmanuel Macron

Giorgia Meloni

Keir Starmer

President Trump hosts Ukrainian President Zelensky and European leaders at the White House to push for a peace deal that would require Ukraine to cede territory. An illegal immigrant with a California-issued commercial driver&#8217;s license kills three in a Florida crash, reigniting the battle over sanctuary state policies. Texas Democrats end their standoff and return to the state, paving the way for a new GOP-drawn congressional map as California plans its own gerrymandering in response.
It’s Tuesday, August 19, 2025, and this is the news you need to know to start your day.
Morning Wire is available on video! You can watch today’s episode here:
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<h2>Trump Pushes for Peace Deal at White House Summit</h2>
<div class="image"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-large wp-image-962105" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/08/MRN-8.19.25-SH1-1024x576.jpg" alt="" width="1024" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/08/MRN-8.19.25-SH1-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/08/MRN-8.19.25-SH1-300x169.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/08/MRN-8.19.25-SH1-768x432.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/08/MRN-8.19.25-SH1-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/08/MRN-8.19.25-SH1.jpg 1920w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></div>
Topline: President Trump hosted Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and a delegation of European leaders at the White House on Monday to discuss a framework for ending the war with Russia, emphasizing a peace deal over a ceasefire.
Following his meeting with Vladimir Putin last week, President Trump is now pushing for Ukraine to accept a peace deal that would end the war, but result in significant territorial concessions. The diplomatic balancing act puts Zelensky in a difficult position. If he agrees to the deal, he ends the war and secures a U.S.-backed security guarantee, but he breaks his promise to the Ukrainian people that he would never cede land to Putin. If he refuses, he risks alienating his most important ally.
Trump reiterated on Monday that he wants to move quickly toward a final peace deal, rather than a ceasefire, which he argued could create a &#8220;strategic disadvantage for one side or the other.” While no deal was reached, the meeting was a sign of improving relations between Trump and European leaders, many of whom praised the president for the progress made in recent weeks.
The diplomatic push comes as Ukrainian public opinion has dramatically shifted. A recent <a href="https://news.gallup.com/poll/693203/ukrainian-support-war-effort-collapses.aspx">Gallup</a> poll shows that 69% of Ukrainians now support an immediate peace, a complete reversal from 2022 when 73% wanted to fight until victory.
<h2>Illegal Immigrant With CA License Kills Three in Florida Crash</h2>
<div class="image"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-large wp-image-962109" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/08/MRN-8.19.25-SH2-1024x576.jpg" alt="" width="1024" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/08/MRN-8.19.25-SH2-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/08/MRN-8.19.25-SH2-300x169.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/08/MRN-8.19.25-SH2-768x432.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/08/MRN-8.19.25-SH2-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/08/MRN-8.19.25-SH2.jpg 1920w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></div>
Topline: An illegal immigrant who obtained a commercial driver&#8217;s license in the sanctuary state of California has been charged with killing three people in a vehicular homicide in Florida, sparking new outrage over sanctuary policies.
Harjinder Singh, a 28-year-old illegal immigrant from India, was driving a semi-truck on the <a href="https://www.flhsmv.gov/2025/08/16/illegal-u-turn-truck-driver-arrested-for-vehicular-homicide/">Florida</a> turnpike last week when he allegedly attempted an illegal U-turn, causing a collision that killed all three occupants of a minivan. Singh entered the U.S. illegally in California in 2018 and was able to obtain a Commercial Driver’s License (CDL) in the state.
The incident has reignited the national debate over sanctuary policies. A DHS spokesperson <a href="https://x.com/DHSgov/status/1957433429689020919">said</a> in a statement, &#8220;Three innocent people were killed in Florida because Gavin Newsom’s California DMV issued an illegal alien a Commercial Driver’s License—this state of governance is asinine.” Governor Newsom&#8217;s office has attempted to shift blame, claiming the Trump administration issued Singh a work permit, but DHS says the permit was rejected under Trump and later approved under the Biden administration.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis (R), who signed a ban on sanctuary city policies in his state, expressed shock that a man who he said doesn&#8217;t even speak English was issued a CDL in California. DHS issued a statement asking, &#8220;How many more innocent people have to die before Gavin Newsom stops playing games with the safety of the American public?”
<h2>Texas Redistricting Resumes as CA Plans Retaliation</h2>
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Topline: The Texas Democrats who fled the state to block a Republican-led redistricting effort have returned, paving the way for the GOP to pass a new map that could net them five House seats.
After fleeing the state for weeks to deny Republicans a quorum, the protesting Democrats have returned to the state capital. Their effort failed to stop the new congressional map, which is now on the agenda for a new special session called by Governor Greg Abbott (R). The returning lawmakers now face hundreds of thousands of dollars in fines, at a rate of $500 per day for their absence. Governor Abbott and Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) are also seeking to have 13 of the lawmakers removed from office.
In response to the Texas GOP&#8217;s move, California Governor Gavin Newsom (D) is asking voters in his state to approve a measure in a special election to temporarily suspend California&#8217;s independent redistricting commission. This would allow the state&#8217;s Democrat-supermajority legislature to gerrymander its own map to gain five House seats and &#8220;neuter&#8221; the Republican gains in Texas. Former California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger (R), who led the effort to create the independent commission, is leading the opposition to Newsom’s plan.

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