Russia and Ukraine accused each other of targeting civilians over the New Year, with Moscow reporting a deadly strike on a hotel in territory it occupies in southern Ukraine while Kyiv said there had been another broad attack on its power supplies.
The reports coincide with intensive talks overseen by U.S. President Donald Trump and aimed at bringing an end to the nearly four-year-old war. Each country has said the other is doing all it can to influence his views and shape the outcome.
&#8220;On New Year, Russia deliberately brings war. Over 200 attack drones were launched onto Ukraine in the night,&#8221; Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky wrote on Telegram, saying energy infrastructure in seven regions across Ukraine had been targeted.
Russia accused Ukraine of killing at least 24 people, including a child, in a drone strike on a hotel and cafe where civilians were seeing in the New Year in a Russian-controlled part of the Kherson region in southern Ukraine.
Ukraine&#8217;s military, which has accused Russia of killing many civilians in its own attacks on Ukrainian cities, said it targeted strictly military and energy targets, but made no specific reference to accounts of the strike on the hotel.
Zelensky said that Russia&#8217;s holiday season attacks showed Ukraine could not afford delays in air defense supplies.
&#8220;(Our) allies have the names of equipment which we are lacking. We expect that everything agreed with the United States at the end of December for our defense will arrive on time,&#8221; he said, without clarifying further.
Vladimir Saldo, the Russian-installed governor of the region, said three Ukrainian drones had hit the celebrations in Khorly, a coastal village, in what he said was a &#8220;deliberate strike&#8221; against civilians. He said that many people had been burnt alive.
Russia&#8217;s Foreign Ministry said that as well as the 24 dead, 50 people had been injured.
It said the strike, as well as other drone attacks blamed on Ukraine, sought to &#8220;divert attention from the failures of the Ukrainian military at the front. The Kyiv regime is trying to prove its viability through terrorist acts.&#8221;
On Monday, Moscow accused Kyiv of trying to strike a residence of President Vladimir Putin. Ukrainian and European officials have said the incident did not happen and U.S. security officials were also reported to have found that Ukraine did not target the residence.
A senior Russian military chief handed to a U.S. military attache what he said was part of a Ukrainian drone containing data he said proved that the Ukrainian military had targeted the residence.
Reuters was not able to immediately verify the reported Kherson region attack or photographs of what Saldo&#8217;s press service said was the aftermath on Thursday. Saldo said he had briefed Putin on the details of the attack.
The images showed at least one dead body was visible beneath a white sheet. The building showed signs that a fire had raged and there were what looked like blood stains on the ground. Russia&#8217;s TASS news agency published video showing drone fragments, some with Ukrainian writing on them.
Ukrainian officials regularly report civilian deaths from Russian air attacks, including in the Ukrainian-held city of Kherson, which lies near the front line.
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The Ukrainian governor of Kherson region, Oleksandr Prokudin, said that one man had been killed and an 87-year-old woman injured in attacks on the city on Thursday.
Ukraine&#8217;s deputy prime minister Oleksiy Kuleba said rail facilities had been attacked in three regions.
The Russian Defence Ministry said on Thursday its strikes had hit military targets, as well as energy infrastructure which it claimed was being used to support Ukraine&#8217;s military.
Dmitry Medvedev, deputy chairman of Russia&#8217;s Security Council, told TASS that those who carried out the hotel attack and their commanders should be targeted.
Kherson is one of four regions in Ukraine which Russia claimed as its own in 2022, a move Kyiv and most Western countries denounced as an illegal land grab.
Moscow&#8217;s Mayor, Sergei Sobyanin, said Russian air defence units had downed 35 Ukrainian drones over the past 24 hours. He reported no casualties or damage.
(Reporting by Max Hunder and Reuters bureaux; writing by Philippa Fletcher; editing by Ros Russell and Ron Popeski)

Ukraine

Russia And Ukraine Trade Allegations Of Civilian Attacks On New Year’s Day

Global Politics

Russia

Ukraine-Russia War

Vladimir Putin

Volodymyr Zelensky

World

Editor’s note: This week, we’re reprinting some of our best stories from the past year. This piece features Daily Wire Editor Emeritus Ben Shapiro&#8217;s exchange with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on U.S. taxpayer dollars being spent in the war with Russia.
As taxpayers raise concerns about corruption in Ukraine, President Volodymyr Zelensky told Ben Shapiro he would be open to an audit into the use of American funds.
In a face-to-face exclusive interview with Shapiro in war-torn Kyiv, Zelensky said he is prepared to allow inspectors to review how the more than $174 billion in American aid has been used to support Ukraine’s war against Russia.
“We’re always ready for any audit,” Zelensky said. “There’s nothing to hide. We are absolutely open, transparent, and that is what’s happening.”
Zelensky said that U.S. inspectors have had oversight following Russia attempting to “undermine the support and assistance coming from the United States” through “fake news and other tools” at the start of the war.
Zelensky added that he is “grateful to all the U.S. taxpayers.”
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“We are grateful to the bipartisan support in Congress,” he said. “We are grateful to the unity around the fight of Ukraine for independence … and the great contribution of the United States in the defense of our people.”
He added that he has his own “internal audit” where his government is “documenting how much assistance was provided.”
According to Zelensky, Ukraine has received $104-$105 billion in assistance, most of which comes in the form of military support.
“The money was paid to the transportation of those weapons,” Zelensky said. “Ukrainian companies were not allowed to transport this money. That&#8217;s why we haven&#8217;t received it — not in the public, not in the private sector — the money for the transportation.”
According to the <a href="https://www.gao.gov/ukraine-oversight">U.S. Government Accountability Office</a>, Congress appropriated more than $174 billion for Ukraine. The funds have been used for security assistance and weaponry, or for economic and humanitarian assistance, including direct budget support for the Ukrainian government, aid for refugees, improving the health sector, and repairing infrastructure such as the energy grid.
Zelensky said he is not attempting to argue with the United States by claiming he is getting nearly $70 billion less than the United States government is reporting.
“It&#8217;s important that both countries and — the taxpayers know — where their money is,” he said. “In terms of the use of that money primarily, it was for the weapons that were used on the battlefield.”
In total, the Ukrainian government was directly given $22.9 billion by USAID for direct budget support, mostly for reimbursing salaries for teachers, civil servants, and health care workers, according to the GAO.
“We are very grateful for all that,” Zelensky said. “The United States has to know that they were not feeding our pensioners and our soldiers with regards to the salary or the compensation. Surely you&#8217;ve provided the most important aspects — that is the weapons.”
The GAO recommended several ways to improve oversight of funding in Ukraine, including tracking the unprecedented amount of military equipment given to the country, making training initiatives more efficient, properly assessing the value of assets given, and more.
The report also points out that the State Department does not have a “systematic, comprehensive approach to specifically track funding that federal agencies have provided for economic and humanitarian assistance to Ukraine.”
Zelensky argued that the United States benefited from providing financial support to Ukraine because it has received intel about weaponry, including drones being used in the current conflict.
Zelensky added that Ukraine is keeping Russia from invading NATO countries that would pull the United States into a much larger war.
“I’ve mentioned it many times before, the U.S. will have to protect the other NATO countries, because such an agreement exists, or the U.S. will have to leave NATO,” Zelensky said. “So as long as Russians are not in any single NATO member nation, your families are not facing this question. So that will be a major question for your families: Are they going to send your child to war?&#8221;

Ben Shapiro

Best Of 2025: Zelensky Tells Ben Shapiro He’s Open To An Audit On How Ukraine Spends U.S. Taxpayer Dollars

Editor’s note: This week, we’re reprinting some of our best stories from the past year. In this piece, originally published in April, Daily Wire Editor Emeritus Ben Shapiro offered Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky the opportunity to respond to accusations that Christians are being persecuted in Ukraine.
Ben Shapiro confronted Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky over allegations of Christian persecution and forcibly conscripting men off the street in a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/ben-shapiro-probes-zelensky-in-ukraine-as-clock-ticks-on-peace-deal?author=Kassy+Akiva&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=undefined&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Ben+Shapiro+Probes+Zelensky+In+Ukraine+As+Clock+Ticks+On+Peace+Deal" target="_blank" rel="noopener">face-to-face interview</a> in war-torn Kyiv this week.
Shapiro questioned Zelensky on the concerns that he has cracked down on the religious freedom of the Russian Orthodox Church — marking one of the first times the Ukrainian leader has been pressed on such issues by a member of the American media.
“There have been a lot of accusations that there&#8217;s been a crackdown on religious freedom in Ukraine, particularly with regard to the Russian Orthodox Church,” Shapiro said. “Maybe you can respond to the accusations that there&#8217;s a restriction on religious freedom with regard to Russian Orthodox in Ukraine.”
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Zelensky started off by observing that Shapiro witnessed him moments before the interview holding a meeting with the leaders of 15 different religious sects who make up the All-Ukrainian Council of Churches and Religious Organizations.
“We have a meeting like that a couple of times per year, and I truly visit some of the churches’ sites,” he said. “I believe that what Ukraine has is the largest council of churches in Europe. All of our churches are united — different religions, different believers, and everyone is united.”
Zelensky said that there is no pressure on religious institutions generally, but admitted that the Ukrainian government has cracked down on some churches that he believes are working on behalf of Russia’s intelligence agency.
“The Moscow church is just another agency of the KGB,” Zelensky said. “Everyone knows that Russia’s special services are in control of the church.”
Zelensky said that the churches must be free of influence and that “Moscow cannot be in control.”
“The legislative changes in Ukraine are related to the fact that there could be no connection between Moscow and the church,” Zelensky said, referring to a 2024 law <a href="https://www.hrw.org/news/2024/10/30/ukraine-new-law-raises-religious-freedom-concerns" target="_blank" rel="noopener">banning religious organizations</a> with ties to the Russian Orthodox Church. <a href="https://www.hrw.org/news/2024/10/30/ukraine-new-law-raises-religious-freedom-concerns" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Human Rights Watch</a> raised concerns about the law&#8217;s broad scope and its potential to target the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, the country’s main religious body, founded in 1990 when it split from the Russian Orthodox Church.
Zelensky denied that any churches were closed but pointed out that he and Shapiro were outside the Saint Sophia Cathedral, a UNESCO World Heritage site, whose foundations are believed to have been laid in 1011.
“Sophia is older than Russia&#8217;s capital city and any churches they have,” Zelensky said. “That&#8217;s the answer. We shouldn&#8217;t be having any disputes. We have scientific evidence. We are just saying that our church should be free from any authorities. It&#8217;s free for the people.”
“Nobody closed anything or anyone. But it can&#8217;t be the case that Russia&#8217;s KGB is in control of the church in Ukraine. Everyone is against these legal ties.”
Shapiro also pressed Zelensky on the reports that Ukrainian men have been kidnapped off the streets and forcibly recruited into the military — a claim that Vice President JD Vance brought up during Zelensky’s contentious <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-and-vance-clash-with-zelensky-in-fiery-white-house-meeting" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Oval Office meeting</a> in March.
“There have been reports online that people are being picked up off the streets and in places in eastern Ukraine and recruited into services,” Shapiro asked. “How do you respond to accusations and videos like that?”
In response, Zelensky called the act “military mobilization” and said that it’s a policy created in accordance with martial law after the 2022 Russian invasion.
“The country is at war,” Zelensky said. “That is why we do have mobilization. We want the war to end…but as long as there is war, as long as we have the law, there is still mobilization.”
Zelensky downplayed the accusations, claiming that there are “different approaches&#8221; to military mobilization and that taking men off the streets is not “the main thing that describes Ukraine today.”
“No, Ukraine has 800,000 right now, or 600,000 people who volunteered to go to the army,” he said. “That was the law on mobilization, but the people were volunteering to go and defend Ukraine.”
Zelensky added that the issue is “not massive” and that he believes law enforcement should be “making sure that everything would be transparent” and that there is “no coercion.”
“We shouldn&#8217;t be hiding that like a corruption,” he went on. “If we are fighting with this on an everyday basis — well, of course, you can hide it, like everything, as in [the] case in Russia or in some European countries — but Ukraine clearly shows that it is fighting on a constant basis against aspects like that. But those are kind of singular cases. This is not massive. That&#8217;s more important, and that should be reducing on a daily basis. We&#8217;re doing that.”

Best Of 2025: Ben Shapiro Confronts Zelensky On Christian Persecution And Conscription In Exclusive Interview

President Donald Trump talked to Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday, a day after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky met with Trump at Mar-a-Lago, as the United States seeks to finally bring an end to the Ukraine-Russia war.
Trump&#8217;s discussion with Putin on Monday was &#8220;positive,&#8221; <a href="https://x.com/PressSec/status/2005668576771051870">according</a> to White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, who did not reveal any details of the phone call. Trump also <a href="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/115798213364038844">said</a> he spoke to Putin in a &#8220;productive telephone call&#8221; just prior to his meeting with Zelensky on Sunday.
During a press conference alongside Zelensky following their meeting, Trump <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-peace-deal-in-ukraine-is-closer-than-ever-save-a-few-thorny-issues">said</a> that he believes a peace deal between Ukraine and Russia is &#8220;closer than ever,&#8221; adding, “In a few weeks, we will know one way or the other.” Zelensky added that Ukrainian negotiators have agreed to about 90% of Trump&#8217;s 20-point peace plan, while Trump said Ukraine agreed to 95% of it. Trump proposed a 28-point peace plan last month, but it was reduced to 20 points during negotiations.
“Our meeting was excellent, we covered — somebody would say 95 percent, I don’t know what percent — but we have made a lot of progress on ending that war,” Trump said on Sunday.
While Trump remains optimistic about the peace negotiations, Putin has shown no signs of slowing down his campaign to take over Ukraine.
Russia continued to pummel Ukraine with missiles and drones over the weekend, just ahead of Trump&#8217;s meeting with Zelensky. Kyiv, along with other parts of Ukraine, was targeted with hundreds of missiles and drones on Saturday. At least two people were killed, and 46 others were wounded in the attacks, Reuters <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/russian-drones-missiles-pound-ukraine-before-zelenskiy-trump-meeting-2025-12-27/">reported</a>. Zelensky argued that Russia’s aggression was a direct response by Putin to Ukraine’s negotiations with Trump.
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&#8220;Today, Russia demonstrated how it responds to peaceful negotiations between Ukraine and the United States to end Russia&#8217;s war against Ukraine,&#8221; Zelensky said on Saturday.
Russia also accused Ukraine of targeting a presidential residence in a drone attack that was thwarted by Russian defenses. Zelensky denied the accusation, calling it a &#8220;new lie&#8221; from Moscow.
Russia has signaled that it does not agree with some of Trump&#8217;s peace plan, including how large Ukraine&#8217;s military would remain under the conditions, Bloomberg <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-12-29/trump-putin-held-positive-call-on-ukraine-white-house-says">reported</a>. Another major sticking point in the negotiations is Ukraine’s Donbas region, which is largely under Russian control despite continued fighting by Ukrainian troops.
Zelensky, meanwhile, said on Monday that he wants security guarantees from the United States to last up to 50 years if he agrees to the peace deal. Under the current proposal, the United States and Europe would provide security guarantees for 15 years, with the possibility for an extension.
“I would like the guarantee to be much longer,” Zelensky said. “We would like to consider the possibility of 30, 40, 50 years and then it will be a historic decision by Trump.”

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

Trump Holds ‘Positive’ Call With Putin After Zelensky Meeting

Donald Trump

Executive

Politics

President Donald Trump presses on for a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine, a fraudulent daycare scheme adds to the scandals in Minnesota, and major cities tighten security for New Year’s Eve celebrations.
It’s Monday, December 29, 2025, and this is the news you need to know to start your day. Today’s edition of the Morning Wire podcast can be heard below or on <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/mrn-251229">The Daily Wire</a>:
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<h2 style="text-align: center;">Trump Hosts Zelensky</h2>
As the war in Ukraine continues to rage, President Trump spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin and <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-peace-deal-in-ukraine-is-closer-than-ever-save-a-few-thorny-issues">hosted</a> Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Sunday, hoping to finalize a peace deal to end the war. Hours before the meeting, Russia hammered Kyiv with one of the most extensive airstrikes in months, killing four, wounding dozens, and knocking out power to much of the city. Trump described his meeting with Zelensky as “good and very productive.” Trump also said that “land” is a major sticking point in the peace process. Zelensky has vowed never to give up land to Russia, but did offer a compromise: turning some Ukrainian land in the East into a demilitarized zone. As an apparent show of good faith toward Trump, Zelensky has also expressed a new willingness to hold nationwide elections, a move Trump has long called for.
<h2 style="text-align: center;">Empty Somali-Run Daycares Bilk Taxpayers For Millions</h2>
New reports of rampant fraud across dozens of Minnesota daycares have <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/shocking-video-exposes-more-apparent-somali-linked-fraud-in-walzs-minnesota">stirred</a> controversy online and even attracted the attention of federal lawmakers and the FBI. Independent journalist Nick Shirley posted a roughly 40-minute investigative documentary online that racked up tens of millions of views within days. Shirley claims that he uncovered more than $100 million in fraud involving Somali-run businesses. For example, Shirley and his co-investigator identified a childcare center that has received millions in taxpayer funds, but no one has seen the children purportedly cared for there. The explosive report has increased pressure on Minnesota Democratic Gov. Tim Walz to be held accountable.
<h2 style="text-align: center;">Trump Admin’s Anti-Terror And Immigration Operations</h2>
While Americans took time to unwind over the holiday season, the Trump administration was active on several fronts. Alongside its aggressive foreign policy and national security moves abroad, it continued its immigration and counterterrorism operations at home. Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard has been ramping up her <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/tulsi-gabbard-warns-that-islamist-ideology-is-freedoms-greatest-threat">warning</a> about the threat posed by terror actors, especially after the Bondi Beach massacre in Australia and the attacks on U.S. servicemembers in Syria. Major cities worldwide, including in the United States, have <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/major-cities-scuttle-new-years-plans-amid-increased-islamist-terror-threats" target="_blank" rel="noopener">altered</a> or canceled New Year’s celebrations due to security concerns. In the meantime, the Trump administration’s deportation operations have continued.

MRN_251229_V1

Morning Brief: Zelensky Visits Mar-A-Lago, Minnesota Daycare Fraud & New Year’s Terrorism Risks

Media

Minnesota

Morning Wire

Tim Walz

Tulsi Gabbard

President Donald Trump said on Sunday that he believes Russia and Ukraine are &#8220;closer than ever&#8221; to reaching a peace deal that would finally bring about an end to the carnage and bloodshed of the last nearly four years of war.
&#8220;In a few weeks, we will know one way or the other,&#8221; Trump said in a Mar-a-Lago press conference alongside Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, where he also revealed that he&#8217;d spoken at length to Russian President Vladimir Putin earlier in the day. &#8220;It&#8217;s been a very difficult negotiation.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
.<a href="https://twitter.com/POTUS?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@POTUS</a> delivers remarks upon meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr <a href="https://twitter.com/ZelenskyyUa?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@ZelenskyyUa</a> at Mar-a-Lago: &#8220;We had a terrific meeting. We discussed a lot of things. As you know, I had an excellent phone call with President Putin&#8230; and I do think we&#8217;re getting a lot closer.&#8221; <a href="https://t.co/tIHjR0wko2">pic.twitter.com/tIHjR0wko2</a>
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) <a href="https://twitter.com/RapidResponse47/status/2005397981361566190?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 28, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
&#8220;We had a terrific meeting. We discussed a lot of things. As you know, I had an excellent phone call with President Putin,&#8221; <a href="https://x.com/RapidResponse47/status/2005399260355825824">Trump said</a> as the press conference began. &#8220;And I do think we&#8217;re getting a lot closer &#8230; We could be very close. There are one or two very thorny issues &#8230; but I think we&#8217;re doing very well. We made a lot of progress today.&#8221;
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Trump went on to <a href="https://x.com/RapidResponse47/status/2005400040559284280">explain</a> that Zelensky might need to take any deal upon which the leaders agreed to the parliament or to the people via a referendum — but, he added, &#8220;Everybody wants [the war] ended&#8230; I want it ended because I don&#8217;t want to see so many people dying.&#8221;
The president then took a number of questions — and when asked about the &#8220;<a href="https://x.com/RapidResponse47/status/2005400349428027582">thorny issues</a>&#8221; he&#8217;d mentioned earlier, Trump said that was almost entirely to do with the land that had been seized by Russian military forces and who would control it once the ink was dry: &#8220;The land, they&#8217;re talking about. Some of that land has been taken, some of that land is maybe up for grabs, some of that land may be taken over the next couple of months &#8230; You&#8217;re better off making a deal now.&#8221;
Another reporter asked for a timeline, wondering how long it might take to get a deal across the finish line if they were, in fact, &#8220;closer than ever.&#8221; <a href="https://x.com/RapidResponse47/status/2005401647707484432">Trump&#8217;s response</a> was simple: &#8220;In a few weeks, we will know one way or the other&#8230; it&#8217;s been a very difficult negotiation.&#8221;
Reflecting on his earlier phone call with Putin, Trump said that the Russian president had seemed different than in past interactions.
&#8220;I saw a very interesting President Putin today,&#8221; he said. &#8220;I think we&#8217;re going to get there. .. I was on the phone with him for almost two-and-a-half hours. We discussed a lot of things. We didn&#8217;t talk about the weather.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
.<a href="https://twitter.com/POTUS?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@POTUS</a> on his call with Putin: &#8220;I saw a very interesting President Putin today&#8230; I think we&#8217;re going to get there&#8230; I was on the phone with him for almost two-and-a-half hours. We discussed a lot of things. We didn&#8217;t talk about the weather.&#8221; <a href="https://t.co/DUilLAh6lc">pic.twitter.com/DUilLAh6lc</a>
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) <a href="https://twitter.com/RapidResponse47/status/2005401716943106558?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 28, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
&#8220;I really believe we&#8217;re probably, Mr. President, closer than — by far — closer than ever before with both parties,&#8221; Trump declared, and when he looked over at Zelensky, the Ukrainian leader nodded his agreement.

President Donald Trump Hosts Visiting Ukrainian President Zelensky At Mar-a-Lago

Trump: Peace Deal In Ukraine Is ‘Closer Than Ever,’ Save A Few ‘Thorny Issues’

President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky are set to meet again on Sunday — this time at Mar-a-Lago — in hopes of moving closer to a finalized peace deal between Ukraine and Russia.
Zelensky <a href="https://x.com/ZelenskyyUa/status/2004443773309485550">confirmed</a> in an early morning post on Friday that he would be meeting with Trump &#8220;in the near future,&#8221; and Ukrainian officials said the meeting was scheduled for Sunday, Axios <a href="https://www.axios.com/2025/12/26/zelensky-trump-meet-ukraine-peace-plan">reported</a>. A White House official confirmed to the <a href="https://nypost.com/2025/12/26/world-news/trump-zelensky-meeting-planned-for-near-future-signaling-ukraine-war-progress/">New York Post</a> on Friday morning that the meeting will take place at Trump&#8217;s massive Florida estate, where he is expected to remain until January 4.
&#8220;We are not losing a single day. We have agreed on a meeting at the highest level – with President Trump in the near future. A lot can be decided before the New Year. Glory to Ukraine!&#8221; said Zelensky.
The meeting signals that the Trump administration remains optimistic that an agreement could be close. Zelensky spoke over the phone with Trump&#8217;s special envoy Steve Witkoff and the president&#8217;s son-in-law Jared Kushner on Christmas Day, with a U.S. official saying that the administration has &#8220;made more progress in the last two weeks than the last year.&#8221;
After his call with Witkoff and Kushner, Zelensky said he was hopeful that the &#8220;Christmas understandings and the ideas we discussed will prove useful.&#8221;
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“We went into many details; there are good ideas, which we discussed. We have some new ideas in terms of formats, meetings, and, of course, timing on how to bring a real peace closer,&#8221; Zelensky <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/12/26/world/europe/zelensky-trump-ukraine-russia.html">said</a>.
&#8220;We are truly working 24/7 to bring closer the end of this brutal Russian war against Ukraine and to ensure that all documents and steps are realistic, effective, and reliable,&#8221; he added.
The Trump administration recently proposed a 28-point peace plan in another effort to bring an end to the war that is nearing the four-year mark. Zelensky has suggested that Ukraine agrees with some of the details of the plan, while adding that he wants to negotiate on other points. Under the plan, the Ukraine would agree to withdraw its troops from some of the disputed areas in Eastern Ukraine, which would become a demilitarized &#8220;free economic zone.&#8221; In return, the United States and Europe would give Ukraine security guarantees.
Russia, however, seems intent on taking control of all of the Donbas region. Another point of the peace proposal that has caused negotiations to stall is who will control of Ukraine&#8217;s Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant.

Trump/Zelensky

End Of Year Peace Push: Trump To Host Ukraine’s Zelensky At Mar-A-Lago

Trump To Meet Zelensky At Mar-A-Lago As U.S. Seeks To Push Peace Proposal Over The Finish Line

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky remained committed to retaining all Ukrainian territory on Monday, pushing back against a key demand in the Trump-initiated proposal to end the war.
After meeting with European leaders to discuss the peace proposal, Zelensky suggested that Ukrainian leaders lacked the authority to give up land and would continue to fight to defend all of its territory.
“Under our laws, under international law — and under moral law — we have no right to give anything away,” Zelensky said, according to <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2025/12/08/europe-ukraine-leaders-trump-plan/">The Washington Post</a>. “That is what we are fighting for.”
President Donald Trump told <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2025/12/09/donald-trump-full-interview-transcript-00681693">POLITICO</a> in a wide-ranging interview that was released on Tuesday that Ukraine needs to &#8220;play ball,&#8221; adding that &#8220;Russia has the upper hand.&#8221;
&#8220;They’re much bigger. They’re much stronger in that sense. I give the people of Ukraine and the military of Ukraine tremendous credit for the bravery and for the fighting and all of that. But you know, at some point, size will win, generally,&#8221; Trump added.
Trump&#8217;s 28-point peace plan, which is on the table before Zelensky and Russian dictator Vladimir Putin, <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/world/ukraine/trump-zelenskyy-hasnt-read-russia-ukraine-peace-plan-war-europe-putin-rcna247956" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reportedly</a> requires Ukraine to hand over some of its territory to Russia in exchange for the United States giving Ukraine security guarantees. Trump told POLITICO that Zelensky needs to &#8220;get on the ball and start accepting things.&#8221;
The two biggest hurdles to a peace deal are territorial disputes over Ukraine&#8217;s Donbas region and the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, according to U.S. Special Envoy for Ukraine Keith Kellogg. Russian forces now control most of the Donbas, but Ukraine has not given up the region. Kellogg said over the weekend that Ukraine and Russia are &#8220;really, really close&#8221; to a deal, but Zelensky&#8217;s latest remark and comments from Russian officials suggest otherwise.
Putin’s top foreign policy aide said on Sunday that the United States needs to make “radical changes” to its proposal before Russia moves forward with a deal.
The president said that Russia&#8217;s continued missile strikes on Ukraine, which have killed dozens of civilians in recent weeks, are &#8220;a sad thing for humanity.&#8221;
On Sunday, Trump said that he was &#8220;disappointed&#8221; in Zelensky&#8217;s lack of movement on peace negotiations, accusing the Ukrainian leader of not reading the proposal to end the Ukraine-Russia war.
&#8220;His people love it, but he has it. Russia is fine with it … but I’m not sure Zelensky is fine with it,&#8221; Trump said.
Trump also called on Zelensky to hold an election, something Ukraine has not done since the beginning of the war in February 2022.
&#8220;I think it’s an important time to hold an election. They’re using war not to hold an election, but, I would think the Ukrainian people should have that choice,&#8221; Trump said. &#8220;And maybe Zelensky would win. I don’t know who would win. But they haven’t had an election in a long time. You know, they talk about a democracy, but it gets to a point where it’s not a democracy anymore.&#8221;

Zelensky Vows Not To Cede Territory As Trump Says Russia Has ‘Upper Hand’

Trump leans on both Ukraine and Russia as peace negotiations grind on, Daily Wire investigative reporter Luke Rosiak heads to Capitol Hill, and a new memo reveals Biden knew his immigration policies would have chaotic consequences—and chose to proceed anyway.
It’s Tuesday, December 9, 2025, and this is the news you need to know to start your day. Today’s edition of the Morning Wire podcast can be heard below, and the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/mrn-251209-member-exclusive">video version can be seen on The Daily Wir</a>e:
<iframe style="width: 100%; max-width: 660px; overflow: hidden; border-radius: 10px;" src="https://embed.podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/trump-presses-zelensky-bidens-immigration-ignorance/id1576594336?i=1000740381305" height="175" frameborder="0" sandbox="allow-forms allow-popups allow-same-origin allow-scripts allow-storage-access-by-user-activation allow-top-navigation-by-user-activation"></iframe>
<h2 style="text-align: center;">Zelensky Rallies European Support Amid U.S. Peace Talks</h2>
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-1011783" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/Trump-Presses-Zelensky-300x169.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="169" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/Trump-Presses-Zelensky-300x169.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/Trump-Presses-Zelensky-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/Trump-Presses-Zelensky-768x432.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/Trump-Presses-Zelensky-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/Trump-Presses-Zelensky.jpg 1920w" sizes=" (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />
Topline: President Zelensky met with European leaders on Monday to rally support for the war.
State of play: Peace talks have made some progress over the past few weeks, but that progress has stalled. After President Trump <a href="https://x.com/RapidResponse47/status/1997812364931195249">appeared</a> frustrated on Sunday and suggested that Zelensky was ignoring the peace plan, the Ukrainian president addressed the current framework on Monday.
According to Zelensky, the disagreement is over the Donbas region in Ukraine’s east. The Trump administration reportedly wants Ukraine to hand over control of the rest of the Donbas to Russia, which controls most of it already. In return, Ukraine would get security guarantees and financing to help rebuild. But Zelensky says he can’t because the Ukrainian constitution forbids ceding territory that way.
Zelensky’s corner: Zelensky wants a freeze along the current lines of the conflict. And he doesn’t appear to be alone. European leaders seem frustrated, too.
Zelensky appeared in London on Monday and met with the E3, or the top leaders in Europe: U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer, French President Emmanuel Macron, and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz.
“The principles remain the principles that we&#8217;ve operated on for a very, very long time, which is that we stand with Ukraine. If there&#8217;s to be a ceasefire, it needs to be a just and lasting ceasefire,” <a href="https://x.com/ZelenskyyUa/status/1998077179251261884">said</a> Starmer.
Merz was the most vocal about disagreements with the United States:
“We are still and remain strongly behind Ukraine and giving support to your country because we all know that the destiny of [Ukraine] is the destiny of Europe,” <a href="https://x.com/ZelenskyyUa/status/1998077179251261884">said</a> Merz. “I&#8217;m skeptical about some of the details which we are seeing in the documents coming from the U.S. side, but we have to talk about that.”
<h2 style="text-align: center;">The Daily Wire To Testify Before Congress </h2>
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-1011785" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/DEI-On-Display-300x169.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="169" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/DEI-On-Display-300x169.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/DEI-On-Display-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/DEI-On-Display-768x432.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/DEI-On-Display-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/DEI-On-Display.jpg 1920w" sizes=" (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />
Topline: Daily Wire investigative reporter Luke Rosiak will testify to the Senate on Wednesday as an <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/daily-wires-luke-rosiak-will-testify-before-the-senate-on-massive-federal-dei-scheme">expert</a> on what he calls the government’s longest-running, largest, and most corrupt DEI program. Morning Wire spoke to Rosiak ahead of his appearance in the Senate. (The following interview has been lightly edited.)
Morning Wire: The Senate Small Business Committee oversees the Small Business Administration and its government-wide minority contracting program called 8(a) or “set-aside contracting.&#8221; Luke, you’re getting prepared to testify–that’s very exciting. First, how did this come about–it’s actually years in the making, right?
Rosiak: About 15 years ago, I was sitting in a cafe doing some computer programming when I got offered a job. A well-dressed black man was sitting next to me and said he noticed that I was programming in C++, and that he needed to hire some people quickly for the computer programming company he owned.
The problem is I was coding in a different language that looks nothing like C++. I tried to figure out how he owned a computer company and didn’t know that. He said it was an 8(a) contract from the government, and that he just gets contracts and then finds people to do the work.
It struck me that this is a pretty poor way to run the government. I’m not even a professional computer programmer; I just dabble in it. But for all I know, he was ready to hire me to build some sensitive government system.
Anyway, instead of taking the job, I dug into this 8(a) program, and what I found was that that’s more or less exactly how it works.
Morning Wire: Explain to us–what exactly is going on here?
Rosiak: If you’re a racial minority, the government can give you a contract without trying to find the best price or the best person.
More than five percent of all federal contracts are reserved for minorities and women, who are often really just men who put their company in their wife’s name. The program was created in 1978 to help black people, but now it’s gone really off the rails. Indians get preference for contracts even though they have a higher median income than whites, and they’re overrepresented in fields like IT, which didn’t even exist prior to the civil rights era. 
Morning Wire: So some of the people receiving these preferential U.S. government contracts are actually foreigners, people who are minorities because they’re immigrants.
Rosiak: Yes. But what I’m going to tell the Senate is that the scandal here is a little different than you might think. It’s really a loophole exploited by the government and big corporations, you heard Accenture mentioned in that video, to circumvent competitive bidding.
<h2 style="text-align: center;">Early Warnings About Border Chaos</h2>
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-1011787" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/Willful-Border-Chaos-300x169.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="169" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/Willful-Border-Chaos-300x169.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/Willful-Border-Chaos-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/Willful-Border-Chaos-768x432.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/Willful-Border-Chaos-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/Willful-Border-Chaos.jpg 1920w" sizes=" (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />
Topline: A new report reveals that former President Biden was told he could’ve stopped illegal immigration, but chose not to during his tenure in the White House. 
A shocking <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/12/07/us/politics/biden-immigration-trump.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">report</a> from The New York Times said that President Biden was warned while on the campaign trail, before he even assumed office, that some of his immigration policies would lead to political chaos. That&#8217;s exactly what happened as the consequences of Biden’s policies began to unfold at the border.
The record amounts of illegal immigration that swamped the border, then towns, then major cities, drove the immigration issue to become a priority for voters in the next election. The issue also likely played a major role in President Trump&#8217;s victory.
According to The New York Times, there were a number of memos and meetings where aides and experts brought up immigration and warned the Biden team that his policies needed to be stricter or the border would descend into what it became, which was millions of illegal immigrants coming across in a free-for-all.
In a 2020 memo from aides cautioned Biden’s “inner circle” “that his promises—coupled with pent-up demand from the Trump years and economic hardship from Covid—could provoke a spike in border crossings,” according to the Times.
The memo offered potential solutions to tighten permissions for illegal border crossers, “including making it easier to quickly reject asylum claims; holding people in ‘reception centers’ until their cases could be heard; transferring some migrants to other countries; and continuing to make some asylum seekers wait in Mexico, while ensuring they had access to shelter,” the Times reported.
Coulda, woulda, shoulda: After the fact, many former officials are saying there were many mistakes made on the Biden team and by Biden himself, who knowingly went against this advice. They scrapped rules such as asylum restrictions and remain in Mexico, which kept people in Mexico rather than releasing them into the United States after they crossed illegally.
After the changes, the number of illegal crossings ticked up–8 million illegal immigrants crossed into the country and many were released. Border authorities conducted poor vetting because Biden wanted a very quick, expeditious process. That let in terrorists, traffickers, and cartel members that led to chaos across the country, such as in Aurora, Colorado, where Tren de Aragua took over apartment complexes.

Luke Rosiak

Morning Brief: Get A Sneak Peak Of Daily Wire Investigative Reporter Luke Rosiak’s Senate Testimony

Emmanuel Macron

Immigration

Joe Biden

Keir Starmer

Small Business Administration

The Daily Wire

President Donald Trump called out Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Sunday, accusing him of not acting on the Trump administration&#8217;s proposal to end the Ukraine-Russia war.
Speaking to reporters at the Kennedy Center on Sunday evening, Trump <a href="https://x.com/RapidResponse47/status/1997812364931195249">suggested</a> that his team&#8217;s discussions with Russian dictator Vladimir Putin and Zelensky have been held up by the Ukrainian president.
&#8220;I have to say that I&#8217;m a little bit disappointed that President Zelensky hasn&#8217;t yet read the proposal. That was as of a few hours ago,&#8221; Trump said. &#8220;His people love it, but he has it. Russia is fine with it &#8230; but I&#8217;m not sure Zelensky is fine with it.&#8221;
Zelensky said on Sunday that he spoke with Trump&#8217;s special envoy, Steve Witkoff, and the president&#8217;s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, but that the conversation was &#8220;not easy,&#8221; NBC News <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/world/ukraine/trump-zelenskyy-hasnt-read-russia-ukraine-peace-plan-war-europe-putin-rcna247956">reported</a>.
“The American envoys are aware of Ukraine’s core positions, and the conversation was constructive, though not easy,” Zelensky said.
Zelensky <a href="https://x.com/ZelenskyyUa/status/1997797626931023883">added</a> in a post on social media that Ukraine wants to see Russia &#8220;held accountable for what it is doing — for the daily strikes, for the constant terror against our people, and for the war itself.&#8221;
&#8220;Ukraine deserves a dignified peace, and whether there will be peace depends entirely on Russia – on our collective pressure on Russia and on the sound negotiating positions of the United States, Europe, and all our other partners,&#8221; the Ukrainian president said.
Zelensky is set to meet with European leaders in London, Brussels, and Rome on Monday as Europe attempts to influence the Trump-initiated peace talks while watching from the outside.
While Trump said that Russia &#8220;is fine with&#8221; the proposed peace deal, Putin&#8217;s top foreign policy aide, Yuri Ushakov, said on Sunday that the United States needs to make &#8220;<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/u-s-envoy-says-ukraine-peace-deal-is-close-but-moscow-wants-radical-change?author=Reuters&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=undefined&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=U.S.+Envoy+says+Ukraine+Peace+Deal+Is+Close%2C+But+Moscow+Wants+Radical+Change">radical changes</a>&#8221; to its proposal. Ushakov did not specify what exactly the Kremlin wanted from the United States or Ukraine, but added that Putin discussed &#8220;territorial problems&#8221; with Witkoff and Kushner during a four-hour meeting in Moscow last week.
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Russia has been pushing for control of the Donbas region of Ukraine. Putin&#8217;s forces now control most of the Donbas, but Ukraine is holding onto part of the region as the war continues. The two biggest hurdles remaining in the peace negotiations are territorial disputes over the Donbas and Ukraine&#8217;s Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, according to U.S. Special Envoy for Ukraine Keith Kellogg.
Kellogg said that Russia and Ukraine are &#8220;really, really close&#8221; to a deal.
“If we get those two issues settled, I think the rest of the things will work out fairly well,” Kellogg said. “We’re almost there.”
After promising to end the Ukraine-Russia war on his first day back in office, Trump&#8217;s negotiations for the end of the conflict have stalled and restarted multiple times throughout the first year of his second term. Last month, the Trump administration rekindled peace negotiations with a 28-point plan to end the war. American and Ukrainian officials met in Miami for three days last week for more peace talks, but so far, there has been no movement from those meetings.

Trump ‘Disappointed’ Zelensky ‘Hasn’t Yet Read’ His Peace Proposal

U.S. President Donald Trump&#8217;s outgoing Ukraine envoy said a deal to end the Ukraine war was &#8220;really close&#8221; and depended on resolving just two major issues but the Kremlin said there had to be radical changes to some of the U.S. proposals.
Trump, who says he wants to be remembered as a &#8220;peacemaker&#8221; president, says that ending Europe&#8217;s deadliest conflict since World War Two has so far been the most elusive foreign policy aim of his presidency.
Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022 after eight years of fighting between Russian-backed separatists and Ukrainian troops in the Donbas, which is made up of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions.
U.S. Special Envoy for Ukraine Keith Kellogg, who is due to step down in January, told the Reagan National Defense Forum that efforts to resolve the conflict were in &#8220;the last 10 meters&#8221; which he said was always the hardest.
The two main outstanding issues, Kellogg said, were on territory &#8211; primarily the future of the Donbas &#8211; and the future of Ukraine&#8217;s Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, Europe&#8217;s largest, which is under Russian control.
&#8220;If we get those two issues settled, I think the rest of the things will work out fairly well,&#8221; Kellogg said on Saturday at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Museum in Simi Valley, California. &#8220;We&#8217;re almost there.&#8221;
&#8220;We&#8217;re really, really close,&#8221; said Kellogg.
After President Vladimir Putin held four hours of Kremlin talks last week with Trump&#8217;s special envoy, Steve Witkoff, and Trump&#8217;s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, Putin&#8217;s top foreign policy aide, Yuri Ushakov, said &#8220;territorial problems&#8221; were discussed.
That is Kremlin shorthand for Russian claims to the whole of Donbas, though Ukraine is still in control of at least 5,000 square km (1,900 square miles) of the area. Almost all countries recognize Donbas as part of Ukraine.
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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said that handing over the rest of Donetsk would be illegal without a referendum and would give Russia a platform to launch assaults deeper into Ukraine in the future.
Ushakov was quoted by Russian media on Sunday as saying that the United States would have to &#8220;make serious, I would say, radical changes to their papers&#8221; on Ukraine. He did not clarify what changes Moscow wanted Washington to make.
Zelensky said on Saturday that he had had a long and &#8220;substantive&#8221; phone call with Witkoff and Kushner. The Kremlin has said it expects Kushner to be doing the main work on drafting a possible deal.
Kellogg, a retired lieutenant general who served in Vietnam, Panama and Iraq, said the scale of the death and injuries caused by the Ukraine war was &#8220;horrific&#8221; and unprecedented in terms of a regional war.
Kellogg said that, together, Russia and Ukraine have suffered more than 2 million casualties, including dead and wounded since the war began. Neither Russia nor Ukraine disclose credible estimates of their losses.
Russia currently controls 19.2% of Ukraine, including Crimea, which it annexed in 2014, all of Luhansk, more than 80% of Donetsk, about 75% of Kherson and Zaporizhzhia, and slivers of the Kharkiv, Sumy, Mykolaiv and Dnipropetrovsk regions.
A leaked set of 28 U.S. draft peace proposals emerged last month, alarming Ukrainian and European officials who said it bowed to Moscow&#8217;s main demands on NATO, Russian control of a fifth of Ukraine and restrictions on Ukraine&#8217;s army.
(Reporting by Guy Faulconbridge in Moscow; Editing by Elaine Hardcastle)

Donald Trump/Vladimir Putin/Volodymyr Zelensky

U.S. Envoy says Ukraine Peace Deal Is Close, But Moscow Wants Radical Change

U.S. negotiators head to Moscow after huddling over a peace framework with Ukraine officials, Luigi Mangione arrives at a Manhattan courtroom for pre-trial hearings in his murder case, and the Supreme Court hears arguments on who is responsible for music piracy.
It’s Tuesday, December 2, 2025, and this is the news you need to know to start your day. Today’s edition of the Morning Wire podcast can be heard below, and the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/mrn-251202">video version can be seen on The Daily Wire</a>:
<iframe style="width: 100%; max-width: 660px; overflow: hidden; border-radius: 10px;" src="https://embed.podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/moscow-peace-negotiations-mangione-contests-evidence/id1576594336?i=1000739259937" height="175" frameborder="0" sandbox="allow-forms allow-popups allow-same-origin allow-scripts allow-storage-access-by-user-activation allow-top-navigation-by-user-activation"></iframe>
<h2 style="text-align: center;">U.S. Negotiators In Moscow, And Trump’s Caribbean Crackdown</h2>
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-1008293" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/Peace-Within-Reach-300x169.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="169" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/Peace-Within-Reach-300x169.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/Peace-Within-Reach-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/Peace-Within-Reach-768x432.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/Peace-Within-Reach-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/Peace-Within-Reach.jpg 1920w" sizes=" (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />
Topline: U.S. negotiators are in Moscow on Tuesday to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin as the White House faces growing scrutiny over its drug crackdown in the Caribbean. 
Ukraine peace deal: Last week, a draft of the U.S. peace plan leaked, including significant concessions from Ukraine. After outrage from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and virtually every European head of state, the White House spent the following days meeting with Ukrainian officials who lobbied for more favorable terms.
Specifically, Ukrainian officials want to remove portions of the text that hand over large swaths of land in the East and cap their military at 600,000 personnel. And perhaps most importantly, they want explicit guarantees that if Russia invades in the future, the U.S. and NATO will have their back.
Those talks concluded Sunday in Miami, where three of Zelensky’s top advisers huddled with Secretary of State Marco Rubio. Ukraine’s secretary of national security called the meetings productive and said, “The U.S. is hearing us, supporting us, and walking beside us.”
Witkoff to Moscow: Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, the president’s son-in-law, are in Moscow on Tuesday for an expected sit-down with Putin. But he’s unlikely to sign on to the current deal if it doesn’t allow him to seize large portions of land in Eastern Ukraine’s Donbas region, including some territory still in Ukrainian hands.
Speaking last week, Putin warned that “when Ukrainian troops leave the territories they hold, then the fighting will stop. If they don’t, then we’ll achieve that through military means.”
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But the reality is, even if Zelensky agreed to hand over land in exchange for peace, which seems unlikely at the moment, there are significant legal hurdles. Under the Ukrainian constitution, any change to the country’s borders must be approved by voters through a nationwide referendum.
Caribbean capers: The administration is facing increased scrutiny over White House <a href="https://thehill.com/homenews/5628447-defense-secretary-authorizes-drug-boat-strike/">confirmation</a> that Secretary of War Pete Hegseth authorized, but did not order, a follow-up strike on a suspected drug vessel after at least two people survived the initial strike.
On Monday, Democrats continued to slam Hegseth and the president, accusing them of committing war crimes. Now, Congress is stepping in, with the Republican-led armed services committees in the House and Senate vowing to conduct “vigorous oversight” and a “full accounting” of the alleged incident.
<h2 style="text-align: center;">Luigi Mangione In Court For Pre-Trial Hearings</h2>
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Topline: Luigi Mangione, the man charged with murdering UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, appeared in a New York City courtroom this week for key pre-trial hearings.
Mangione, a 27-year-old Ivy League grad, has been charged with stalking and killing Thompson in December 2024. Thompson, a father of two, was shot from behind while walking toward a New York City hotel to attend a corporate investor conference.
Prosecutors say Thompson was targeted over the suspect’s grievances with the health insurance industry, citing a “manifesto.” Recovered shell casings also had the inscriptions, “delay,” “deny,” and “depose.” Mangione is facing life in prison for the state case against him, and potentially the death penalty if he’s convicted in the federal case. Mangione has pleaded not guilty on all counts.
The state case: Mangione appeared in a New York City court on Monday to begin a pre-trial evidentiary hearing. His lawyers are asking that key evidence be suppressed at trial, arguing that it was found on Mangione without a warrant and before Mangione was read his Miranda rights.
The evidence in question is crucial to the case, including the 9 mm handgun matching the murder weapon, and a notebook that prosecutors say contains writings revealing Mangione’s motive for the assassination. The defense also wants statements Mangione allegedly made to police, which they say were made before the suspect was read his rights, tossed.
The prosecution’s case: Prosecutors say the search of Mangione’s backpack was lawful and not unreasonable, as officers needed to search the suspect’s bag for safety reasons. Officers needed to ensure there were no weapons or dangerous items on Mangione when they found him at a McDonald&#8217;s in Pennsylvania. That was after a days-long national manhunt.
As far as the statements Mangione made before being read his Miranda rights, the state says Mangione spoke to them voluntarily and before he was in formal custody, so the Miranda requirement doesn’t apply. They also note that the only statement they plan to use is when officers asked Mangione for his name, and he allegedly gave a false name in response.
Looking ahead: Pre-trial hearings in the state case could last several weeks.
As for the federal case, the next court appearance is scheduled for Friday, and a trial date may be set then. Prosecutors have filed a &#8220;notice of intent&#8221; to seek the death penalty.
<h2 style="text-align: center;">SCOTUS Hearing On Music Piracy Case</h2>
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Topline: The Supreme Court is stepping into a billion-dollar showdown that&#8217;s pitting the music industry against internet giants. Cox Communications v. Sony Music will decide who’s responsible for illegal downloading of copyrighted content – and whether millions of Americans could lose their broadband access. 
At its core, this case asks whether an internet service provider can be held financially liable for its subscribers&#8217; illegal downloading or sharing of copyrighted material. It’s called “secondary liability.”
This began back in 2018 when major record labels like Sony, Warner Brothers, and Universal first filed a bombshell lawsuit against Cox, the third-largest broadband provider in the country. They accused Cox of ignoring rampant music piracy. This was primarily peer-to-peer file-sharing via BitTorrent. Think sites like The Pirate Bay.
In 2019, a Virginia jury ruled against Cox and awarded the plaintiffs a staggering $1 billion for allowing &#8220;habitual offenders&#8221; to steal more than 10,000 works.
But the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals tossed the damages, so Cox didn’t have to pay the $1 billion. But the Court upheld the liability. Cox appealed, and on Monday, SCOTUS heard oral arguments in the case.
The case: The main question the justices focused on was whether Cox had an obligation to terminate broadband internet provision of content thieves once the music companies had informed them of the theft.
Cox’s attorney argued they can’t set a standard here because there would be no way to isolate and punish a single user when it comes to massive accounts like universities, hospitals, and office buildings.
If the Court sides with Cox, it would reaffirm broad protections for ISPs and possibly constrain how aggressively artists and content creators can pursue copyright claims. But if the Court sides with the record labels, that could have a massive impact on millions of Americans, establishing a standard under which internet service providers are required to police user activity and cut off service to anyone found illegally downloading content.

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