Trump threatens Russia tariffs if Ukraine war is not resolved within 50 days
'We're going to be doing very severe tariffs if we don't have a deal in 50 days,' Mr Trump said.
He did not provide specifics on how the tariffs would be implemented.
'I use trade for a lot of things,' he added.
'But it's great for settling wars.'
President Donald Trump (Evan Vucci/AP)
Meanwhile, Mr Trump's special envoy to Ukraine and Russia met with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv on Monday, as anticipation grew over a possible shift in the Trump administration's policy on the three-year war.
Mr Rutte also planned to hold talks with US defence secretary Pete Hegseth and secretary of state Marco Rubio, as well as members of Congress.
Mr Trump made quickly stopping the war one of his diplomatic priorities, and he has increasingly expressed frustration about Russian president Vladimir Putin's unbudging stance on US-led peace efforts.
Mr Trump has long boasted of his friendly relationship with Mr Putin, and after taking office in January repeatedly said that Russia was more willing than Ukraine to reach a peace deal.
At the same time, Mr Trump accused Mr Zelensky of prolonging the war and called him a 'dictator without elections.'
But Russia's relentless onslaught against civilian areas of Ukraine wore down Mr Trump's patience. In April, Mr Trump urged Mr Putin to 'STOP!' launching deadly barrages on Kyiv, and the following month said in a social media post that the Russian leader ' has gone absolutely CRAZY!' as the bombardments continued.
'I am very disappointed with President Putin, I thought he was somebody that meant what he said,' Mr Trump said late on Sunday. 'He'll talk so beautifully and then he'll bomb people at night. We don't like that.'
Mr Zelensky said he and Mr Trump's envoy, retired Lt Gen Keith Kellogg, had 'a productive conversation' about strengthening Ukrainian air defences, joint arms production and purchasing US weapons in conjunction with European countries, as well as the possibility of tighter international sanctions on the Kremlin.
'We hope for the leadership of the United States, because it is clear that Moscow will not stop unless its … ambitions are stopped by force,' Mr Zelensky said on Telegram.
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The Guardian
18 minutes ago
- The Guardian
How the Jeffrey Epstein row plunged Maga world into turmoil
The Department of Justice's announcement that it did not have a list of Jeffrey Epstein's alleged clients, and that the convicted sex offender was not murdered, has plunged the rightwing world into turmoil. Conservative commentators and media figures, some of whom spent years pushing conspiracy theories about Epstein's death, have accused the government of covering up the hedge fund manager's crimes, with calls growing for Pam Bondi, the attorney general, to resign. The saga has pitted Trump, who was friends with Epstein for many years before later disowning the financier, against his base, with the president pleading over the weekend for his supporters to 'not waste time and energy on Jeffrey Epstein'. This is how we got here. Epstein is charged with federal sex-trafficking crimes in a Manhattan court. Prosecutors allege that Epstein, who was taken into custody, 'sexually exploited and abused dozens of minor girls' from 2002 to 2005 at homes in Manhattan and Palm Beach, Florida. Epstein pleads not guilty. The charges come more than a decade after Epstein and the Miami US attorney's office reached a deal that ended a federal investigation involving at least 40 teenage girls. Epstein pleaded guilty in 2008 to state charges, served 13 months in jail and registered as a sex offender. Guards find Epstein dead in his cell at Metropolitan Correctional Center in Manhattan. On 16 August New York's chief medical examiner rules that the cause of death was suicide by hanging, but lawyers for Epstein say they are dissatisfied with the medical examiner's conclusions. Trump shares a tweet from rightwing comedian Terrence Williams, which claims Bill and Hillary Clinton were involved in Epstein's death. After criticism, Trump doubles down, telling reporters: 'The question you have to ask is, did Bill Clinton go to the island? Because Epstein had an island. That was not a good place, as I understand it, and I was never there.' Trump adds: 'So you have to ask, did Bill Clinton go to the island? That's the question. If you find that out, you're going to know a lot.' A spokesman for the Clintons says the family knows nothing about the crimes committed by Epstein, who was known to have a number of famous and powerful associates, including Prince Andrew. Trump himself was friends with Epstein, and in 2002 said he had known Epstein for 15 years, describing him as a 'terrific guy'. The pair later fell out following a bidding war on a Florida property. The official ruling that Epstein committed suicide does little to quell conspiracy theorists. Much of the commentary, particularly from the rightwing, focuses on Epstein's relationship with liberal figures, including Clinton. The phrase 'Epstein didn't kill himself' begins to spread online, with Joe Rogan and even Republican members of Congress posting it on social media. Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein's ex-partner and longtime confidante, is convicted of sex trafficking. The judge says Maxwell is 'guilty of one of the worst crimes imaginable: facilitating and participating in the sexual abuse of children. Crimes that she committed with her longtime partner and co-conspirator, Jeffrey Epstein.' A trove of court documents identifying associates of Epstein are unsealed. The documents, which had been filed as part of a lawsuit against against Maxwell in 2015 by one of Epstein's victims, Virginia Giuffre. Bill Clinton, Michael Jackson, David Copperfield and Donald Trump were among those named in the documents – although none of the men were accused of wrongdoing. Giuffre claimed that Epstein and Maxwell forced her into a sexual encounter with Prince Andrew at age 17, and Giuffre sued Prince Andrew over the alleged sexual abuse. The suit settled in early 2022. Andrew has denied any wrongdoing. Trump, running for president, is asked in an interview if he would declassify 'the 9/11 files' and 'the JFK files'. He says yes. Trump is then asked if he would declassify 'the Epstein files', and initially says yes, but adds: 'I think that [declassifying the Epstein files], less so, because you don't know – you don't want to affect people's lives if there's phony stuff in there, because there's a lot of phony stuff with that whole world.' In an interview with Fox News, Pam Bondi is asked: 'The DoJ may be releasing the list of Jeffrey Epstein's clients, will that really happen?' Bondi replies: 'It's sitting on my desk right now to review.' Bondi will later suggest she was referring to Epstein case files, not a client list. After Trump and JD Vance pledged during the 2024 election campaign that they would release files relating to Epstein's crimes and contacts, the Department of Justice [DoJ] gives a group of conservative commentators binders labeled 'The Epstein Files: Phase 1'. The files contain little new information, leaving conspiracy theorists disappointed. Bondi describes the documents as the 'first phase of files', and in a statement the DoJ says it 'remains committed to transparency and intends to release the remaining documents upon review and redaction to protect the identities of Epstein's victims'. Amid a row over Trump's proposed tax bill, Elon Musk posts on X: 'Time to drop the really big bomb. @realdonaldtrump is in the Epstein files. That is why they have not been made public.' Musk later deletes the tweet. The DoJ announces that Epstein did not keep a client list, and said no more files related to his sex-trafficking investigation would be made public. The department releases an 11-hour video of the scene outside Epstein's cell during hours before and after his death, showing that no one entered or left the room. But a minute of footage is missing, prompting further speculation. Bondi says the missing minute is due to the Bureau of Prisons resetting the video. Rightwing media and commentators begin to lash out at the DoJ. Laura Loomer, the 32-year-old conspiracy theorist whose influence over Trump has come under scrutiny, accuses Bondi of 'covering up child sex crimes'. 'NO ONE IS BUYING THIS!! Next the DOJ will say 'Actually, Jeffrey Epstein never even existed.' This is over the top sickening,' Alex Jones, the rightwing commentator and conspiracy theorist, writes on social media. On Truth Social, the rightwing, Trump-owned platform where people are usually united in their praise for the president and his administration, numerous users criticize the government over Epstein. Dan Bongino, the deputy director of the FBI who spent years pushing conspiracy theories about Epstein's death, reportedly clashes with Bondi at the White House. 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Let's keep it that way, and not waste Time and Energy on Jeffrey Epstein, somebody that nobody cares about.' The post is the first time Trump has been 'ratioed' on Truth Social: more people comment on the post than like it, which typically suggests disagreement.
Sky News
22 minutes ago
- Sky News
Trump is clearly fed up with Putin - but will his shift in tone force Russia to the negotiating table?
As ever, there is confusion and key questions are left unanswered, but Donald Trump's announcement on Ukraine and Russia today remains hugely significant. His shift in tone and policy on Ukraine is stark. And his shift in tone (and perhaps policy) on Russia is huge. Ever since Mr Trump returned to the White House he has flatly refused to side with Ukraine over the Russian invasion. He has blamed Ukraine and Joe Biden for the incursion but has never been willing to accept that Russia is the aggressor and that Kyiv has a legitimate right to defend itself. Today, all that changed. In a clear signal that he is fed up with Vladimir Putin and now fully recognises the need to help Ukraine defend itself, he announced the US will dramatically increase weapons supplies to Kyiv. But, in keeping with his transactional nature and in a reflection of the need to keep his isolationist "America-First" base on side, he has framed this policy shift as a multi-billion dollar "deal" in which America gains financially. American weapons are to be "sold" to NATO partners in Europe who will then either transfer them to Ukraine or use them to bolster their own stockpiles as they transfer their own existing stocks to Kyiv. "We've made a deal today," the president said in the Oval Office. "We are going to be sending them weapons, and they are paying for them. We are manufacturing, they are going to be paying for it. Our meeting last month was very successful... these are wealthy nations." 2:27 This appears to be a clever framing of the "deal". Firstly, America has always benefited financially by supplying weapons to Ukraine because much of the investment has been in American factories, American jobs and American supply chains. While the details are not entirely clear, the difference now appears to be that the weapons would be bought by the Europeans or by NATO as an alliance. The Americans are the biggest contributor to NATO, and so if the alliance is buying the weapons, America too will be paying, in part, for the weapons it is selling. However, if the weapons are being bought by individual NATO members to replenish their own stocks, then it may be the case that the US is not paying. NATO officials referred all questions on this issue to the White House, which has not yet provided clarity to Sky News. It is also not yet clear what type of weapons will be made available and whether it will include offensive, as well defensive, munitions. 1:49 A key element of the package will likely be Patriot missile batteries, 10 to 15 of which are believed to be currently in Europe. Under this deal, it is understood that some of them will be added to the six or so batteries believed to be presently in Ukraine. New ones would then be purchased from US manufacturers to backfill European stocks. A similar arrangement may be used for other weapons. The president also issued the Russian leader with an ultimatum, saying that Putin had 50 days to make a peace deal or else face 100% "secondary tariffs". It's thought this refers to a plan to tariff, or sanction, third countries that supply Russia with weapons and buy Russian oil. This, the Americans hope, will force those countries to apply pressure on Russia. But the 50-day kicking of the can down the road also gives Russia space to prevaricate. So, a few words of caution: first, the Russians are masters of prevarication. Second, Trump tends to let deadlines slip. And third, we all know Trump can flip-flop on his position repeatedly. 2:00 Maybe the most revealing aspect of all this came when a reporter asked Mr Trump: "How far are you willing to go if Putin sends more bombs in the coming days?" "Don't ask me questions like that..." Mr Trump doesn't really know what to do if Mr Putin continues to take him for a ride. Mr Biden, before him, supplied Ukraine with the weapons to continue fighting. If Mr Trump wants to end this, he may need to provide Ukraine with enough weapons to win. But that would prolong, or even escalate, a war he wants to end now.
The Independent
24 minutes ago
- The Independent
Trump sees his approval rating waver as backlash from Epstein files engulfs MAGA
Backlash over the Trump administration's fumbling of the Epstein investigation could be a factor behind a slew of polling showing the president's approval rating wavering. In a Morning Consult poll released Monday, 47 percent of voters said that they approved of Donald Trump's performance as president. It was a slight gain of two percentage points from the prior week's tracking survey results, but it belies a massive shift over the past month. Over the course of mid-June to mid-July, Morning Consult's polling tracked a six-point drop in Trump's approval rating, from 50 percent to 44 percent, alongside a surge in disapproval from 44 percent to 50 percent. Over that time period, the administration oversaw passage of the GOP's budget reconciliation package, the 'big beautiful bill,' through Congress. The White House also ordered strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities, leading many to believe at the time that the U.S. was on the brink of being drawn directly into a Middle Eastern conflict once again. The chilling spectacle of massive ICE raids across the country has also caused Trump's issue-based approval rating on immigration to plunge in multiple recent surveys. His approval rating actually ticked up slightly in the days after the FBI and Justice Department declared in a joint statement that there was no evidence to support the existence of a 'client list' in the investigation into Jeffrey Epstein, a convicted pedophile who died by suicide in 2019 while awaiting prosecution for sex trafficking charges. That finding has become a major problem for the president, given that members of his own team fueled speculation about the issue in media appearances and in public statements for years. Trump's performance rating was also dipping in a second survey from the Scott Rasmussen-founded Napolitan News Service, which saw it drop by 1 percentage point between June 30 and July 10. But those polls may not have registered the extent of the fury that has engulfed MAGAworld over the sudden stonewalling of further information about the investigation from Trump and his team, given that it tracked responses from July 4-10. That backlash has largely erupted among Trump's youngest and most online supporters as outrage has rippled across the MAGA podcasting spheres and begun leaking into the sort-of-adjacent 'manosphere' podcasting arena as well. Democrats, too, began picking up the issue late last week as the party catches on to the anger over broken promises made by the likes of Vice President JD Vance and others to make public more information about the case — including, most importantly, the list of supposed clients. Few in MAGAworld beyond some of Trump's most opportunistic loyalists have accepted the explanation that a client list, whether created by Epstein himself or by investigators, exists in some form. Attorney General Pam Bondi's remark that the file was 'on her desk' earlier this year, and Elon Musk's assertion that Trump is on the supposed list, are not helping matters for the White House. Trump, on Saturday, issued his own bizarrely worded plea to his followers to drop the issue, which was rejected in a rare ratio-ing committed by his Truth Social fans. 'What's going on with my 'boys' and, in some cases, 'gals?'' Trump wrote. 'They're all going after Attorney General Pam Bondi, who is doing a FANTASTIC JOB!' 'We have a PERFECT Administration, THE TALK OF THE WORLD, and 'selfish people' are trying to hurt it, all over a guy who never dies, Jeffrey Epstein,' added Trump. In other polling, the president remains even further underwater. A Yahoo/YouGov poll released in early July found the president 16 points in the negative on the issue of his overall job performance, fueled in part by an 8-point deficit on the issue of immigration and border control. No major surveys have directly polled the handling of the Epstein case by Trump and his team specifically. However, a YouGov poll (for which methodology was not immediately available) released on July 9 found that a wide majority of American adults do not believe the extent of Epstein's crimes will ever be known or investigated.
