Faint Signs of Life Appear in Effort to Halt Ukraine War
But that doesn't mean that the diplomatic entreaties don't continue — with both Russia and Ukraine trying in their own ways to appeal to the White House.
President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine proposed over the weekend to revive the talks. It was his first offer for renewed negotiations since the Trump administration agreed to facilitate the transfer of air defense weapons to Ukraine and threatened to impose sanctions on Russia's trading partners within 50 days — both steps intended to hasten negotiations.
Mr. Zelensky proposed talks on a cease-fire, prisoner exchanges and the return of Ukrainian children deported to Russia during the war. He reiterated an offer for a direct meeting with President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia, first floated in May. Mr. Putin had then remained silent for days before rejecting the offer.
'The Russian side must stop hiding from decisions,' Mr. Zelensky said a video address Saturday evening. Ukraine, he said, has offered a meeting in the coming week in Istanbul, where two previous rounds of talks took place in May and June.
Mr. Zelensky said his national security adviser, Rustem Umerov, had conveyed the proposal to the Russian negotiating team.
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American Military News
9 minutes ago
- American Military News
Videos: Trump accuses Obama of ‘treason,' Obama responds
President Donald Trump accused former President Barack Obama on Tuesday of committing 'treason' after Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard released documents providing 'new evidence' that the Obama administration engaged in a 'treasonous conspiracy' to undermine Trump's first term in office by falsely claiming Trump colluded with Russia to win the 2016 election. Asked by a reporter in the Oval Office on Tuesday who should be investigated regarding the allegations against the Obama administration, Trump said, 'Well, based on what I read, and I read pretty much what you read, it would be President Obama. He started it, and Biden was there with him, and Comey was there, and Clapper, the whole group was there.' 'If you look at those papers, they have him, stone cold, and it was President Obama. It wasn't lots of people all over the place,' Trump added. 'It was them too, but the leader of the gang was President Obama, Barack Hussein Obama. Have you heard of him?' Trump told the reporter that Obama is 'guilty' and that the alleged actions of the officials under his administration amounted to 'treason.' 'This was treason. This was every word you can think of,' Trump continued. 'They tried to steal the election. They tried to obfuscate the election. They did things that nobody's ever even imagined, even in other countries.' Trump: 'The leader of the gang was President Obama … This was treason.' — The Post Millennial (@TPostMillennial) July 22, 2025 Trump was also asked by a reporter regarding the Justice Department's plan to interview Jeffrey Epstein's former associate, Ghislaine Maxwell. After Trump described the interest in Epstein as a 'continuation' of a 'witch hunt,' the president said, 'The witch hunt that you should be talking about is they caught President Obama, absolutely cold.' READ MORE: Fmr. CIA, FBI directors under criminal investigation over Trump-Russia probe: Report 'It's time to go after people. Obama's been caught directly,' Trump added. 'So people say, oh, you know, a group. It's not a group. It's Obama. His orders are on the paper. The papers are signed. The papers came right out of their office. They sent everything to be highly classified. Well, the highly classified's been released, and what they did in 2016 and in 2020 is very criminal. It's criminal at the highest level.' Trump: "It's time to start—after what they did to me—and whether it's right or wrong, it's time to go after people. Obama's been caught directly." — The Post Millennial (@TPostMillennial) July 22, 2025 In response to Trump's claims, Patrick Rodenbush, an Obama spokesperson, released a statement obtained by NBC News, saying, 'Out of respect for the office of the presidency, our office does not normally dignify the constant nonsense and misinformation flowing out of this White House with a response. But these claims are outrageous enough to merit one. These bizarre allegations are ridiculous and a weak attempt at distraction.' 'Nothing in the document issued last week undercuts the widely accepted conclusion that Russia worked to influence the 2016 presidential election but did not successfully manipulate any votes,' the Obama spokesperson added. 'These findings were affirmed in a 2020 report by the bipartisan Senate Intelligence Committee, led by then-Chairman Marco Rubio.'
New York Post
3 hours ago
- New York Post
Barack Obama's dirty trick destroyed a presidency — and our trust
Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard contends that new declassified documents show former President Barack Obama engaged in the plot to create the lie that President Donald Trump had conspired with Russia to steal the 2016 presidential election. Of course he did. We have known for years that in July 2016, then-CIA Director John Brennan briefed Obama on how Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign had sought to 'vilify' Trump by accusing him of collaborating with Russian President Vladimir Putin. We already know that despite having this information in hand, Obama withheld intelligence about Russia from the Trump transition team and ordered agencies to compile an assessment of the situation. Now, typically such an assessment — which brings together intelligence at the highest levels — takes months to gather and analyze. This report, however, was cobbled together in just a few weeks so that the Obama administration could control not only the content but the messaging before the new Trump administration began. To understand how shoddy the assessment was, consider that it included the Steele dossier, an opposition-research document paid for by Democrats, as an annex — but not the views of two senior CIA officers from the Russia mission center who argued there was no evidence that Putin's ham-fisted meddling was intended to boost Trump's fortunes. Indeed, it turns out that numerous career officials expressed skepticism about the claim. It is utterly implausible that Obama did not know that potentially exculpatory evidence regarding Clinton's role in spreading the Russia-collusion hoax was omitted. It is certainly worth asking him. In any event, a responsible report even intimating that a president-elect's campaign may have been involved in a seditious plot should have been undertaken with extra-special care. Instead, it was weaponized. In her very last hour in office Susan Rice, Obama's national security adviser, wrote a transparently self-preserving email to protect the president, claiming she'd attended a meeting in which he stressed to then-FBI Director James Comey that everything in the Trump-Russia investigation should proceed 'by the book.' Why? Why mention this on her last day? Did high-ranking Obama administration officials such as Comey not always conduct their investigations 'by the book?' Of course, they didn't. It was the dirtiest political trick played on the public in US history. As intended, the Russia hysteria paralyzed the incoming presidency. It probably worked even better than those who hatched it could have imagined, as the legacy media took the bait on virtually every anonymously sourced story, no matter how far-fetched. 'Mr. President,' Adam Schiff, then a member of the House Intelligence Committee, said in 2017, 'the Russians hacked our election and interfered. No one disputes this now but you.' Anyone who disputed this characterization was smeared as a shill for a foreign power. Polls found that over 60% of Democrats claimed to believe that the Russians had altered vote tallies. Not one investigation, of course, not even special counsel Robert Mueller's inquiry run by Trump-hating partisans, found any evidence that collusion had taken place. Few events have done more to undermine our trust in our elections and in our officials. Attorney General Pam Bondi has launched a 'strike force' to investigate the declassified findings regarding Obama's role. But Gabbard has already accused the former president of 'treason,' as has Trump. One suspects that Gabbard's piecemeal release of declassified documents was intended to distract from the Jeffrey Epstein mess that was partly created by Trump's administration. This, too, is over-promising. Those imagining Obama being cuffed and marched to the jailhouse in orange overalls are fooling themselves. It would be a miracle if anyone involved was indicted, much less convicted. For one thing, the statute of limitations has expired on most of these events. And Obama, thanks to Trump v. United States, would enjoy presidential immunity from criminal prosecution for official acts — even if Bondi could prove criminality, which is doubtful. After all, this brand of corruption can't be explicitly found in any documents. Plotters don't have to have conversations. Everyone understood what was happening. And the system gives intelligence heads tremendous latitude and power. It has long been clear that everyone involved in the Russia hoax abused their position, but indicting a CIA director for, say, excluding certain information from an assessment report would be difficult — if such an action were illegal at all, which seems questionable. None of that is to contend that Obama and his underlings weren't in on the plot. Or that we shouldn't find out the truth. But it will have to be written in the historical record. That's important, too. David Harsanyi is a senior writer at the Washington Examiner. Twitter @davidharsanyi
Time Magazine
4 hours ago
- Time Magazine
Is Donald Trump Named in the Epstein Files?
The Trump Administration has tried—and failed—to put tensions over its handling of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein's case to bed for weeks. But they've only continued to escalate as news outlets have reported new information related to President Donald Trump's years-long relationship with Epstein and potential inclusion in files related to the case. The recent controversy ignited after the Department of Justice and FBI issued a memo earlier this month declaring Epstein's death a suicide and denying the existence of a 'client list' of people involved in his alleged sex trafficking activities. The memo contradicted a slew of conspiracy theories surrounding Epstein that have been particularly prominent on the right and had previously been fueled by top Trump Administration officials including FBI Director Kash Patel and U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi, who in February stated that the rumored 'client list' was 'sitting on my desk right now.' 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A day later, the House Oversight Committee voted late Wednesday to subpoena the Department of Justice for its files related to Epstein's case. 'The American people deserve transparency and accountability and his victims deserve justice,' Rep. Summer Lee of Pennsylvania, the top-ranking Democrat on the panel, wrote on X Wednesday. 'The wealthy and powerful are not above the law.' Three Republicans on the committee broke with their party to vote with Democrats on the matter. The committee also issued a subpoena for a deposition from Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein's long-time associate who is currently serving a 20-year sentence for sex trafficking and other crimes. Here's what to know about the controversy and how the Administration is responding. White House hits back at reports that Trump is named in the files Questions about the Administration's handling of documents related to Epstein further mounted after the Wall Street Journal and other news outlets reported on Wednesday that Justice Department officials informed the President in May that his name is in the Epstein files. His inclusion in the records, which also include the names of other influential figures, isn't evidence of wrongdoing, according to the Journal's report. Trump's name has previously appeared in unsealed documents in the case, along with those of a number of other Epstein acquaintances and associates. Justice Department officials also reportedly informed Trump in the May briefing that they did not plan on releasing additional files related to Epstein because the material included child pornography and the personal information of victims. The Administration is pushing back on the reporting. White House communications director Steven Cheung referred to it as 'fake news' in a statement to TIME. 'The fact is that the President kicked him out of his club for being a creep,' Cheung said. However, a Trump official told Reuters that the Administration is not denying that Trump's name was mentioned in the files. The Journal's most recent report comes as its parent companies, owner, two reporters, and one of the parent company's CEOs face a libel lawsuit filed by the President in response to an earlier story alleging that Trump was one of dozens of individuals who wrote letters to Epstein for his 50th birthday in 2003. 'Happy Birthday — and may every day be another wonderful secret,' the letter concluded, according to the media outlet. TIME has not independently verified the reporting. On Wednesday, Rep. Khanna told MSNBC's 'The Last Word with Lawrence O'Donnell' that he planned on issuing a subpoena for the birthday album, which is in the possession of the Epstein estate. In the face of the escalating scandal, the Trump Administration has made some effort to release more files related to Epstein. On July 18, the Justice Department filed a motion asking for grand jury transcripts in the case to be released. A Florida federal judge this Wednesday blocked one of the Administration's requests to unseal grand jury testimony, citing regulations barring courts from unsealing such transcripts except in narrow circumstances. Two other requests for information filed by the Department in the state of New York are still being considered. What has Trump said about Epstein? Despite Trump's attempts to distance himself from Epstein since the disgraced financier's first conviction in 2008, the two were previously pictured together on numerous occasions—including at Trump's 1993 wedding to Marla Maples and at his Mar-a-Lago estate. In a 2002 interview with New York Magazine, Trump stated that he had known Epstein for around 15 years and referred to him as a 'terrific guy' and 'a lot of fun.' 'It is even said that he likes beautiful women as much as I do, and many of them are on the younger side. No doubt about it — Jeffrey enjoys his social life,' the magazine quoted the President as saying. In 2017, however, the Trump Organization denied that the President had a relationship with Epstein or was aware of his conduct. 'This has all been reported countless times in the press,' Trump Organization attorney Alan Garten told POLITICO. The President has expressed ire at the media's focus on Epstein in recent weeks. 'I had the Greatest Six Months of any President in the History of our Country, and all the Fake News wants to talk about is the Jeffrey Epstein Hoax!' Trump wrote on Truth Social Wednesday. What files have already been released on Epstein and is there a client list? Public pressure for the unsealing of files regarding the notorious sex offender is in part due to Trump's 2024 presidential campaign promise to release more information regarding the matter. Some previously sealed documents related to the Epstein and Maxwell cases have already been made public. In January 2024, more than 1,400 pages of records were unsealed under the Biden Administration, though they included little new information. This February, the Trump Justice Department released what it referred to as the 'first phase of the declassified Epstein files,' first to a group of right-wing influencers and later publicly. The information, however, was mostly already public, including flight logs and a redacted copy of Epstein's contact book. Trump is among other prominent figures named in the previously unsealed documents. He was mentioned in a 2016 deposition from Johanna Sjoberg, one of Epstein's victims, who said the disgraced financier's plane made an impromptu stop in Atlantic City in the 2000s. Sjoberg said 'no' when asked if she'd given Trump a massage. The FBI and DOJ have denied the existence of a 'client list' of people Epstein allegedly trafficked young girls to. They also said there is no credible evidence that Epstein blackmailed associates to keep them quiet. Why is the government meeting with Ghislaine Maxwell now? Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said on Tuesday that he intended to meet with Maxwell to discuss Epstein and what she knows about his actions. Blanche said he reached out at Bondi's request. 'President Trump has told us to release all credible evidence,' he said. 'If Ghislane Maxwell has information about anyone who has committed crimes against victims, the FBI and the DOJ will hear what she has to say.' Maxwell's lawyer confirmed in a post on X that they were in contact with the government. The decision to speak with Maxwell, as well as the Department of Justice's request for grand jury testimony related to the Epstein to be unsealed on Friday, mark a shift in Bondi's approach to the issue as the Administration continues to take fire from its base and some Republican lawmakers and media figures.
