| TRUMP: 'IT WAS A VERY GOOD CALL': President Donald Trump was upbeat when he spoke to the Washington Examiner's Byron York after his lengthy phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin. "It was a very good call," Trump said. "I think it's the beginning of something good." In a post on his Truth Social network, Trump called the two-hour conversation "a very good and productive one" and announced that he had agreed on Ukraine's behalf to an immediate ceasefire on all energy and infrastructure. "We will be working quickly to have a Complete Ceasefire and, ultimately, an END to this very horrible War between Russia and Ukraine," he added. Trump also told York that this wasn't his first call with Putin, revealing that he had been working out details of a potential peace deal for weeks. This would appear to explain his Monday comments to reporters on Air Force One about having "a lot of it already discussed" and "already talking about that, dividing up certain assets." "This isn't just a call that began it. We've had other calls," Trump told the Washington Examiner. "That's not been made public before." In a White House readout posted on X, press secretary Karoline Levitt said the two leaders also agreed to "technical negotiations on the implementation of a maritime ceasefire in the Black Sea, full ceasefire and permanent peace" and said the negotiations "will begin immediately in the Middle East." EXCLUSIVE: TRUMP REVEALS HE HAS BEEN SPEAKING TO PUTIN FOR WEEKS AS HE HAILS ENERGY AND INFRASTRUCTURE CEASEFIRE AGREEMENT PUTIN: A LITTLE 'DA,' AND A BIG 'NYET': When it came to the U.S. proposal for a 30-day unconditional ceasefire — which Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in Jeddah would show if Russia was "the impediment is to peace" — Putin was a big "nyet." The one thing he was interested in was ending Ukraine’s increasingly effective drone attacks on Russian oil refineries and energy distribution networks, which are in more peril now that Ukraine has developed a home-grown cruise missile with a range of more than 1,800 miles. Notably, while Trump and White House say the ceasefire would apply to energy and infrastructure, the Kremlin readout indicated it would only apply to "energy infrastructure," not other infrastructure, which would still put many civilian targets at risk, as evidenced by the direct hit by a “Shahed” drone on a hospital in Sumy just an hour after Putin agreed to the pause. "Is it energy only, or is it energy and infrastructure that would be part of a 30-day ceasefire?" Sean Hannity asked Trump's envoy, Steve Witkoff, last night on Fox. "No, it’s energy and infrastructure in general," he responded, which appeared at odds with the Kremlin's interpretation. According to the Kremlin, Putin outlined a long list of demands to be met before any full ceasefire, including a requirement that Ukraine stop mobilizing fresh troops and a complete end to all Western aid and intelligence sharing with Ukraine. The Kremlin said that once Putin rejected the 30-day total ceasefire proposal, Trump quickly pivoted to his backup plan: "Donald Trump put forward a proposal for the parties to mutually refrain from strikes on energy infrastructure for 30 days. Vladimir Putin responded favorably to the proposal and immediately gave the relevant order to the Russian troops," the Russian readout said. Russia was clearly very pleased with Putin's handling of Trump. "It is official now — a PERFECT call," Kirill Dmitriev, a top Russian official and key adviser to Putin, gloated on X. 'CLASSIC KGB ROPE-A-DOPE': The general reaction from Kremlin watchers and national security experts to the "perfect call" was that Trump was effectively played by Putin, who gave up nothing while paying lip service to the promise of a "peaceful" resolution to the war. "This is typical of Putin," said former Trump national security advisor retired Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster on Fox. "What he's really going to try to do … is try to get Trump and the U.S. to accept a deal that is unacceptable to the Ukrainians and then try to turn the U.S. not only against Ukraine but against Europe." "Putin's call with Trump today was classic KGB rope-a-dope," said William Browder, head of the Global Magnitsky Justice campaign, on CNN. "Giving Trump a nonanswer to his ceasefire proposal as Putin promises endless talks and negotiations without any intention of settling anything." Former Supreme NATO Commander, retired Adm. James Stavridis, also used the rope-a-dope analogy. "He’s going to try and do everything he can to appease Donald Trump. But at the same time, he really does not want to give up what he perceives, I think correctly at the moment, is a military advantage," Stavridis said on CNN. "So, what is he going to do? He’ll agree to what is, frankly, a kind of a minor ceasefire, a sliver." "One of the things that I really took away from the Kremlin readout was how much this is framed as two great men, who are running great powers, and our role is to have this global responsibility," said Beth Sanner, former deputy director of national intelligence, said on CNN where she is now an analyst. "All of this is about rehabilitating Putin, bringing him back into the international community, and being seen at home as being very, very strong. And I think that he is actually succeeding in these ways." "There is literally zero penalty for Putin saying, 'No,'" Sanner said. CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER Good Wednesday morning and welcome to Jamie McIntyre's Daily on Defense, written and compiled by Washington Examiner National Security Senior Writer Jamie McIntyre (@jamiejmcintyre) and edited by Christopher Tremoglie. Email here with tips, suggestions, calendar items, and anything else. Sign up or read current and back issues at DailyonDefense.com. If signing up doesn't work, shoot us an email and we'll add you to our list. And be sure to follow me on Threads and/or on X @jamiejmcintyre. CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP OR READ BACK ISSUES OF DAILY ON DEFENSE HAPPENING TODAY: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is in Finland this morning, where he received a warm welcome and strong statements of support from Finnish President Alexander Stubb. Zelensky arrived yesterday just hours after the Trump-Putin phone call wrapped up. "Europe must be at the negotiating table, and everything that concerns European security must be decided together with Europe," Zelensky posted on the social media platform Telegram. In a video statement issued after the call, Zelensky outlined a long list of concerns about the peace deal being shaped without his input. "Ukraine is prepared to support any proposals that lead to peace with Russia, but Ukraine must be part of the negotiations," he told reporters. Zelensky expressed deep skepticism about Putin's motives and trustworthiness, especially because even after he supposedly issued an order to his forces for a 30-day pause on energy infrastructure, the skies over Kyiv, Zhytomyr, Sumy, Chernihiv, Poltava, Kharkiv, Kirovohrad, Dnipropetrovsk, and Cherkasy were filled with more than 40 “Shahed” drones. "Regarding Putin's political will. The air raid alarm in Ukraine – that's your answer. This is how Putin shows he doesn't want war," Zelensky said, according to a translation provided on X by Tymofiy Mylovanov, president of the Kyiv School of Economics. "We support all steps toward ending the war. But to support something, we need to understand the specifics. If President Trump has time, he'll call. We're ready." In Helsinki, Zelensky indicated that he hoped to talk to Trump today. "We will discuss the details of the next steps with him," he said at a news conference. "For us, the red line is the recognition of the Ukrainian temporarily occupied territories as Russian. We will not go for it," "I want President Trump to see what Putin is really after – a new offensive in Zaporizhzhia, the east, Kharkiv, and Sumy. Why? To put maximum pressure on Ukraine and then dictate ultimatums from a position of strength," Zelensky said in video comments. "Russia and Ukraine, with U.S. mediation, might agree not to hit energy infrastructure. But it can't be that Russia keeps striking our energy sector while we stay silent. We will respond." TRUMP: 'AID WAS NEVER DISCUSSED': In an interview last night on Laura Ingraham's Fox program, Trump disputed the Kremlin characterization of Putin's demand that "a complete cessation of providing Kyiv with foreign military aid and intelligence must become the key condition for preventing an escalation of the conflict." "Were there non-negotiables mentioned by Putin?" Ingraham asked, "Kremlin media actually stated that he demanded an immediate cessation of aid to Ukraine in order to get to this multistep deal." "No, he didn’t," Trump responded. "We didn’t talk about aid, actually. We didn’t talk about aid at all. We talked about a lot of things, but aid was never discussed." WITKOFF: 'THE DEVIL’S IN THE DETAILS': In his appearance on Fox last night, Steve Witkoff, Trump's point man on the negotiations with Putin, defended Trump's command of the two-hour call, which he said resulted in 'some breakthroughs.' "I can’t overstate how compelling he was on this call. He’s a natural-born leader, Sean, and he demonstrated that today," Witkoff said. "I think there have been some breakthroughs.” "I would commend President Putin for all he did today on that call to move his country close to a final peace deal," he added. "And I would give all the credit to President Trump, his election, peace through strength, the perception that there are no alternatives, that a good peace, a lasting peace, a durable peace is important for both sides." "I think the devil’s in the details. We have got a team going to Saudi Arabia led by our national security adviser and our secretary of state," Witkoff said. "And I think we have got to figure out those details. The point is that, up until recently, we really didn’t have consensus around these two aspects, the energy and infrastructure ceasefire and the Black Sea moratorium on firing. And, today, we got to that place." CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER THE RUNDOWN: Washington Examiner: Trump and Putin agree to preliminary ceasefire negotiations in Middle East Washington Examiner: Exclusive: Trump reveals he has been speaking to Putin for weeks as he hails energy and infrastructure ceasefire agreement Washington Examiner: Putin manipulates Trump, gets KGB art of the ceasefire deal Washington Examiner: Trump administration warns Iran over proxies' continued behavior Washington Examiner: 20,000 civilian DOD employees accept voluntary resignation, one-third of desired cuts Washington Examiner: Hamas 'chose' war as Israel restarts military operations, White House says Washington Examiner: 'Fiscal bazooka': Bundestag approves massive spending on militarization Washington Examiner: Denver mayor erupts after ICE arrests Jeanette Vizguerra: 'Putin-style persecution' Washington Examiner: Berlin investigating multiple incidents of US detaining Germans at border Washington Examiner: Judge scolds Trump DOJ in transgender military case and downplays Hegseth's service AP: Ukrainian leader Zelensky to speak with Trump after US president's ceasefire talks with Putin Reuters: US suspends some efforts to counter Russian sabotage as Trump moves closer to Putin New York Times: Russia Escalated Sabotage to Pressure US and Allies on Ukraine, Study Says Wall Street Journal: Federal Judge Blocks Trump Ban on Transgender People Serving in Military Defense News: Shipyards, Military Clinics Exempted from Pentagon Hiring Freeze AP: Canada’s New Prime Minister Announces Australian Radar Purchase While Visiting Edge of Arctic Circle Reuters: Radio Free Europe sues Trump administration over grant termination Breaking Defense: No, There's No 'Kill Switch': Pentagon Tries to Reassure International F-35 Partners Air & Space Forces Magazine: China Practicing 'Dogfighting in Space,' US Space Force Says Air & Space Forces Magazine: STRATCOM Chief: Air Force Needs 145 B-21s and More New Strategic Systems The War Zone: F-16 Is Getting Massive Anti-Ship Missile Upgrade Air & Space Forces Magazine: Allvin: Air Force Needs 'High-End Penetrating Capability' in Future Combat SpaceNews: Space Force Prepared to Divest Legacy Systems in Favor of Market-Ready Solutions Air & Space Forces Magazine: Air Force Sending Teams to Make Sure Bases Are Following Executive Orders Defense One: The Army Wants AI to Take Physical Risk off of Its Soldiers Air & Space Forces Magazine: F-15E Strike Eagle Crew Unhurt After Emergency Landing BBC: ‘End of an Era’: Last Surviving Battle of Britain Pilot Dies THE CALENDAR: WEDNESDAY | MARCH 19 12 p.m. 2000 H St. NW — George Washington University National Security Law Program and National Security Law Association discussion: “National Security Lawyering in the Intelligence Community,” with William Gade, deputy general counsel for intelligence, Defense Department; and Katie Kedian, visiting associate professor and GW national security, cybersecurity and foreign relations law fellow https://calendar.gwu.edu/event/national-security-lawyering 2 p.m. — Washington Institute for Near East Policy virtual forum: “Bombing Iran’s Nuclear Program: Implications of Preventive Action,” with Richard Nephew, WINEP adjunct fellow; Holly Dagres, WINEP senior fellow; and Michael Eisenstadt, WINEP senior fellow https://washingtoninstitute-org.zoom.us/webinar/register 3:30 p.m. 1211 Connecticut Ave. NW — Henry L. Stimson Center virtual discussion: “Security and Sovereignty: Exploring Canada’s Vision for Land Power,” with Lt. Gen. M.C. Wright, commander, Canadian Army https://www.stimson.org/event/with-lieutenant-general-m-c-wright THURSDAY | MARCH 20 8 a.m. 7920 Jones Branch Dr., McLean, Virginia — Potomac Officers Club 2025 Artificial Intelligence Summit, with Young Bang, principal deputy assistant Army secretary for acquisition, logistics and technology; Daniel Holtzman, CIO, Defense Department’s Office, Chief Digital and Artificial Intelligence Officer; Saleela Khanum Salahuddin, AI policy and governance lead in the Office, Director of National Intelligence; Gurpreet Bhatia, acting deputy CIO for cybersecurity and acting chief information security officer, Defense Department; Cynthia Kaiser, deputy assistant director, FBI Cyber Division; and Sunil Madhugiri, CTO of U.S. Customs and Border Protection https://potomacofficersclub.com/events/2025-artificial-intelligence-summit/ 9 a.m. 300 5th Ave. SW — Armed Forces Communications and Electronics Association DOD Cyber Workforce Summit, with Katie Arrington, performing the duties, defense CIO; Army Lt. Gen. Paul Stanton, commander, Joint Forces Headquarters-Department of Defense Information Network and director, Defense Information Systems Agency; Ashley Manning, acting assistant secretary of defense for cyber policy; and Air Force Gen. Timothy Haugh, commander, U.S. Cyber Command https://www.afcea.org/events/dod-cyber-workforce-summit 9:30 a.m. 215 Dirksen — U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission hearing: “Crossroads of Competition: China in Southeast Asia and the Pacific Islands," with Prashanth Parameswaran, global fellow, Wilson Center; Lynn Kuok, chair in Southwest Asia studies, Brookings Institution; and Graeme Smith, senior fellow, Australian National University; Gregory Poling, director and senior fellow, enter for Strategic and International Studies Southwest Asia Program; Jason Tower, country director for Burma, U.S. Institute of Peace; and Cleo Paskal, non-resident senior fellow, Foundation for Defense of Democracies; Vikram Nehru, senior fellow, Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies Foreign Policy Institute; Alvin Camba, research adviser on critical minerals, Associated Universities Incorporated; and Guanie Lim, associate professor, National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies https://www.uscc.gov 10 a.m. 1775 Massachusetts Ave. NW — Brookings Institution virtual discussion: "What's next for US defense strategy and spending?' with Mackenzie Eaglen, senior fellow, American Enterprise Institute; Michael O'Hanlon, senior fellow, and director, Brookings Strobe Talbott Center for Security, Strategy, and Technology; Stephen Tankel, associate professor, American University; and moderator: Melanie Sisson, senior fellow, Strobe Talbott Center for Security, Strategy, and Technology https://connect.brookings.edu/register-to-watch 2 p.m. — Defense One virtual discussion: “State of Defense 2025: Air Force and Space Force,” with Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David Allvin; Army Chief of Staff Gen. Randy George; Space Force Chief of Space Operations Gen. Chance Saltzman; and Marine Corps Commandant Gen. Eric Smith https://events.defenseone.com/state-of-defense FRIDAY | MARCH 21 8:45 a.m. 300 5th Ave. SW — Armed Forces Communications and Electronics Association DOD Cyber Workforce Summit, with Jing Deng, director, Marine Corps Information Workforce Division; Army CIO Leonel Garciga; Air Force CIO Venice Goodwine; Navy CIO Jane Rathbun; Brynt Parmeter, chief talent management officer, Defense Department; Army Lt. Gen. David “Todd” Isaccson, director for command, control, communications and computers, cyber and CIO, J6, Joint Chiefs of Staff https://www.afcea.org/events/dod-cyber-workforce-summit 9 a.m. — Peterson Institute for International Economics virtual discussion: “Can Sanctions Change a Country’s Policy? The Case of China and Russia,” with Denis Redonnet, deputy director-general for trade and economic security and chief trade enforcement officer for the European Commission, Brussels; Martin Chorzempa, PIIE senior fellow; and Cecilia Malmstrom, PIIE nonresident senior fellow https://www.piie.com/events/2025/can-sanctions-change 9:30 a.m. 1400 L St. NW — Atlantic Council conference: “U.S.-Turkey Relations Under the New Era," with Turkish Ambassador to the U.S. Sedat Onal https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/event/us-turkey-relations-under-the-new-era/ 11:30 a.m. 7801 Leesburg Pike, Falls Church, Virginia — Armed Forces Communications and Electronics Association discussion: “Hacking Bureaucracy,” with Col. Mike Medgyessy, CIO for the Air Force intelligence community; Chandra Donelson, space data and analytics officer, Space Force; and Gabe Chiulli, CTO, Army’s Enterprise Cloud Management Agency https://afceanova.swoogo.com/afceanovaluncheonMar2025 THURSDAY | MARCH 27 10 a.m. — Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Aviation Safety, Operations, and Innovation Subcommittee hearing on “NTSB Preliminary Report: DCA Midair Collision," with testimony from NTSB Chairman Jennifer Homendyhttp://commerce.senate.gov | | | | "For more than two centuries, it has been established that impeachment is not an appropriate response to disagreement concerning a judicial decision. The normal appellate review process exists for that purpose." | | Chief Justice John Roberts, in a rare public statement issued after Trump called for a federal judge who challenged his authority to be impeached |
|
| | 
Megyn Kelly -> Pete Hegseth responds to 2017 rape accusation. 🔥 vol. 3, issue 13 | December 6, 2024 Quick Hits All the news you need in...
No comments:
Post a Comment