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A curated weekday guide to major news and developments over the past 24 hours. Here’s today’s news:
RUSSIA-UKRAINE WAR — U.S. AND INTERNATIONAL RESPONSE
President Trump yesterday said Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy “better move fast” or “he is not going to have a [c]ountry left,” seemingly putting Ukraine’s continued sovereignty into question. Trump also described Zelenskyy as a “dictator.” Several European leaders rebuked the remarks, with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz stating it is “ wrong and dangerous to deny … Zelenskyy’s democratic legitimacy.” Stephany Matat, Aamer Madhani, and Mike Pesoli report for AP News; Joe Stanley-Smith, Jack Detsch, Matt Honeycombe-Foster, and Chris Lunday report for POLITICO.
The United Kingdom and France are drawing up plans to create a “reassurance force” to ensure Ukraine is not attacked by Russia again, Western officials say. According to sources, the two countries are currently trying to persuade other European nations to supply personnel and equipment to the force, likely entailing the deployment of less than 30,000 European troops to Ukraine. Ellen Milligan and Ott Tammik report for Bloomberg.
Britain’s Keir Starmer and France’s Emmanuel Macron will meet with Trump next week to discuss Ukraine security strategy, U.S. National Security Adviser Mike Waltz confirmed yesterday. Brett Samuels reports for the Hill.
The Trump administration may seek to strike a simplified minerals deal with Ukraine and negotiate its details later, a sign that reaching a full deal would take time, sources say. Erin Banco and Andrea Shalal report for Reuters.
Tensions between the Ukrainian government and the Trump administration have been escalating in private before erupting into public view yesterday, U.S. and European officials say. Courtney Kube, Carol E. Lee, Kristen Welker, and Dan De Luce report for NBC News.
ISRAEL-HAMAS WAR
Hamas today handed over the bodies of four deceased Israeli hostages held in Gaza, said to include the bodies of two infants who were the youngest hostages captured. Mick Krever, Ivana Kottasová, Mohammad Al Sawalhi, Kareem Khadder, Lucas Lilieholm, and Edward Szekeres report for CNN.
The Israeli military yesterday said it indicted five reservists on charges of assaulting and severely injuring a Palestinian man detained in the Sde Teiman facility, long the object of concern of human rights organizations. Dov Lieber reports for the Wall Street Journal.
ISRAEL-HAMAS WAR — REGIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL RESPONSE
Envoys from Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates are set to coordinate a plan for the future governance of Gaza in a series of meetings beginning with a Saudi Arabia summit on Friday, diplomats say. Patrick Kingsley and Vivian Yee report for the New York Times.
The polio vaccination campaign in Gaza will resume on Saturday, the World Health Organization announced yesterday. Reuters reports.
TRUMP ADMINISTRATION ACTIONS
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has ordered senior defense leaders to develop plans by Monday to cut the defense budget by 8% in each of the next five years, according to a memo dated Tuesday obtained by the Washington Post. A senior Pentagon official said the money could be “realigned” to Trump’s defense priorities. Dan Lamothe, Alex Horton, and Hannah Natanson report.
The director of data science and engineering of the United State Digital Service, of which Elon Musk’s DOGE forms part, yesterday said she resigned from her position, citing DOGE’s “indiscriminate” cuts to her team. Makena Kelly reports for WIRED.
Ed Martin, the interim U.S. attorney for Washington D.C., yesterday sent “letters of inquiry” to Rep. Robert Garcia (D-CA) and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) over what he described as comments that “sounds to some like a threat” to public officials, including Elon Musk, DOGE staff, and Supreme Court justices. Spencer S. Hsu reports for the Washington Post.
The Internal Revenue Service will today begin laying off approximately 7,000 probationary employees, a source said. Fatima Hussein reports for AP News.
Trump yesterday signed an executive order seeking to end “all taxpayer-funded benefits for illegal aliens.” According to the National Immigration Law Center, undocumented migrants are largely not eligible for federal benefits. Quasim Nauman reports for the New York Times.
OTHER U.S. DOMESTIC DEVELOPMENTS
The Senate will vote today on whether to confirm Kash Patel as FBI Director. Yesterday, the Senate voted 52-46 to confirm Kelly Loeffler to lead the Small Business Administration. Eric Tucker reports for AP News; Meg Kinnard reports for AP News.
The judge considering the DOJ’s request to drop the corruption charges against New York City Mayor Eric Adams yesterday indicated he will take some time to rule whether to allow the move. During a hearing yesterday, acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove described the move as a “standard exercise of prosecutorial discretion.” Shayna Jacobs and Jeremy Roebuck report for the Washington Post; Jared Gans reports for the Hill.
Senate Democrats will introduce a bill this week that would prevent any government funds from being used to enforce Trump’s birthright citizenship order, Sen. Jacky Rosen (D-NV) said. Stephen Neukam reports for Axios.
Some defense officials are raising concerns the impending summary firings of Pentagon employees could break the law and potentially harm U.S. military readiness, a senior defense official said. Natasha Bertrand and Haley Britzky report for CNN.
A number of U.S. aviation associations yesterday called for “robust emergency funding” to improve air traffic control technology and staffing in a letter to Congress, citing a series of recent crashes. David Shepardson reports for Reuters.
U.S. FOREIGN AFFAIRS
The Trump administration has stopped all funding for the Palestinian Authority’s security forces, U.S. and Palestinian officials say. While a former Israeli official suggested that “other donors” committed to make up the shortfall, a colonel at the PA’s training centre said the freeze has led to cuts in some training. Miriam Berger, John Hudson, and Gerry Shih report for the Washington Post.
The State Department has designated several Mexican drug cartels, the MS-13, and the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua as foreign terrorist organizations, according to a document set to be published today in the Federal Register. Laura Strickler, Julia Ainsley, and Didi Martinez report for NBC News.
The Panamanian government moved 100 migrants deported by the United States to a “primitive” detention camp on the outskirts of a jungle following an increase in media attention, the detainees said. Julie Turkewitz, Farnaz Fassihi, Hamed Aleaziz, and Annie Correal report for the New York Times.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio will miss a G20 meeting starting today, after criticizing host South Africa’s policies as anti-American. Michelle Gumede reports for AP News.
Trump Media and a conservative-oriented social media company Rumble yesterday filed a lawsuit in Florida accusing a Brazilian Supreme Court justice who last year blocked Elon Musk’s X in the country of attempting to censor a “well-known politically outspoken user” of Rumble. Dan Mangan reports for NBC News.
OTHER GLOBAL DEVELOPMENTS
The advance of the Rwanda-backed M23 in the Democratic Republic of Congo is threatening peace in the wider region, U.N. special envoy for Congo Bintou Keita told an emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council yesterday. Edith M. Lederer reports for AP News.
Israeli forces killed three Palestinians yesterday in the al-Faraa camp near Tubas in the occupied West Bank, the Palestinian state news agency WAFA reported. Separately, the governor of West Bank’s Tulkarem refugee camp yesterday said Israel demolished more than a dozen apartment buildings at the camp on Tuesday. Reuters reports; Kareem Khadder and Irene Nasser report for CNN.
Afghan refugees in Pakistan are facing arrests and harassment as part of a mass expulsion campaign, Kabul’s embassy in Islamabad said yesterday. Asif Shahzad reports for Reuters.
South Korea’s impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol today appeared in court for the first trial in his criminal prosecution on charges of insurrection. Ju-min Park and Joyce Lee report for Reuters.
TRUMP ADMINISTRATION LITIGATION
An appeals court yesterday declined to lift the temporary hold a Seattle judge placed on the implementation of Trump’s executive order limiting birthright citizenship, upholding the injunction until further argument in the case slated for June. Tierney Sneed reports for CNN.
Groups receiving foreign aid yesterday asked a judge to find the officials running the State Department and the U.S. Agency for International Development in contempt of court for continuing to block the aid despite a court order to unfreeze the programs. Frank Langfitt reports for NPR; Leo Sands reports for the Washington Post.
New York’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority yesterday filed a lawsuit challenging the Trump administration’s attempt to revoke the federal approval of New York City’s congestion pricing toll. Ben Brasch and Allyson Chiu report for the Washington Post.
Civil rights organizations yesterday filed a lawsuit in a federal court alleging that Trump’s anti-DEI executive orders violate their free speech rights and impede their ability to help marginalized communities. Corky Siemaszko reports for NBC News.
Environmental groups yesterday filed two challenges to the Trump administration’s attempts to rescind Biden-era protections of federal waters from offshore oil and gas drilling. Zack Budryck reports for the Hill.
Did you miss this? Stay up-to-date with our Litigation Tracker: Legal Challenges to Trump Administration Actions
