Trump To Speak With Putin On Monday In Bid To End Russia-Ukraine ‘Bloodbath’

Trump To Speak With Putin On Monday In Bid To End Russia-Ukraine 'Bloodbath'

President Donald Trump announced Saturday that he will speak with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday in an effort to broker a ceasefire in the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war, calling the conflict a "bloodbath" that must be stopped. In a post on Truth Social, Trump said that the call with Putin is scheduled for 10 a.m. Monday and will focus on ending the war, which he said is killing "more than 5,000 Russian and Ukrainian soldiers a week." Trade discussions are also expected to be on the agenda.(RELATED: Trump Says Negotiations To End Ukraine War Are Underway) "I WILL BE SPEAKING, BY TELEPHONE, TO PRESIDENT VLADIMIR PUTIN OF RUSSIA ON MONDAY," Trump wrote. "THE SUBJECTS OF THE CALL WILL BE, STOPPING THE 'BLOODBATH'…AND TRADE." Trump also said he will follow up with a call to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and then with "various members of NATO," expressing hope for what he called a "productive day." "HOPEFULLY IT WILL BE A PRODUCTIVE DAY, A CEASEFIRE WILL TAKE PLACE, AND THIS VERY VIOLENT WAR, A WAR THAT SHOULD HAVE NEVER HAPPENED, WILL END. GOD BLESS US ALL!!!" he added. The announcement follows a week of failed diplomacy after neither Trump norPutinattended peace talks in Turkey aimed at ending the two-year conflict. Despite growing international calls for a resolution, both sides have ramped up military operations in recent weeks. A Russian drone strike on Saturday killed nine civilians in Ukraine's Sumy region, according to local authorities. Trump's tone onRussiahas shifted in recent weeks. Once critical of Ukraine's handling of U.S. aid, the president has more recently voiced frustrations with Putin and the war's prolonged toll. "I think Putin is tired of this whole thing," Trump said Friday on Fox News. "He's not looking good, and he wants to look good." Still,Trumpmaintained that the war should have been a short affair. "Don't forget, this was supposed to end in one week," he said, referring to Russia's initial invasion in February 2022. "If he didn't get stuck in the mud with his army tanks all over the place, he would have been in Kyiv in about five hours."

byRicky Wilson

in

May 17, 2025

Trump To Speak With Putin On Monday In Bid To End Russia-Ukraine ‘Bloodbath’

Trump To Speak With Putin On Monday In Bid To End Russia-Ukraine 'Bloodbath' President Donald Trump announced Saturday that he will ...

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Severe storms kill at least 21 in Kentucky and Missouri

Severe storms kill at least 21 in Kentucky and Missouri

(Reuters) -At least 21 people were killed overnight in Kentucky and Missouri when a volatile weather system spawned tornadoes as it ripped across a large swath of the U.S. Midwest and Great Lakes, officials said on Saturday. In Kentucky, at least 14 people were killed and the death toll was expected to rise, said Governor Andy Beshear. Earlier, he declared a state of emergency in his state, as did Missouri Governor Mike Kehoe. "We lost at least 14 of our people to last night's storms, but sadly, this number is expected to grow as we receive more information," Beshear said in a social media post. At least nine of the fatalities were in Laurel County, about 150 miles (241 km) south of Louisville, where a tornado touched down late on Friday, Sheriff John Root said on social media, describing it as "a mass casualty event." There were numerous severe injuries, he said, and a search for survivors was under way. Aerial images posted on social media showed scenes of destruction in Laurel County, with entire blocks of houses reduced to splinters, and cars and pickup trucks left battered or crushed in the tornado's wake. In Union County, near the Illinois border 250 miles west of Laurel County, a reported twister leveled mobile homes in the city of Morganfield, but there were no immediate reports of casualties in that area. TORNADO HITS ST. LOUIS Earlier, a tornado ripped through St. Louis, killing at least five people, injuring 38 and damaging 5,000 properties as it tore off roofs, Mayor Cara Spencer said. It also knocked down power lines and swept through a major thoroughfare during rush-hour traffic on Friday. Two others were killed in Scott County, in southeastern Missouri, according to officials. "Our city is grieving tonight," Spencer, who was sworn in as mayor a month ago, told reporters on Friday night. "The loss of life and the destruction is truly, truly horrendous." St. Louis resident Joan Miller recounted her narrow escape when a tornado struck her brick house. "The wind started, the tree out front was shaking so violently," she said. "And suddenly all the doors shut, the windows flew out from the bedroom ... the entire back of my house ... you can see straight into the alley now." The National Weather Service said thunderstorms were widespread across portions of the Mississippi, Tennessee and Ohio Valleys on Friday. At least half a dozen tornadoes touched down in Missouri and neighboring Illinois and other severe weather stretched all the way to the Atlantic Coast, including another tornado reported in New Jersey. U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said she had talked with the governors of Missouri, Kentucky and Illinois to offer federal resources to help their states cope with the aftermath. "We discussed how while emergency management is best led by local authorities, we reinforced that DHS stands ready to take immediate action to offer resources and support, she wrote on social media. Noem has championed a change in the federal strategy for managing disasters under the Trump administration by shifting responsibilities to states. President Donald Trump's proposed budget includes deep cuts for the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which falls under her purview. As of Saturday afternoon, about 155,000 customers were without power in Kentucky and Missouri, according to poweroutage.us, which tracks blackouts across the country. (Reporting by Daniel Trotta, Harshita Meenaktshi, Steve Gorman and Frank McGurty; Writing by Frank McGurty; Editing by Susan Fenton, Diane Craft and Rod Nickel)

byRicky Wilson

in

May 17, 2025

Severe storms kill at least 21 in Kentucky and Missouri

Severe storms kill at least 21 in Kentucky and Missouri (Reuters) -At least 21 people were killed overnight in Kentucky and Missouri when a ...

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'Eat the tariffs' Trump tells Walmart, warns not to blame them for price increases

'Eat the tariffs' Trump tells Walmart, warns not to blame them for price increases

Walmart should not blame tariffs for raising prices and should instead absorb additional costs,President Donald Trumpsaid in a social media post May 17. "Walmart made BILLIONS OF DOLLARS last year, far more than expected. Between Walmart and China they should, as is said, "EAT THE TARIFFS," and not charge valued customers ANYTHING. I'll be watching, and so will your customers!!!," Trump saidin the post on Truth Social. On Thursday, the world's largest retailer said that it would have tostart raising prices later this monthdue to the high cost of tariffs. Trump's tariffs have roiled world trade in the weeks since he announced 10% tariffs on imports from all countries and additional higher tariffs on 60 countries in April. He has since backed off or paused some of the new rates. "We will do our best to keep our prices as low as possible but given the magnitude of the tariffs, even at the reduced levels announced this week, we aren't able to absorb all the pressure given the reality of narrow retail margins," CEO Doug McMillon said in a statement Thursday This article originally appeared on USA TODAY:Trump warns Walmart not to blame tariffs for increased prices

byRicky Wilson

in

May 17, 2025

'Eat the tariffs' Trump tells Walmart, warns not to blame them for price increases

'Eat the tariffs' Trump tells Walmart, warns not to blame them for price increases Walmart should not blame tariffs for raising pric...

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Republicans split on US credit downgrade as party's tax bill lingers

Republicans split on US credit downgrade as party's tax bill lingers

By Bo Erickson WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Moody's downgrade of the U.S. sovereign credit rating has elicited mixed responses among Republicans in Congress, with some questioning the motive behind the change and others depicting it as a warning that lawmakers should heed as they wrestle with a sweeping tax and budget bill. The downgrade, announced on Friday evening, came only hours after a handful of Republicans on the U.S. House of Representatives' budget committee blocked progress of President Donald Trump's tax and spending legislation due to their concerns of its potential to balloon the federal deficit. The credit rater is the last of the major ratings agencies to strip the U.S. of the highest rating of AAA. Moody's, which cut the rating one notch to "Aa1", said it was making the change because successive U.S. administrations of both parties and Congress have failed to reverse annual fiscal deficits and growing interest costs. Moody's argued that "current fiscal proposals under consideration" offered insufficient spending cuts. Nonpartisan analysts estimate the proposed legislation, which in part would extend Trump's 2017 signature tax cuts, could add trillions to the federal government's $36.2 trillion in debt. Representative Jason Smith, the Republican tax committee chairman shepherding the bill, said that Moody's downgrade was "a cover-up of President Biden's economic failures." "It's hardly a surprise that the greatest economic cheerleader of Biden's economic disasters refuses to recognize that Republicans have delivered $1.6 trillion in savings as part of the one, big, beautiful bill," Smith, from Missouri, said in a statement, referencing the tax and budget legislation. "This Moody's downgrade is nonsense," said Representative Jimmy Patronis, a Florida Republican. "Using credit ratings to hop in a news cycle is irresponsible of them." Moody's did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The criticism of the rating agency's move echoes the response to Fitch's credit downgrade in August 2023, when Biden administration officials argued decisions in Trump's first term were the cause of the credit hit. Other Republicans -- including key tax bill holdouts -- depict the downgrade as proof that their fiscal concerns on the proposed legislation are valid. Representative Andy Harris, a Maryland Republican who leads the fiscal hardliners in the House Freedom Caucus, said in a social media post that the downgrade was a "signal that we can wait no longer to address the debt crisis" and that his support for the tax bill hinges on more spending cuts. Moody's estimated the nation's debt burden could reach 134% of gross domestic product by 2035, compared with 98% in 2024. TAX BILL ON THE LINE House Speaker Mike Johnson has been locked in a multi-front negotiation within his conference as the party-line approach of Republicans - which enjoy a slim 220-213 majority in the lower chamber - means a small faction of lawmakers could sink the bill. Despite a range of specific concerns from Republican lawmakers on aspects of the tax and budget bill, the legislation moved successfully through committee debates this week until Friday's House budget meeting, where five Republicans joined Democrats to put the skids on the tax bill progress. Republicans set a redo vote for late Sunday evening and said they were working through the weekend in the hope of reaching consensus. "We have to deliver in extending the tax cuts but also getting the spending cuts necessary to get deficits down," Representative Chip Roy, a Texas Republican, said after his Friday vote against moving the budget bill ahead. Roy and other deficit hawks are pushing for more stringent work requirements for Medicaid, the low-income healthcare program, to kick in sooner to increase saving opportunities. Such savings are a political high-wire act for Republicans, as more reductions to Medicaid and cuts to food assistance risk inflaming dissent from other Republicans concerned about the impact to their constituents. "We need serious, responsible budgeting - not another reckless scheme that robs working families to reward the ultra-wealthy," said Representative Brendan Boyle, the Pennsylvanian who is the top Democrat on the budget committee. "House Democrats are ready to govern. The question is whether Republicans are ready to wake up to the damage they're causing." (Reporting by Bo Erickson in Washington; Editing by Frank McGurty and Diane Craft)

byRicky Wilson

in

May 17, 2025

Republicans split on US credit downgrade as party's tax bill lingers

Republicans split on US credit downgrade as party's tax bill lingers By Bo Erickson WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Moody's downgrade of the U...

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Trump announces Monday calls with Putin, Zelenskyy after negotiations end in Istanbul

Trump announces Monday calls with Putin, Zelenskyy after negotiations end in Istanbul

President Donald Trumpwill hold phone calls with RussianPresident Vladimir Putinand UkrainianPresident Volodymyr Zelenskyyto discuss an end to the war in Ukraine Monday, he said in a Truth Social post Saturday. He will first speak with Putin at 10 a.m., Trumpsaid in the post. "THE SUBJECTS OF THE CALL WILL BE, STOPPING THE "BLOODBATH" THAT IS KILLING, ON AVERAGE, MORE THAN 5000 RUSSIAN AND UKRAINIAN SOLDIERS A WEEK, AND TRADE," he said. Trump said he would then speak with Zelenskyy and with NATO member countries. Trump wrapped upa four day trip to the Middle EastFriday. Russia and Ukraineagreed to a prisoner swap May 16in Istanbul during their first in person talks in 3 years. They last spoke in person a month after Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022. Each side agreed to swap 1,000 prisoners of war soon and resume talks. Putin and Zelenskyy were expected to attend the talks in person,but Putin withdrewand sent mid-level officials in his place. Zelenskyy named his defense minister to lead the talks in response. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY:Trump plans Monday phone call with Putin and Zelenskyy after peace talks

byRicky Wilson

in

May 17, 2025

Trump announces Monday calls with Putin, Zelenskyy after negotiations end in Istanbul

Trump announces Monday calls with Putin, Zelenskyy after negotiations end in Istanbul President Donald Trumpwill hold phone calls with Russi...

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