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US suspends military aid to Ukraine

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US suspends military aid to Ukraine

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The US is suspending military aid to Ukraine as Donald Trump seeks to increase pressure on Volodymyr Zelenskyy to make concessions just days after the two leaders publicly sparred in the White House over peace talks with Russia.

Trump’s decision halts what has been a consistent supply of US military assistance including weapons to Kyiv since Moscow launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine three years ago.

It comes amid growing tension between Trump and Zelenskyy, as the US president tries to push Ukraine to rapidly settle the conflict with Russia.

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A White House official on Monday said: “The president has been clear that he is focused on peace. We need our partners to be committed to that goal as well. We are pausing and reviewing our aid to ensure that it is contributing to a solution.”

The move came after Trump renewed his verbal attack on Ukraine’s president on social media and in remarks to reporters at the White House on Monday, following the dramatic confrontation in the Oval Office on Friday.

“I just think he should be more appreciative, because this country has stuck with them through thick and thin,” Trump said of Zelenskyy. He also suggested Ukraine’s leader might be out of office if he fails to reach an accord with Moscow.

“It should not be that hard a deal to make,” the president added. “It could be made very fast. Now maybe somebody doesn’t want to make a deal, and if somebody doesn’t want to make a deal, I think that person won’t be around very long.”

After reports of the freeze emerged on Monday, US secretary of state Marco Rubio appeared to suggest it was tied to a wider diplomatic effort. “We want to get the Russians to a negotiating table. We want to explore whether peace is possible,” Rubio said in a statement, without directly mentioning the suspension.

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Trump’s decision will add urgency to efforts in many European capitals to bolster their own military support for Kyiv, because an extended pause in US assistance could give Russian forces a big advantage on the battlefield.

The Institute for the Study of War in Washington on Monday night warned that the decision to cut off US aid would “directly undermine President Trump’s stated goal of achieving a sustainable peace in Ukraine”.

“Russia would leverage the cessation of US aid to Ukraine to seize more territory in Ukraine and attempt to exhaust European support — the approach Putin has outlined in his theory of victory,” ISW added.

Trump’s move comes after a weekend of intense diplomatic activity in Europe, including a summit hosted by UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and a month-long ceasefire plan proposed by French President Emmanuel Macron, to try to forge a settlement on better terms for Kyiv.

It also comes on the eve of Trump’s first address to a joint session of Congress of his second term on Tuesday.

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The president has been trying to agree a deal with Kyiv for access to Ukrainian critical minerals. But the agreement, which US officials see as pivotal to Washington’s backing for Ukraine, was postponed after the clash in the White House.

However, Brian Fitzpatrick, a Republican congressman from Pennsylvania, on Monday said he spoke to Andriy Yermak, Zelenskyy’s chief of staff, and believed the signing of the deal was imminent.

Fitzpatrick wrote on X ahead of the announcement: “We are 100% getting this train back on the tracks. This mineral deal will be signed in short order, which will lead to a strong long-term economic partnership between the United States and Ukraine, and which will ultimately and naturally lead to security assistance.”

“Europe will be required to step up and do its part, and there will be mandates for them to do just that,” he added.

Democrats immediately attacked the suspension of military aid and called for it to be reversed.

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“Donald Trump’s decision to unilaterally pause funding for Ukraine is reckless, indefensible, and a direct threat to our national security,” said Brendan Boyle, a Democratic congressman from Pennsylvania.

“The world is watching, and we cannot afford to let Trump’s reckless actions undermine our commitment to our allies and democracy itself.”

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Trump fires last members of election commission, inciting fears of midterm ‘chaos’

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Trump fires last members of election commission, inciting fears of midterm ‘chaos’

Donald Trump has terminated the remaining members of the independent, federal commission that assists election administration officials nationwide just a few months before the midterm elections, multiple outlets reported Thursday.

The remaining three commissioners of the four-member bipartisan commission ⁠were forced out on Thursday in different ways. The one Republican appointee resigned and the other ⁠two, Democratic appointees were notified of their terminations via email from ​the White House presidential personnel office.

“On ‌behalf of President ‌Donald J Trump, I am writing to inform you that your position ‌as Commissioner of the Election Assistance Commission is terminated, effective immediately. Thank you for your service,” the email, seen by Reuters, said.

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The Election Assistance Commission serves as a “national clearinghouse of information on election ‌administration”, accredits testing laboratories and certifies voting systems, and maintains the national mail-voter registration form developed by the National ​Voter Registration Act of 1993, according to the commission’s website. The terminations follow Trump and top administration officials’ advocacy to change vote-by-mail requirements and investigations into the 2020 election outcome, which Trump lost to Democrat Joe Biden.

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“It is ⁠irresponsible and dangerous that this Administration remains dead set on ​causing chaos for ​our election officials across this ​country,” Arizona secretary of state Adrian Fontes said in a ​Thursday statement. “This ‌move undermines the integrity ​of nonpartisan ​election administration.”

The 2002 law that established the commission, the Help America Vote Act, states the president can appoint replacements to the commission.

It is unclear how Trump will move ahead with the commission.

Reuters contributed reporting

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Former Olympian pleads not guilty in reflecting pool vandalism charges

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Former Olympian pleads not guilty in reflecting pool vandalism charges

Former U.S. Olympian David Hearn (left) walks with his attorney Norman Eisen to speak to reporters and protesters gathered after his arraignment at the Superior Court of the District of Columbia in Washington, D.C. on Thursday.

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Former U.S. Olympic canoeist David Hearn pleaded not guilty to damaging the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool in D.C. Superior Court Thursday morning.

Federal prosecutors charged Hearn with a single count of destruction of property causing more than $1,000 in damage to the pool.

Hearn has previously claimed, which his attorneys repeated during a short press conference outside the court, that he simply touched the water in the pool out of curiosity.

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The Trump administration had just completed a $14 million renovation of the pool.

But shortly after the work finished, peeling paint and algae gathered in the water. The remodel has been largely criticized as a massive failure and waste of taxpayer dollars.

Superior Court Judge Carmen McLean released Hearn on his own recognizance. His next hearing is scheduled for Aug. 5.

Norm Eisen, one of Hearn’s attorneys, spoke to reporters outside of court following the hearing. He said the administration is using Hearn as a “scapegoat … for their own failures.”

“It is not a crime to touch the reflecting pool, to touch water in the United States of America,” he said.

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Prosecutors say there is a host of evidence against Hearn.

This is a developing story.

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Three more people charged with damaging Reflecting Pool after Trump’s multimillion-dollar restoration | CNN Politics

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Three more people charged with damaging Reflecting Pool after Trump’s multimillion-dollar restoration | CNN Politics

Three more people have been criminally charged with destruction of property at the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool.

Officers say they detained Cameron Thiers, Sophie Dennison-Gibby and Justin Carreno one Saturday afternoon in June and described in court documents witnessing them peeling and removing pieces of blue paint from the Reflecting Pool.

One officer “witnessed Carreno reach down into the reflecting pool and pull up a piece of the blue paint,” according to the court documents.

The officer who detained Dennison-Gibby “found 1 additional piece of the reflecting pool liner” in her purse, the documents said.

All three incidents were recorded on the officers’ body worn cameras, they said in the court documents.

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Several “partnering law enforcement agencies assigned to the Reflecting Pool” working with US Park Police were involved in detaining the two men and one woman — including officers from Texas, Oklahoma, Montana and California.

One of the officers said in court documents that Thiers “admitted to removing a piece of blue sealant from the Reflecting Pool and still had it in his hand when I made contact with him.”

The three defendants were arraigned in court Wednesday and pleaded not guilty to the misdemeanor charges of destruction of property with a value less than $1,000. The judge ordered them to stay away from the Reflecting Pool.

Lawyers for Thiers and Dennison-Gibby declined to comment. CNN has reached out to Carreno’s attorney.

If found guilty of destruction of property, the defendants could be fined up to $1,000 and face a maximum of 180 days behind bars.

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The New York Times first reported that three additional people had been charged with damaging the Reflecting Pool.

President Donald Trump has repeatedly claimed that vandals caused major damage to the pool by gashing the lining after his administration spent more than $14 million on renovations, though he has not provided evidence to support that claim. The officers who charged Carreno, Thiers and Dennison-Gibby did not accuse them of gashing the lining.

Former Olympic canoeist David Hearn was indicted by a grand jury in Washington, DC, last week for allegedly damaging the Reflecting Pool. Hearn — unlike Carreno, Thiers and Dennison-Gibby – was charged with destruction of property with a value of more than $1,000 which carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison, if convicted. He is set to be arraigned in court Thursday.

Crews began draining the Reflecting Pool over the weekend to make repairs, according to Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, for the second time in three months.

The move comes after weeks of problems – algae blooms, green-hued water, a chipping bottom and the administration’s allegations of vandalism – that have plagued the iconic landmark, making its woes the subject of national interest.

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