Politics

Alarm grows in Europe over what is seen as Trump’s ‘betrayal’ of Ukraine

Published

2 months ago

December 6, 2025

Alarm grows in Europe over what is seen as Trump’s ‘betrayal’ of Ukraine

WASHINGTON — A renewed push by the Trump administration to settle Russia’s war in Ukraine is jolting European governments that are fearful Washington is laying the groundwork for an ultimatum to Kyiv on Moscow’s terms.

The flurry of diplomatic engagements has left Ukrainian and European diplomats alarmed that President Trump and his team have accepted Russia’s rationale for the war, which Vladimir Putin launched in 2022 in order to conquer Ukraine and destroy its democratic government, precipitating the deadliest conflict in Europe since World War II.

It is the latest seesaw movement in Trump’s policy on Ukraine since retaking office. The president has repeatedly flared anger and frustration with Ukraine over its insistence on defending itself, only to reverse course days or weeks later, temporarily embracing European partnerships, the NATO alliance and Kyiv’s prospects for victory.

The administration seemed to settle on a long-term course this week, publishing a National Security Strategy document Friday asserting that Europe has “unrealistic expectations” for the outcome of the war and suggesting it would work to cultivate political “resistance” to Europe’s “current trajectory.”

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization, in perception and practice, should not be seen as an expanding alliance, the document reads, a nod to a long-standing Russian argument justifying its military posture on the continent.

Americans overwhelmingly oppose Trump’s current approach by a 2-to-1 margin — which would coerce Ukraine to give up its sovereign territory, including land that Russia has failed to secure on the battlefield despite suffering more than a million casualties. A recent Gallup poll found that Republicans disapprove of Trump’s policy on Ukraine more than any other issue.

Still, the president’s advisors seem to be warming to a plan that would force Ukraine to concede territory in exchange for nonbinding commitments to secure what remains of the country going forward.

Steve Witkoff, a former real estate developer, and Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law who negotiated the Abraham Accords among Middle East countries during Trump’s first term, are leading the current effort, shuttling between Moscow and Florida, where they have hosted Ukrainian diplomats, to work out a peace plan. The current framework is based on a 28-point document drafted by the Americans with consultation from the Russians.

A phone conversation between Witkoff and his Russian counterpart, a transcript of which leaked last month, revealed Witkoff offering tips to Moscow on how to win over Trump’s sympathies. Russian officials have also expressed confidence to the local press that Trump’s team understands their demands.

“There is a possibility that the U.S. will betray Ukraine on the issue of territory without clarity on security guarantees,” Emmanuel Macron, France’s president, said on a call among European leaders this week, according to a transcript obtained by Der Spiegel.

“They are playing games,” Friedrich Merz, chancellor of Germany, said of the Americans on the same call, “both with you and with us.”

In Ukraine, prominent analysts have questioned whether a peace plan that cedes territory would even be upheld by soldiers and generals on the battlefield. Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelensky, has insisted to Trump that the country’s territorial integrity, as well as future security guarantees, must be the cornerstones of a viable peace agreement.

But Trump could endanger Ukraine’s ability to fight on if he ultimately loses patience, experts said.

“The U.S. still provides intelligence assistance, which is important, and has so far been willing to sell weapons to European countries to transfer to NATO,” said Brian Taylor, director of the Moynihan Institute of Global Affairs at Syracuse University.

The United States has already halted direct aid to Ukraine’s war effort, instead agreeing to a NATO arrangement that sells weapons and equipment to Europe that are, in turn, provided to Kyiv.

“If the U.S. stops even doing that — and it would be quite a radical policy change if the U.S. is unwilling even to sell weapons to European countries — then Europe will have to continue on the path it is already on, which is to bolster its own defense production capacity,” Taylor said.

Macron, Merz and other European allies, including British Prime Minister Kier Starmer and the king of England, have implored the president to remain steadfast in support of Ukraine — and to increase the strain on Moscow that they insist could ultimately change Putin’s calculus over time.

European leaders are debating whether to deploy a portion of $220 billion in Russian assets, frozen in European banks since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion, to Kyiv in the form of assistance, or whether to hold on to the funds as a point of future negotiations.

“If the Trump administration and the Europeans are willing to do so, there is real pressure that can be brought to bear on a Russian military and economy that is under increasing strain,” said Kyle Balzer, a scholar at the conservative American Enterprise Institute. “Russia’s economic growth has taken a heavy hit due to lower energy prices and Russia’s growing defense burden. And the Russian army is taking casualties that the Russian people won’t be able to ignore forever.”

Speaking with reporters this week, Trump said that roughly 7,000 Russian soldiers are dying on the battlefield on a weekly basis — a staggering number in modern warfare. Comparatively, over eight years of the U.S. war in Iraq, fewer than 4,500 American soldiers died.

“Such pressure will only have a decisive impact if the Trump administration stops giving Putin hope that Russia can secure a favorable agreement in return for deals that benefit American businesses,” Balzer added. “The West must attack Russia’s resolve and convince Putin that he cannot achieve his goals. Continuing to give Putin hope makes that an unlikely prospect.”

Politics

Gov Whitmer says America ‘ready for a woman president,’ contrasting Michelle Obama

Published

1 hour ago

January 21, 2026

Press Room

Gov Whitmer says America ‘ready for a woman president,’ contrasting Michelle Obama

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Michigan’s Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said she believes America is ready for a woman president, pushing back on recent comments by former first lady Michelle Obama, who said U.S. voters were not ready to elect a woman to the White House.

In an interview with NPR released on Tuesday, Whitmer said she has “love” for the former first lady and “the last thing I want to do is disagree with her,” but that she has a different perspective.

“I think America is ready for a woman president,” Whitmer said. “The question comes down to a choice between two people, and what we saw in this last election, while Kamala Harris didn’t beat President Trump, we saw women get elected across the country.”

“We saw women win up and down the ballot in hard, important states to win, so I do think there’s an appetite,” she added. “I just, for whatever reason, we have not had a woman president yet. I think we will at some point in the near future.”

MICHELLE OBAMA SAYS AMERICA ‘NOT READY’ FOR WOMAN PRESIDENT: ‘WE SAW IN THIS PAST ELECTION’

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said she believes America is ready for a woman president. (Win McNamee/Getty Images)

The governor cited the election victories last year for Democratic Govs. Abigail Spanberger in Virginia and Mikie Sherill in New Jersey, as well as Sen. Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich., in 2024.

In November, Obama said Americans are “not ready” to elect a woman to the White House, pointing to former Vice President Kamala Harris’ election loss to President Donald Trump in the last presidential election.

“As we saw in this past election, sadly, we ain’t ready,” the former first lady said at the Brooklyn Academy of Music at the time while promoting her book, “The Look.”

NANCY PELOSI THINKS A WOMAN WILL BE ELECTED PRESIDENT, BUT ‘MAYBE NOT’ IN HER LIFETIME

Former first lady Michelle Obama said Americans are “not ready” to elect a woman to the White House. (Melina Mara/The Washington Post via Getty Images)

“That’s why I’m like, don’t even look at me about running, because you all are lying. You’re not ready for a woman. You are not … We’ve got a lot of growing up to do, and there’s still, sadly, a lot of men who do not feel like they can be led by a woman, and we saw it,” she added.

Pressed on whether Harris lost to Trump in the presidential election because she is a woman, Whitmer responded: “I don’t think it was just gender, no.”

Whitmer, who is term limited and cannot seek a third term as governor, said she does not currently have plans to run for another office.

She has been floated as a potential presidential candidate in 2028, but the governor said her focus remains on serving Michigan and helping her party’s candidates win the upcoming midterm elections.

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said she does not think former Vice President Kamala Harris lost to President Donald Trump just because she is a woman. (SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images)

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Asked about how Democrats could win in the midterms this year, Whitmer pointed to her gubernatorial campaign’s decision to remain “focused on the fundamentals.”

“I don’t think Michigan is unique in that,” Whitmer said. “I think every person in this country wants and expects government to make their lives better, and so that’s been our formula here in Michigan and I think that can be replicated everywhere successfully.”

Politics

Anti-Trump protesters join ‘Free America’ walkout in downtown L.A. and across SoCal

Published

2 hours ago

January 21, 2026

Press Room

Anti-Trump protesters join ‘Free America’ walkout in downtown L.A. and across SoCal

On Tuesday afternoon, hundreds of protesters walked out of school and off the job to march in downtown Los Angeles nd decry President Trump’s actions during his first year back in office.

The “Free America Walkout” at Los Angeles City Hall was among dozens of rallies taking place across Southern California and the nation. The event was coordinated by the Women’s March and intended to demonstrate opposition to violent Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids, the increased presence of military personnel in cities, Trump’s harmful immigration policies toward families and escalating attacks on transgender rights.

Hundreds of protesters marched along Colorado Boulevard in Pasadena. Among the slogans on their signs: “Democracy doesn’t fear protest, dictators do” and “We choose freedom over fascism.” Meanwhile, similar marches took place in Burbank, Long Beach and Santa Monica. Scores of students at Garfield and Roosevelt high schools in East L.A. ditched class to join the downtown rally.

“I just don’t know if he’s [Trump] actually done anything that is positive,” downtown protester Mario Noguera told ABC7 News. “Everything’s been about depleting everything: resources, rights. I just don’t feel like we’re getting anywhere.”

The walkout took place on the anniversary of Trump’s inauguration, an event he commemorated with a nearly two-hour news conference in which he called his first year in office “an amazing period of time” where his administration accomplished more than any other in history.

“We have a book that I’m not going to read to you, but these are the accomplishments of what we’ve produced, page after page after page of individual things,” Trump said, holding up a thick stack of papers. “I could sit here, read it for a week, and we wouldn’t be finished.”

Among the list of accomplishments he touted were his tariffs, his immigration crackdown, the economy and his actions in Gaza and Venezuela.

The Free America Walkout began at 2 p.m. in cities across the U.S. and was designed to differ from mass weekend actions such as the No Kings protests by deliberately taking place during the workday.

Organizers said that whereas protests demonstrate collective anger, walkouts demonstrate collective power.

“A walkout interrupts business as usual,” organizers stated. “It makes visible how much our labor, participation, and cooperation are taken for granted — and what happens when we withdraw them together.”

In downtown L.A., protesters condemned the effects of ICE raids locally as well as in Minneapolis, where a federal agent recently shot and killed Renee Nicole Good, a wife and mother.

This month, thousands of demonstrators took to the streets of Los Angeles as part of the “ICE Out for Good” weekend of action, a national protest movement in response to Good’s killing.

Roxanne Hoge, chair of the Republican Party of Los Angeles County, criticized the stream of local anti-Trump protests Tuesday.

“Their boring, predictable tantrums are now part of the L.A. landscape, much like the dilapidated RVs and dangerous encampments that their policies result in,” Hoge told the Los Angeles Daily News. “We are interested in good governance and public safety, and wish our Democrat friends would join us in advocating for both.”

Politics

Ilhan Omar accuses Noem of ‘lies and propaganda’ on Minnesota arrests

Published

13 hours ago

January 20, 2026

Press Room

Ilhan Omar accuses Noem of ‘lies and propaganda’ on Minnesota arrests

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Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., on Tuesday accused Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem of spreading “lies and propaganda” regarding ICE arrests in Minnesota.

Omar was responding to Noem’s X post stating that federal officials have “arrested over 10,000 criminal illegal aliens who were killing Americans, hurting children and reigning terror in Minneapolis,” including “3,000 criminal illegal aliens” in the last six weeks.

Under Noem’s post, the secretary shared dozens of photos of who she described as criminal illegal aliens.

“This would be amazing if it wasn’t full of lies and propaganda,” Omar wrote. “The only reason she has photos of these criminals in prison is because they were already in prison. Stop terrorizing people with your fake PR about criminals in Minneapolis because the only people on the streets of Minneapolis you are arresting are law abiding citizens.”

NOEM HAMMERS WALZ, FREY FOR IGNORING 1,360 ICE DETAINERS FOR CRIMINAL ILLEGAL ALIENS

Fox News Digital reached out to the Department of Homeland Security for comment but did not immediately hear back.

Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., attends a news conference with members of the Congressional Progressive Caucus on funding and accountability for the Department of Homeland Security in the Capitol Visitor Center on Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

Omar, who was born in Somalia and whose district covers much of Minneapolis, has been outspoken against the Trump administration and its deployment of ICE agents amid crackdowns on illegal immigration and fraud in the city and state.

Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem delivers remarks at the Assumption of Command Ceremony for U.S. Coast Guard Commandant Adm. Kevin E. Lunday at the U.S. Coast Guard Headquarters on Jan. 15, 2026, in Washington, D.C. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

TRUMP ASSERTS ILHAN OMAR SHOULD BE JAILED OR BOOTED TO SOMALIA

With the killing of Renee Good by an ICE agent as a flash point, critics say ICE agents are engaging in strong-arm tactics meant to intimidate the populace.

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Minneapolis and St. Paul are already hosting some 3,000 federal agents deployed there after a massive fraud scandal rocked the state late last year. President Donald Trump has floated invoking the Insurrection Act to quell unrest in the state, although he appeared to back off the idea on Friday.

Fox News’ Anders Hagstrom contributed to this report.