World
Zelenskyy says Putin ‘hates’ Biden and Trump, time for 'strong decisions'
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy argued that no matter whether the Democrats or Republicans come out on top in the November presidential election, Russian President Vladimir Putin will “hate” them either way.
“[President] Biden and [Donald] Trump are very different. But they are supportive [of] democracy, and that’s why I think Putin will hate both of them,” he said Tuesday night, speaking from the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Institute, just one block from the White House.
“He doesn’t love America. And he hates Ukraine,” he said. “Because he hates democracy.”
“I hope that the United States will never go out from NATO,” Zelenskyy said. (AP/Evan Vucci)
LITHUANIAN FOREIGN MINISTER WARNS PUTIN WATCHING NATO FOR WEAKNESS FOLLOWING CHILDREN’S HOSPITAL BOMBING
Zelenskyy’s comments were made in response to questions posed by FOX News chief political anchor and executive editor of “Special Report” Bret Baier, after a speech he gave urging the U.S. and its NATO allies to act strongly in the face of Russia’s continued aggression against Ukraine.
Questions about the U.S. election and Washington’s role in NATO have mounted since Biden and Trump took to the stage last month for their first debate this election cycle. Biden’s weak performance and Trump’s refusal to answer questions on what U.S. involvement in the alliance would look like, have sparked international concern, particularly as it relates to the war in Ukraine.
Putin, in the wake of Biden’s comments, says Russia knows “how to defend our own interests.” (Reuters)
The U.S. is the largest supporter of military aid to Kyiv, but Trump has threatened to cut aid to Ukraine should he win, and he has repeatedly championed his relationship with the Russian authoritarian leader.
“The whole world is looking to November. And truly speaking – Putin awaits November too,” Zelenskyy said. “It’s time to step out of the shadows, to make strong decisions work, to act and not to wait for November or any other month.”
“I hope that if the people of America will elect President Trump, I hope that his policy with Ukraine will not change,” he added.
“Biden and Trump are very different. But they are supportive [of] democracy, and that’s why I think Putin will hate both of them,” Zelenskyy said. (Getty Images)
NATO APPEARS DIVIDED ON PUSHING BIDEN TO LIFT STRIKE BANS FOR UKRAINIAN OFFENSE
Conservative sources have told Fox News Digital that they believe it is unlikely that Trump would pull out of NATO, though concerns remain high that even a diminished presence in the alliance could have devastating effects on European security.
“I hope that the United States will never go out from NATO,” Zelenskyy said. “Otherwise, the world will lose a lot of countries.”
Security officials have warned that even removing U.S. troops from posts in Europe will have serious consequences – a threat Zelenskyy also reiterated Tuesday night, noting that failing to help Kyiv stop Russia in Ukraine will have costly effects on the U.S. in the future.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky delivers remarks at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Institute on July 9, 2024, in Washington, D.C. (Bonnie Cash/Getty Images)
“Putin will never stop [in] Ukraine, and you will see it. If we will not stop him… he will go further, and he will go to the NATO countries,” Zelenskyy said, referencing countries such as Poland and other former Soviet bloc nations.
“And after that, the people and the soldiers of the United States will go and will defend these countries,” he said in reference to commitments the U.S. is held to under Article 5 of the NATO charter, which says an attack on one NATO nation will prompt a response from all NATO nations.
“It’s a tragedy for everybody to lose people, sons and daughters,” Zelenskyy said. “That’s why I think until the moment Ukraine is strong, all the world pays a low price.”
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court on Friday rejected Virginia’s bid to restore a congressional map that would have given Democrats a chance to pick up four seats in the closely divided House of Representatives.
The court’s order, issued without any noted dissent, is the latest twist in the nation’s mid-decade redistricting competition. It was kicked off last year by President Donald Trump urging Republican-controlled states to redraw their lines and was supercharged by a recent Supreme Court ruling severely weakening the Voting Rights Act that opened up even more winnable seats for the GOP.
In recent days, the justices have sided with Republicans in Alabama and Louisiana who hope to redo their congressional maps to produce more GOP-leaning seats following the court’s voting rights decision.
But the Virginia situation was different, stemming from a 4-3 ruling by the Virginia Supreme Court that struck down a constitutional amendment that voters narrowly passed just last month.
The state court found that the Democratic-controlled legislature improperly began the process of placing the amendment on the ballot after early voting had begun in Virginia’s general election last fall.
The Supreme Court typically doesn’t intervene in state court proceedings unless they present an issue of federal law. Virginia Democrats had hoped to persuade the justices that the Virginia court misread federal law and Supreme Court precedent that hold that, even if early voting is underway, an election does not happen until Election Day itself.
Virginia’s amendment had been intended as a response to Republican gains in Texas, Missouri, North Carolina and Ohio, and to blunt a new map in Florida that just became law. Once the Virginia amendment passed, it briefly turned the nationwide redistricting scramble into a draw between the two parties.
That was unraveled by the Virginia Supreme Court’s decision.
The state’s attorney general, Democrat Jay Jones, slammed the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision, saying it was another example of what he described as a national attack on voting rights and the rule of law.
“Let’s be clear about what is happening. Donald Trump, Republican state legislatures, and conservative courts are systematically and unabashedly tilting power away from the people for Trump’s political gain,” Jones said in a statement issued late Friday night.
The state’s top Democrats had disagreed about whether it was even too late for help from the Supreme Court. “Time grows short, but it is not yet too late,” lawyers for the Democratic leaders of the legislature as well as the state told the justices in a brief filed Friday.
A day earlier, the office of Democratic Gov. Abigail Spanberger already had confirmed that the state will hold this year’s elections under the current districts established in 2021. Last month, Virginia Commissioner of Elections Steve Koski said a court order was needed by this past Tuesday to set the district lines for primary elections on Aug. 4.
Spanberger reacted to Friday’s decision by saying both courts had nullified the votes of the more than 3 million Virginians who cast ballots in the April 21 special election.
“These Virginians made their voices heard — casting their ballots in good faith to push back against a President who said he’s ‘entitled’ to more seats in Congress before voters go to the polls,” she posted on her X account.
The leader of the state Republican Party said the justices made the right call.
“Wisely, the Supreme Court of the United States has confirmed the judgment of the Supreme Court of Virginia,” state party chairman Jeff Ryer said. “This should once and for all put to rest the Democrats’ effort to disenfranchise half of Virginia.
___
Associated Press writer Safiyah Riddle in Montgomery, Alabama, contributed to this report.
World
Trump says Abu-Bilal al-Minuki, second in command of ISIS globally, killed in US-Nigerian operation
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President Donald Trump announced late Friday that U.S. and Nigerian forces carried out an operation that killed a global ISIS leader.
Trump identified the terrorist as Abu-Bilal al-Minuki, whom he described as ISIS’s second-in-command globally.
“Tonight, at my direction, brave American forces and the Armed Forces of Nigeria flawlessly executed a meticulously planned and very complex mission to eliminate the most active terrorist in the world from the battlefield,” Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social.
“Abu-Bilal al-Minuki, second in command of ISIS globally, thought he could hide in Africa, but little did he know we had sources who kept us informed on what he was doing,” Trump continued. “He will no longer terrorize the people of Africa, or help plan operations to target Americans.”
100 US TROOPS LAND IN NIGERIA AS ISLAMIC MILITANTS THREATEN WEST AFRICA REGIONAL SECURITY
President Donald Trump sits at a table monitoring military operations during Operation Epic Fury against Iran at the White House in Washington, D.C., on March 2. (The White House via X Account/Anadolu/Getty Images)
Trump also thanked the Nigerian government for its cooperation in the mission.
“With his removal, ISIS’s global operation is greatly diminished,” he added.
Additional details surrounding the mission were not immediately available.
Fox News Digital has reached out to the White House for comment.
US MILITARY IN SYRIA CARRIES OUT 10 STRIKES ON MORE THAN 30 ISIS TARGETS: PHOTOS
The announcement comes after U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) said it carried out multiple strikes against more than 30 ISIS targets in Syria in February as part of a joint military effort to “sustain relentless military pressure on remnants from the terrorist network.”
CENTCOM said U.S. forces struck ISIS infrastructure and weapons-storage targets using fixed-wing, rotary-wing and unmanned aircraft.
DEADLY STRIKE ON US TROOPS TESTS TRUMP’S COUNTER-ISIS PLAN — AND HIS TRUST IN SYRIA’S NEW LEADER
The U.S. military carried out ten strikes against more than 30 ISIS targets in Syria following a December ambush that killed U.S. troops. (CENTCOM)
Trump told reporters on Jan. 27 that he had a “great conversation” with Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa.
“All of the things having to do with Syria in that area are working out very, very well,” he said at the time. “So, we are very happy about it.”
CENTCOM announced in February that more than 50 ISIS terrorists had been killed or captured and more than 100 ISIS infrastructure targets struck during two months of targeted operations in Syria.
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The U.S. launched Operation Hawkeye Strike in response to an ISIS ambush that killed two U.S. service members and an American interpreter Dec. 13, 2025, in Palmyra, Syria.
Fox News Digital’s Ashley J. DiMella contributed to this report.
Lebanon’s Ministry of Health said Israeli attacks have killed 2,951 people since March 2 with at least 8,988 wounded.
Published On 16 May 2026
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