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President Trump’s push for peace continues
(New York, NY) – Few things draw out more emotion from President Trump than his ongoing push for peace during his second term. He notably blurted out that neither Israel nor Iran know “what the f#%* they’re doing,” as their most recent war played out. Trump floated the idea of more or less taking over Gaza, in order to help achieve a lasting peace between Israel and Palestine. And this week Trump continued to express disappointment with Russian President Vladimir Putin — as the war between Russia and Ukraine is now more than three years old.
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While campaigning for president last summer, Trump routinely laid bare his goal — to achieve a lasting peace in both conflicts. As for Russia-Ukraine, Trump has said it would have never happened if he was in office. CNN has reported this week that Trump warned Putin he would “bomb Moscow” if Russia had invaded during his previous term — prior to Biden’s weak foreign policy that flirted with NATO expansion and then stood idly by as fighting started.
In some ways it was a significant week in terms of the ongoing hope for a ceasefire — both in Europe and the Middle East. Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu visited the White House and took part in an official diner with Trump. And while Netanyahu made headlines by brushing off Democratic mayoral nominee Zohran Mamdani’s threats to arrest him — it seems the goal of achieving a peace between Israel and Hamas is in reach.
Trump and Mamdani met for a second time Wednesday — which the president had discussed during an earlier cabinet meeting. Their second meeting centered exclusively on the war in Gaza, with Trump laying out how that’s “gotta get (solved).”
Meanwhile, Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff expressed hope that a 60-day ceasefire could be achieved by week’s end. The deal would also reportedly include the return of ten living hostages, as well as the remains of nine other hostages — held captive since the October 7th attacks.
As for Russia-Ukraine, the situation is sadly less encouraging, at least at the moment. Russia has ramped up its drone attacks against Ukraine, in particular the city of Lutsk. Then, hundreds of drones attacked Ukraine’s capital city of Kyiv. The launched drones were manufactured by Russian Defense Forces — allowing Moscow to save money — because they previously relied on Iranian drones, at a higher cost. Some of them are used as “dummy” drones, while others carry warheads.
Local authorities said at least two people were killed during the attacks in Kyiv.
President Trump has been publicly expressing his frustration with Putin. That’s led to a higher level of confidence among some Republican lawmakers when it comes to potentially expanding sanctions against Russia. Sanctions have been used against Russia dating back to the initial invasion of Ukraine.
US Senate Majority Leader John Thune — a Republican — wants to pass legislation that would place tougher sanctions on Russia by August. The Sanctioning Russia Act of 2025 is a bipartisan piece of legislation — introduced by Senators Lindsey Graham of South Carolina (GOP) and Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut (a Democrat) that would impose a 500% tariff on imported goods from any countries that purchase sanctioned Russian products. Thune said, “we are working with the administration, with the House to try and get it in a form where it’s ready.”
