TRUMP: ‘WE COULD BE ENDING … THE END OF THAT ROAD’: Even before he was elected president, Donald Trump nurtured a dream of getting Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in a room, knocking their heads together, and using his art of the deal wizardry to compel a peace deal.
Now, Putin has dangled the prospect of a face-to-face meeting, the first U.S.-Russia summit in four years, and Trump is imagining the possibility that his fondest dream could come true, that a trilateral meeting with Putin, Zelensky, and Trump could take place soon.
“Well, there’s a very good prospect that they will, and we haven’t determined where, but we had some very good talks with President Putin,” Trump said at a White House event yesterday. “There’s a very good chance that we could be ending the round, ending the end of that road,” Trump said in his trademark mangled syntax. “That road was long, and continues to be long. But there’s a good chance that there will be a meeting very soon.”
But even as Trump oozed optimism, he acknowledged Putin had made no firm commitment other than to talk. “I’ve been disappointed before with this one,” he conceded, adding a note of caution. “I don’t call it a breakthrough. I mean, we’ve been working into this a long time … We don’t have American soldiers there, but I feel I have an obligation to get it stopped.”
Asked by a reporter how he knows Putin, in his words, is not just tapping him along, Trump said, “I can’t answer the question yet. I’ll tell you in a matter of weeks, maybe less. But we’ve made a lot of progress.”
Russian media reported that preparations are underway for the Trump-Putin meeting and that a location has been identified. “We have launched work to discuss the parameters of such a meeting and the venue for it jointly with our American colleagues now,” said Kremlin aide Yury Ushakov, according to Tass. “The venue too, has been agreed in principle and will be announced a bit later.”
TRUMP HOPES TO MEET WITH PUTIN AS SOON AS NEXT WEEK
RUBIO: KEY ELEMENTS … ARE GOING TO BE TERRITORIAL: In an interview with Larry Kudlow on the Fox Business Network, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said there are “still many impediments to overcome” before a three-way summit between Trump, Putin, and Zelensky makes sense. “Today was a good day, but we got a lot of work ahead.”
With his generals advising him that Russia’s ground assault is finally making slow but steady progress, and predicting Ukraine’s front lines may crack in a matter of months, Putin appears in no mood to let up now.
“I think the key elements of any end to the war are going to be territorial,” Rubio said. “There are areas that Russia has taken that they currently control, and that includes Crimea, that goes back all the way to 2014, and some other areas they’ve made some advances. So obviously anytime you’re going to make a deal, there’s going to have to be concessions; there’s going to have to be concessions by the Russians and concessions by the Ukrainians, of course, as well. So that’s tough.”
“I think what we have is a better understanding of the conditions under which Russia would be prepared to end the war,” Rubio said. “We now have to compare that to what the Ukrainians and our European allies, but the Ukrainians primarily, of course, are willing to accept. And what you try to see is how far can you get these two positions closer? How can you get these two positions closer to each other?”
Rubio said Trump immediately called “several European leaders” to update them and said more consultations with European allies would continue today and in the next few days. “And then hopefully, if things continue to progress, an opportunity will present itself very soon for the President to meet both with Vladimir Putin and with President Zelensky at some point here, hopefully in the near future – but obviously a lot has to happen before that can occur.”
WITKOFF-PUTIN MEETING WAS ‘CONSTRUCTIVE,’ KREMLIN SAYS AS NEW SANCTIONS DEADLINE LOOMS
INDIA SLAPPED WITH EXTRA 25% PUNITIVE TARIFF: While Trump says it may be weeks before he knows if Putin is serious about peace, he didn’t wait until his Friday deadline to slap a secondary tariff on India to punish it for buying Russian oil.
An executive order Trump signed Monday imposed an additional 25% tariff on India, effectively doubling the punitive levy.
“We put a 50% tariff on India on oil. They’re the second largest. So, very close to China in terms of the purchase of oil from Russia,” Trump said, suggesting the action might have influenced Putin’s offer to meet. “I don’t know if that had anything to do with it,” he said.
“What I think could be the worst outcome for the United States, that India has reacted very negatively, as you might expect, to these tariffs related to Russian oil purchases, in part because they see that China has not been tariffed,” former national security adviser John Bolton said on CNN last night. “And the irony here is that while the secondary tariffs against India are intended to hurt Russia, it could push India back closer to Russia, and ironically closer to China, perhaps negotiating together, against the U.S. tariff efforts.”
Earlier in the day, a White House official said Trump was still expected to impose secondary sanctions against Russia after tomorrow’s 10-day deadline expires.
WHITE HOUSE STILL EXPECTED TO ENFORCE ADDITIONAL SANCTIONS ON RUSSIA AFTER WITKOFF-PUTIN MEETING
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HAPPENING TODAY: President Donald Trump’s worldwide tariffs are now in effect as of 12:01 a.m., affecting more than 90 countries, including the European Union, which will now face tariff rates of between 10% and 15% or higher. In addition, Trump announced a 100% tariff on computer chips, unless companies, like Apple, invest in facilities to manufacture in the United States.
“We’ll be putting a tariff of approximately 100% on chips and semiconductors,” Trump said in the Oval Office while meeting with Apple CEO Tim Cook. “But if you’re building in the United States of America, there’s no charge even though you’re building and you’re not producing yet in terms of the big numbers of jobs and all of the things that you’re building. If you’re building, there will be no charge. So, I just want everyone to know that.”
An analysis by Yale University estimated Americans could pay an average of 18% more for imported products under the global tariff regime, unless importers who pay the tariffs eat the extra costs. The tariff on computer chips, which are mostly made in Taiwan, could also raise prices for cars, electronics, household appliances and consumer products that use computer chips.
In his meeting with Trump, Cook pledged an additional $100 million, bringing Apple’s promised investment in American manufacturing to $600 million. “This is a significant step toward the ultimate goal of ensuring that iPhones sold in the United States of America also are made in America,” Trump said.
TRUMP ANNOUNCES 100% TARIFFS ON SEMICONDUCTORS AS APPLE UNVEILS $100 BILLION US INVESTMENT
U.S. SOLDIER WITH TOP SECRET CLEARANCE CHARGED WITH SPYING: A 22-year-old active-duty soldier, who held a Top Secret / Sensitive Compartmented Information security clearance, has been arrested and charged by the FBI with spying for Russia.
“The FBI’s investigation revealed Taylor Lee allegedly attempted to provide classified military information on U.S. tank vulnerabilities to a person he believed to be a Russian intelligence officer in exchange for Russian citizenship,” said Roman Rozhavsky, assistant director of the FBI’s Counterintelligence Division, in a press release.
According to court documents, in June, Lee allegedly transmitted export-controlled technical information on the M1A2 Abrams Tank online and offered assistance to the Russian Federation, stating, “the USA is not happy with me for trying to expose their weaknesses.” He added, “At this point, I’d even volunteer to assist the Russian Federation when I’m there in any way.
Lee dealt with a person he thought was a representative of the Russian government, and provided “documents and information on the M1A2 Abrams, another armored fighting vehicle used by the U.S. military, and combat operations.”
In July, Lee delivered a “specific piece of hardware” from inside an M1A2 Abrams tank to a storage unit in El Paso, Texas, and afterward sent his purported Russian contact a message stating, “Mission accomplished.”
FORT BLISS SOLDIER ARRESTED FOR ATTEMPTING TO SEND US TANK SECRETS TO RUSSIA
THE RUNDOWN:
Washington Examiner: Trump announces 100% tariffs on semiconductors as Apple unveils $100 billion US investment
Washington Examiner: Trump hopes to meet with Putin as soon as next week
Washington Examiner: White House still expected to enforce additional sanctions on Russia after Witkoff-Putin meeting
Washington Examiner: Witkoff-Putin meeting was ‘constructive,’ Kremlin says as new sanctions deadline looms
Washington Examiner: Trump raises India tariffs to 50% over Russian oil purchases
Washington Examiner: Israeli leaders clash over full occupation of Gaza despite Trump’s consent for invasion
Washington Examiner: Trump hopes Armenia-Azerbaijan talks will be another notch in his peace-deal belt
Washington Examiner: Army sergeant arrested in Fort Stewart shooting that left five soldiers injured
Washington Examiner: Fort Bliss soldier arrested for attempting to send US tank secrets to Russia
Washington Examiner: Gabbard doubts ‘official line’ on New Jersey drones: ‘Still have a lot of questions’
Washington Examiner: Tom Rogan Opinion: Israel’s new Gaza offensive must be ground focused, not reliant on air power
Washington Examiner: Tom Rogan Opinion: Trump right to tariff India over Ukraine war
AP: More Ukrainians now want a negotiated end to the war with Russia, new Gallup poll shows
AP: US is auctioning a seized $325M Russian yacht with 8 state rooms, a helipad, a gym and a spa
AP: With only one nuclear arms pact left between the US and Russia, a new arms race is possible
Wall Street Journal: Migrants Vanish Into Opaque ICE Detention System
AP: Survivors of Israel’s pager attack on Hezbollah struggle to recover
Washington Post: Nvidia, under pressure from U.S. and China, says chips have no ‘back doors’
Washington Post: Gabbard overrode CIA officials’ concerns in push to release classified Russia report
AP: Japan deploys its first F-35B fighter jets to bolster defenses in the south
The War Zone: Tesla Cybertrucks Wanted By Air Force As Missile Targets
Aviation Week: How The U.S. Air Force Unlocked A Drone-Killing Rocket Capability
Washington Post: Trump threatens to deploy National Guard in D.C., take over police
New York Times: NASA Is Getting Fired Up About a Nuclear Reactor on the Moon
New Hampshire Public Radio: Years Before Air Force Base Fatality, Investigators Found ‘Failure’ in a Sig Sauer Gun
Air & Space Forces Magazine: Hydraulic Failure Led to Fire That Destroyed B-2 Bomber in 2022, Air Force Says
Stars and Stripes: Air Force Inspects F-15E Fighters at Okinawa Base After Missing-Wheel Landing
Air & Space Forces Magazine: Bill Would Aid Vets Exposed to Radiation, Toxins at Nevada Range
Air & Space Forces Magazine: How An AI Called NITMRE Could Prevent Airlift Nightmares
AP: Restoration of torn-down Confederate monument will cost $10 million over 2 years, military says
Washington Post: VOA director fired after declining reassignment to low-level post
Stars and Stripes: VA ends contracts for most of its unionized employees
THE CALENDAR:
THURSDAY | AUGUST 7
9 a.m. 600 14th St. NW — Government Executive Media Group Defense One DOD Cloud Workshop, with Former Deputy Defense CIO Danielle Metz; and Adarryl Roberts, CIO of the Defense Logistics Agency https://events.defenseone.com/dod-cloud-workshop-2025/
10:30 a.m. — Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies virtual discussion: “Nuclear command and control,” with Air Force Maj. Gen. Jason Armagost, commander, Joint-Global Strike Operations Center https://www.mitchellaerospacepower.org/events/maj-gen-jason-armagost/
11 a.m. 1747 Pennsylvania Ave. NW — U.S. Representative Office of the National Council of Resistance of Iran news conference: “Details of the terror network of the Iranian regime and the various agencies involved in carrying out Tehran’s terror plots against Iranian dissidents and foreign nationals.” https://www.eventbrite.com/e/ncri-to-reveal-new-information-on-iran
1 p.m. — Center for a New American Security virtual discussion: “U.S. Strategy for Conflict Prevention in Syria,” with Daniel Schneiderman, adjunct senior fellow at the CNAS Middle East Security Program and former senior coordinator for Afghanistan at the Defense Department; Mona Yacoubian, senior adviser and director at the Center for Strategic and International Studies’s Middle East Program; Ibrahim Al-Assil, senior fellow at the Atlantic Council; and Adham Sahloul, senior adviser and coordinator and adjunct senior fellow at the CNAS Middle East Security Program North Star Policy Initiative https://www.cnas.org/events/virtual-event-u-s-policy-for-engagement-with-israel-and-syria
1:30 p.m. — Government Executive Media Group and the Advanced Technology Academic Research Center virtual discussion: “Intersection of Quantum, AI, and Security,” with Chrisma Jackson, chief information security officer and director of cybersecurity and mission computing at Sandia National Laboratories; Tameika Turner, senior cybersecurity program manager at the National Nuclear Security Administration; Gina Scinta, deputy CTO of Thales TCT; and Kevin Walsh, director of information technology and cybersecurity at the Government Accountability Office https://atarc.org/event/quantumaiandsecurity
FRIDAY | AUGUST 8
7 p.m. 610 Water St. SW — Politics and Prose Bookstore book discussion: The Devil Reached Toward the Sky: An Oral History of the Making and Unleashing of the Atomic Bomb, with author Garrett Graff, host of the Doomsday Scenario newsletter https://politics-prose.com/garrett-graff