Trump begins planning for Putin-Zelenskyy meeting while affirming US help with security guarantees

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump said Monday he's begun arrangements for a face-to-face meeting between Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelenskyy to discuss a pathway to end Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, while affirming that the U.S. would back European security guarantees aimed at preventing Moscow from reinvading its neighbor once the current conflict ends.

Details of the security guarantees and Trump’s efforts to arrange peace talks were still evolving as an extended meeting among Trump, Zelenskyy and other European leaders wrapped up at the White House.

But as they emerged from their talks, the leaders expressed guarded optimism that Trump could be finding momentum in his quest to fulfill his campaign promise of ending the grinding war.

The “most important” outcome of the meeting was the “U.S. commitment to work with us on providing security guarantees,” French President Emmanuel Macron told reporters.

Trump said he would forge ahead with arrangements for a meeting between Zelenskyy and Putin. He spoke by phone with Putin during Monday's talks with Zelenskyy and the leaders of Britain, Finland, France, Germany and Italy as well as the president of the European Commission and head of NATO.

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Takeaways from Trump's meeting with Zelenskyy and Europeans: Praise, security talks, more meetings

WASHINGTON (AP) — During their second meeting in the Oval Office this year, President Donald Trump said the U.S. would be willing to support European efforts to police any peace deal in Ukraine, while its leader, Volodymyr Zelenskyy expressed his gratitude and wore dressier clothes.

And Vice President JD Vance kept his mouth shut.

As Trump hosted Zelenskyy and top European leaders to energize months of stalled U.S.-led efforts to halt Russia's 3 1/2-year-old war, the tone and style of the sit-down was far different than when Ukraine's president was hounded out of the White House in February.

Following the talks, Trump called and spoke at length to Russian President Vladimir Putin who got the red carpet treatment at a summit with Trump last Friday in Alaska, to discuss the extraordinary gathering of allies. Trump said he would now work to arrange a meeting between Zelenskyy and Putin.

Here are key takeaways:

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What to know about powerful Hurricane Erin as it heads past the US East Coast

Island communities off the coast of North Carolina are bracing for flooding ahead of the year’s first Atlantic hurricane, Hurricane Erin.

Although forecasters are confident that the storm won’t make direct landfall in the United States, authorities on a few islands along North Carolina’s Outer Banks issued evacuation orders and warned that some roads could be swamped by waves of 15 feet (4.6 meters).

By Monday night the storm's top sustained winds had dropped to 130 mph (210 kph) but it's still a major, dangerous hurricane.

Tropical storm warnings were in effect for the southeast Bahamas and the Turks and Caicos Islands, according to the U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami.

Here is what to know about Hurricane Erin.

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Democrats get police escorts to prevent a new redistricting walkout as California moves to retaliate

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Texas Democrats who ended a walkout Monday found themselves shadowed by law enforcement officers to keep them from repeating the protest that stalled Republican efforts to redraw congressional districts and fulfill President Donald Trump's desire to reshape U.S. House maps.

Republicans in the Texas House forced returning Democrats to sign what the Democrats called “permission slips,” agreeing to around-the-clock surveillance by state Department of Public Safety officers to leave the floor. However, Democratic Rep. Nicole Collier, of Fort Worth, refused and remained on the House floor Monday night.

The Democrats' return to Texas puts the Republican-run Legislature in position to satisfy Trump’s demands, possibly later this week, as California Democrats advance new congressional boundaries in retaliation.

Lawmakers had officers posted outside their Capitol offices, and suburban Dallas Rep. Mihaela Plesa said one tailed her on her Monday evening drive back to her apartment in Austin after spending much of the day on a couch in her office. She said he went with her for a staff lunch and even down the hallway with her for restroom breaks.

“We were kind of laughing about it, to be honest, but this is really serious stuff," Plesa said in a telephone interview. "This is a waste of taxpayer dollars and really performative theater.”

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Trump vows to change how elections are run. The US Constitution doesn't give him that power

President Donald Trump on Monday vowed more changes to the way elections are conducted in the U.S., but based on the Constitution there is little to nothing he can do on his own.

Relying on false information and conspiracy theories that he's regularly used to explain away his 2020 election loss, Trump pledged on his social media site that he would do away with both mail voting — which remains popular and is used by about one-third of all voters — and voting machines — some form of which are used in almost all of the country's thousands of election jurisdictions. These are the same systems that enabled Trump to win the 2024 election and Republicans to gain control of Congress.

Trump's post marks an escalation even in his normally overheated election rhetoric. He issued a wide-ranging executive order earlier this year that, among other changes, would have required documented proof-of-citizenship before registering to vote. His Monday post promised another election executive order to “help bring HONESTY to the 2026 Midterm elections.”

The same post also pushed falsehoods about voting. He claimed the U.S. is the only country to use mail voting, when it's actually used by dozens, including Germany, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.

Similar complaints to Trump's, when aired on conservative and conservative-leaning networks such as Newsmax and Fox News, have led to multimillion dollar defamation settlements, including one announced Monday, because they are full of false information and the outlets have not been able to present any evidence to support them.

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3 more GOP governors authorize deployment of National Guard troops as part of Trump show of force

WASHINGTON (AP) — Three more Republican governors authorized the deployment of National Guard troops to Washington on Monday, part of President Donald Trump’s escalating show of force that he says is designed to crack down on crime and boost immigration enforcement in the nation’s capital. The announcements by Mississippi, Tennessee and Louisiana brought the number of state troops detailed to the president’s effort to more than 1,100 — and the number of states to six.

Governors from the states said they were responding to requests from the Trump administration to join the operation. It was not immediately clear why the administration requested additional military support. About 800 troops have already been called up from the Washington, D.C., guard and have had a limited assigned role so far in Trump’s 10-day-old attempted takeover of D.C. law enforcement.

D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser said the descriptions of the operation needed to be more honest — and acknowledge that they weren't just about curtailing crime but about immigration enforcement, a centerpiece of the second Trump administration that has echoed across the country in recent months. During a news conference, Bowser pushed back on Trump’s characterization of the city and voiced skepticism about the administration’s intentions.

“I think it makes the point that this is not about D.C. crime,” Bowser said of the administration and states deploying National Guard members onto the streets of the capital. “The focus should be on violent crime. ... Nobody is against focusing on driving down any level of violence. And so if this is really about immigration enforcement, the administration should make that plain.”

Trump’s executive order that launched the federal operation declared a “crime emergency” in the District of Columbia and initiated a takeover of Washington’s police department. The administration has ordered local police to cooperate with federal agents on immigration enforcement, orders that would contradict local laws prohibiting such collaboration.

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Texas declares measles outbreak over

The Texas measles outbreak that sickened 762 people since late January is over, state health officials said Monday.

It's been more than 42 days since the last new case was confirmed, meeting the threshold public health officials use to declare measles outbreaks over. The last person to have an outbreak-related case got a rash on July 1, according to state data.

Two unvaccinated Texas children died of the virus earlier this year and 100 people were hospitalized throughout the outbreak, which spread to 37 counties. The outbreak and was linked to outbreaks in Canada and Mexico and other U.S. states.

The U.S. is having its worst year for measles in more than three decades, as childhood vaccination rates against the virus decline and more parents claim exemptions from school requirements. The U.S. has confirmed 1,356 cases as of Aug. 5, according U.S Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data. The nation's third measles death was unvaccinated adult in New Mexico who died in March.

West Texas was the nation's measles epicenter for months. The virus started spreading there in close-knit, undervaccinated Mennonite communities in Gaines County.

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Hamas accepts an Arab ceasefire proposal on Gaza as Palestinian death toll passes 62,000

RAFAH, Egypt (AP) — Hamas said Monday it has accepted a new proposal from Arab mediators for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip as Israel indicated its positions haven't changed, while Gaza's Health Ministry said the Palestinian death toll from 22 months of war has passed 62,000.

U.S. President Donald Trump appeared to cast doubt on the long-running negotiations that Washington has mediated as well. “We will only see the return of the remaining hostages when Hamas is confronted and destroyed!!! The sooner this takes place, the better the chances of success will be,” he posted on social media.

Israel announced plans to reoccupy Gaza City and other heavily populated areas after ceasefire talks appeared to break down last month, raising the possibility of a worsening humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza, which experts say is sliding into famine.

Plans to expand the offensive, in part aimed at pressuring Hamas, have sparked international outrage and infuriated many Israelis who fear for the remaining hostages taken in the Oct. 7, 2023, attack that started the war. Hundreds of thousands took part in mass protests on Sunday calling for their return.

Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty said mediators are “exerting extensive efforts” to revive a U.S. proposal for a 60-day ceasefire, during which some of the remaining 50 hostages would be released and the sides would negotiate a lasting ceasefire and the return of the rest.

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Learn about the 5 people charged in connection with Matthew Perry’s death

LOS ANGELES (AP) — One year ago, federal authorities announced that five people had been charged in connection with the ketamine overdose death of Matthew Perry.

All five have now agreed to plead guilty, including the personal assistant of the “Friends” star, an old acquaintance and two doctors.

On Monday, Jasveen Sangha, who prosecutors say was a dealer known as the “Ketamine Queen,” became the fifth and final defendant to reach a deal and avoid trial.

Here is a look at each of the defendants.

Sangha admitted in her plea agreement that she sold Perry the lethal dose of ketamine in the days before his death on Oct. 23, 2023.

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No. 1 Texas, No. 2 Penn St each place 3 players on Associated Press preseason All-America first team

Texas and Penn State, the top two teams in The Associated Press preseason Top 25, each had three players selected for the preseason AP All-America team announced Monday.

No. 1 Texas had one player from each level of its defense on the first team: edge rusher Colin Simmons, linebacker Anthony Hill Jr. and safety Michael Taaffe. No. 2 Penn State’s picks were running back Nicholas Singleton, offensive lineman Olaivavega Ioane and defensive lineman Zane Durant.

No. 3 Ohio State, No. 4 Clemson, No. 6 Notre Dame, No. 8 Alabama and Pittsburgh each had two players on the first team.

The Southeastern Conference had 12 players on the 27-man first team determined by media members on the AP Top 25 voting panel.

The Big Ten had seven players, the ACC four and the Big 12 two.

News from © The Associated Press, 2025