(NewsNation) — President Donald Trump is saying that he believes a peace deal for Ukraine is close, something that would be a significant achievement for his presidency.
When it comes to foreign policy, Trump is also meeting with Israel’s Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, again with Witkoff present as they discuss the next phase of a ceasefire deal for Gaza.
The president said that he spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin today and is expected to speak again with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Zelenskyy also spoke with Special Envoy Steve Witkoff.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt described that call with Putin as “positive.”
As Trump works toward peace efforts, we are also learning more about an alleged attempted attack on Putin’s residence. The Russian foreign minister claimed that Ukraine was the one that attempted an attack on Putin’s home, which Ukraine and Zelenskyy denied, but Trump did address.
“It’s a delicate period of time. This is not the right time. It’s one thing to be offensive because they’re offensive,” he said. “It’s another thing to attack his house. It’s not the right time to do any of that, and can do it and I learned about it from President Putin.”
The president was also asked about the situation in Venezuela, with reporters pressing Trump on a strike on a facility in Venezuela, which would mark the first known time that the US has carried out operations on land in Venezuela.
That’s something that Trump has been threatening for quite a long time, since that pressure campaign began against Venezuela’s leader, Nicolas Maduro.
“There was a major explosion, and the dock area where they load the boats up with drugs,” Trump said. “So we hit all the boats, and now we hit the area. It’s the implementation area, and that is no longer
around.”
In addition to Trump’s comments about a strike on the docks, the administration has been carrying out ongoing strikes on alleged drug boats in the Caribbean.
Meanwhile, China has conducted military exercises around Taiwan, an escalation that comes less than two weeks after the Trump administration approved the largest-ever arms sale to Taiwan, an $11 billion arms package.
That prompted China to impose sanctions on Boeing and other U.S. firms.
On Monday, China conducted live-fire military drills and what a Chinese official called a “stern warning” against Taiwanese independence, the mission named “Justice Mission 2025.”
Taiwan condemned the move, saying armed forces are on high alert after two Chinese military aircraft and 11 ships were spotted around Taiwan.