Republicans target Nashville’s mayor for his response to immigration arrests

• June 3, 2025

By JONATHAN MATTISE

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Congressional Republicans are investigating Nashville Mayor Freddie O’Connell’s response to federal immigration arrests during hundreds of traffic stops over several days in May.

Rep. Andy Ogles is leading the charge, pitting the Republican who represents part of the Democratic-leaning city against a progressive mayor who has criticized immigration officials after they arrested nearly 200 people in the greater Nashville area.

The dayslong presence of Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents sent chills through well-known Nashville immigrant neighborhoods. Many Republicans, meanwhile, applauded ICE’s enforcement focus in the city.

Republicans have criticized Nashville officials for publicly documenting interactions between local authorities and federal immigration agents on an official city government website. Some of the entries included authorities’ names before city officials removed them. They have also blasted O’Connell for promoting a fundraiser for families affected by the ICE activity.

O’Connell has said the arrests caused long-lasting trauma for families and were led by people who don’t share Nashville’s values of safety and community.

Here is a look at the ICE activity and its fallout.

The arrests

ICE has said that it arrested 196 people alongside the Tennessee Highway Patrol during a weeklong effort in and around Nashville. ICE said 95 had criminal convictions, were facing criminal charges or both, but didn’t provide a more detailed breakdown, including the type of crimes. It said about 30 had entered the country after previously being deported, some of whom are included in the 95.

The Highway Patrol said it made more than 580 traffic stops in the joint operation with ICE. ICE highlighted seven cases, including two gang members, one of whom was wanted in an El Salvador killing, and people with convictions such as drug offenses, rape or assault.

Lisa Sherman Luna of the Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition criticized the effort as “at a scale we’ve never seen before.” She said officers were arresting some people who were going home to their children or heading to work.

The mayor’s response

Early into ICE’s operation in Nashville, the mayor held a news conference to assure that Nashville’s police force was not involved in the immigration crackdown.

He said the immigration enforcement approach “is not our understanding of what a Nashville for all of us looks like.”

At the news conference, the Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee also announced the fundraising effort to provide child care, transportation, housing aid, food and more for families impacted by the ICE activity.

O’Connell’s administration has sent letters asking Tennessee Highway Patrol and ICE to identify those arrested and their charges. He told the Nashville Rotary Club this week he still hasn’t received that information.

O’Connell is facing particular scrutiny because of a policy requiring city agencies to report communications with federal immigration authorities to the mayor’s office. Nashville has had similar orders under two prior mayors, and O’Connell added quicker reporting deadlines last month. He said the goal is transparency.

Republicans’ investigation into O’Connell

Congressman Ogles declared that House committees would be investigating O’Connell during a Memorial Day news conference at Tennessee’s Capitol in Nashville — a venue that raised eyebrows because it’s closed to the public on the holiday. Noise from protesters carried from outside the building.

A subsequent letter signed by Ogles and three other House committee and subcommittee chairmen requests documents and communications about O’Connell’s executive order and the ICE enforcement efforts. Ogles and others have also cried foul that the names of some immigration officials in the Nashville operation were made public. The agents’ names were removed, with O’Connell saying it wasn’t the intent of the executive order to release them.

O’Connell has said Nashville isn’t trying to obstruct federal or state laws, and has no reason to be concerned about the congressional investigation.

Ogles first won his seat in 2022 after Republicans redistricted Nashville to flip a Democratic congressional district.

Trump’s border czar, Tom Homan, told Fox News last week that agents will “flood the zone” in Nashville due to O’Connell’s response.

Republican Sen. Marsha Blackburn is requesting that the U.S. Department of Justice investigate O’Connell.

Last week, the Trump administration listed Nashville among its so-called sanctuary jurisdictions, before the list was removed. O’Connell said he’s “puzzled” by the city’s inclusion and that Nashville, by definition, is not a sanctuary city.

Laws toughened over so-called sanctuary policies

In 2019, sanctuary cities became illegal in Tennessee, threatening noncomplying governments with the loss of state economic development money. Tennessee economic development officials say they aren’t aware of any warnings, denials or withholding of state money under that law to date.

Early this year, lawmakers and Republican Gov. Bill Lee approved legislation to aid the Trump administration with immigration enforcement. It features a potential Class E felony against any local elected official voting for or adopting a so-called sanctuary policy. This could include voting in favor of local government restrictions that impede ICE efforts to detain migrants in the U.S. without permission.

Critics believe the criminal penalty — effective July 1 — could be unconstitutional due to state and federal protections afforded lawmakers at various levels of government.

The law also created a new state immigration division, but shielded its records from public disclosure.

​ Orange County Register 

Musk calls Trump’s big tax break bill a ‘disgusting abomination,’ testing his influence over the GOP

• June 3, 2025

By JONATHAN J. COOPER and CHRIS MEGERIAN

WASHINGTON (AP) — Elon Musk blasted President Donald Trump’s“big, beautiful bill” of tax breaks and spending cuts as a “disgusting abomination” on Tuesday, testing the limits of his political influence as he targeted the centerpiece of Republicans’ legislative agenda.

The broadside, which Musk issued on his social media platform X, came just days after the president gave him a celebratory Oval Office farewell that marked the end of his work for the administration, where he spearheaded the Department of Government Efficiency.

“I’m sorry, but I just can’t stand it anymore,” Musk posted on X. “This massive, outrageous, pork-filled Congressional spending bill is a disgusting abomination. Shame on those who voted for it: you know you did wrong. You know it.”

The legislation, which has passed the House and is currently under debate in the Senate, would curtail subsidies that benefit Tesla, Musk’s electric automaker.

The tech billionaire followed his criticism with a threat aimed at Republicans.

“In November next year, we fire all politicians who betrayed the American people,” he wrote in another X post.

It’s a sharp shift for Musk, the world’s richest person who spent at least $250 million supporting Trump’s campaign last year. He previously pledged to help defeat Republican lawmakers deemed insufficiently loyal to Trump, but now he’s suggesting voting them out if they advance the president’s legislative priority.

However, it’s unclear how Musk will follow through on his criticism. He recently said that he would spend “a lot less” on political campaigns, though he left the door open to political involvement “if I see a reason.”

The tech titan’s missives could cause headaches for Republicans on Capitol Hill, who face conflicting demands from Trump and their party’s wealthiest benefactor.

Alex Conant, a Republican strategist, said “it’s not helpful” to have Musk criticizing the legislation, but he doesn’t expect lawmakers to side with Musk over Trump.

“Senate Republicans are not going to let the tax cuts expire,” Conant said. “It just makes leadership’s job that much harder to wrangle the holdouts.”

Trump can change the outcome in Republican primaries with his endorsements; Musk doesn’t wield that level of influence, Conant said.

“No matter what Elon Musk or anybody else says — and I don’t want to diminish him because I don’t think that’s fair — it’s still going to be second fiddle to President Trump,” said Republican West Virginia Sen. Shelley Moore Capito.

Musk’s business interests stand to take a hit if lawmakers approve Trump’s bill, which would slash funding for electric vehicles and related technologies. Musk is the chief executive of Tesla, the nation’s largest electric vehicle manufacturer, and SpaceX, which has massive defense contracts.

Last month, Musk said he was “disappointed” by the spending bill, a much milder criticism than the broadside he leveled on Tuesday.

The budget package seeks to extend tax cuts approved in 2017, during Trump’s first term at the White House, and add new ones he campaigned on. It also includes a massive build-up of $350 billion for border security, deportations and national security.

To defray some of the lost tax revenue to the government and limit piling onto the nation’s $36 trillion debt load, Republicans want to reduce federal spending by imposing work requirements for some Americans who rely on government safety net services.

Musk’s post threw another hurdle in front of Senate Majority Leader John Thune’s already complex task to pass a bill in time for Trump to achieve his goal of signing it by July 4. The South Dakota Republican has few votes to spare in the GOP’s slim 53-seat majority.

Two of the Senate’s most fiscally hawkish Republicans quickly backed Musk.

“We can and must do better,” Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul wrote on X. Utah Sen. Mike Lee said “federal spending has become excessive,” adding that it causes inflation and “weaponizes government.”

Still, Trump enjoys fierce loyalty among the GOP base, and in the end, his opinion may be the only one that matters.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt played down Musk’s criticism.

“The president already knows where Elon Musk stood on this bill,” Leavitt said, and Musk’s post “doesn’t change the president’s opinion.”

The tension in the GOP delighted Democrats, who found themselves in the unlikely position of siding with Musk. Democrats are waging an all-out political assault on GOP proposals to cut Medicaid, food stamps and green energy investments to help pay for more than $4.5 trillion in tax cuts — with many lawmakers being hammered at boisterous town halls back home.

“We’re in complete agreement,” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said of Musk. The New York Democratic lawmaker stood alongside a poster-sized printout of Musk’s post during a Capitol news conference.

The last time Musk weighed in significantly on legislation, the scenario was far different. His power was ascendant after the election, with Trump joining him for a rocket test in Texas and appointing him to spearhead the Department of Government Efficiency.

During the transition period, Musk started whipping up opposition to legislation that would prevent a government shutdown, posting about it repeatedly on X, his social media platform. Trump soon weighed in, encouraging Republicans to back out of a bipartisan deal. Lawmakers eventually patched together a new agreement.

Cooper reported from Phoenix. Associated Press writers Joey Capelletti and Mary Claire Jalonick in Washington contributed reporting.

​ Orange County Register 

Angels’ Jo Adell is hot again because of aggression at the plate

• June 3, 2025

BOSTON — Jo Adell is again having one of those moments that provides some hope that he’s figuring out what it takes to be successful in the majors.

The Angels outfielder hit two home runs on Monday night. He’s hit .306 with a four homers and an OPS of 1.099 in his last 11 games.

The hot streak has brought his season batting average up to .215 and his OPS to .714. The major league average OPS is .711.

Adell, a 26-year-old former top prospect, has had other stretches of success – most notably last summer after dropping his leg kick – but his overall career average still sits at .212 with an OPS of .658.

This hot streak, he said, is about being aggressive at the plate.

“When pitches have showed up that I think I can do damage with, I’ve attempted to do so, just continue to be aggressive and put off my swing,” Adell said.

Both of Adell’s homers on Monday were on the first pitch. He’s hit seven of his nine homers on the first pitch. His average on the first pitch this season is .414, with an OPS of 1.640.

Early in Adell’s career, he struck out too much and walked too little. As he tried to correct that, he got away from his strengths. Trying to be too disciplined at the plate led him to too many deep counts.

It’s counterintuitive, but he said a simpler, swing-first approach actually leads to better swing decisions.

“The more aggressive I’ve been, I’ve actually been able to take other pitches, because I’m not overthinking it when I’m aggressive in the zone,” he said. “I think if you’re trying to guess at the plate and trying to look a little too close, you let pitches go by that you shouldn’t.”

This season, Adell has seen 3.67 pitches per plate appearance, which is the lowest figure of his career. His 25% strikeout rate is also his lowest since 2021. Over the 11-game hot streak, he’s struck out in just 21% of his plate appearances, which is slightly better than the major league average.

“We talk about finishing the at-bat when it should be finished,” Adell said. “It’s kind of like our thing. I think I’ve done a better job of kind of ending the at-bat when I’m supposed to, when I get something over the heart of the plate, it’s good enough to take a swing, and I think I’ve done a pretty good job of doing that to this point.”

Adell also has a new defensive role. He began the season as the Angels’ center fielder, but he struggled and was moved to right once Mike Trout’s injury opened that position for him. Now Trout is back, which means Jorge Soler is going to be in right when Trout is the DH, and Trout will be back in right when he’s ready.

Manager Ron Washington said he’s going to give Adell some runway to get comfortable in center.

“We don’t have anybody pushing him center field,” Washington said. “We had to push him back in center field. We are making certain his focus stays where it’s supposed to be and he does what he’s supposed to do. If there’s any time there’s any let up, we’re going to let him know about it.”

MOVED UP

Trout was moved into his familiar No. 3 spot in the lineup, after a hot start in his first few games off the injured list. Washington said over the weekend he wanted Trout to hit fifth or sixth until he got comfortable, because he hadn’t had any live at-bats during the month he was on the injured list.

After Trout had three hits and a home run in the No. 5 spot on Monday, Washington said he was inclined to leave him there because he was doing so well.

But when the lineup was posted on Tuesday, he’d changed his mind.

“When I was making the lineup out last night, I realized that he’s played four games, he’s gotten eight hits, he’s driven in five runs, so I decided that we needed to get that bat to the plate as often as we can,” Washington said. “I figure at third, we can constantly get him at-bats and get that bat going. Since it’s already going, to get him as many plate appearances as we possibly can.”

Trout dismissed the notion that he was hitting well because he was comfortable in the No. 5 spot. He said on Monday night his swing is dialed in because of the work he did while he was injured.

“I obviously like hitting at the top of the lineup, for sure,” Trout said on Tuesday.

SPREAD THE WORD

A day after the Angels became the first visiting team in the 114-season history of Fenway Park to hit three homers in the first inning, Adell said it was the result of good communication.

Adell hit the third of the homers against Boston starter Richard Fitts, batting in the No. 7 spot. Zach Neto hit a homer out of the leadoff spot, and then Trout hit a homer in the No. 5 spot.

“We really passed information along really well in the first inning about what guys were seeing at the plate,” Adell said. “As each hitter got up, they were more and more comfortable adjusting. (Taylor Ward) passed some good information along to me before I came up, which really helped me in the first. That’s what it’s about. It’s about getting information and, you know, dialing in the approach, because we all can hit the ball, but it’s just about what you’re looking for and how you’re attacking the at-bat.”

Adell said he wasn’t referring to pitch tipping.

“Just what guys are seeing at the plate, what the ball is doing,” he said. “Just those things to try to get the advantage of seeing it before you see it.”

UP NEXT

Angels (RHP José Soriano, 4-5, 3.41 ERA) at Red Sox (RHP Lucas Giolito, 1-1, 4.78 ERA), Wednesday, 10:35 a.m. PT, FDSN West, 830 AM

​ Orange County Register 

Federal judge blocks Florida from enforcing social media ban for kids while lawsuit continues

• June 3, 2025

By KATE PAYNE

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — A federal judge has barred state officials from enforcing a Florida law that would ban social media accounts for young children, while a legal challenge against the law plays out. U.S. District Judge Mark Walker issued the order Tuesday, blocking portions of the law from taking effect.

The measure was one of the most restrictive bans in the U.S. on social media use by children when Gov. Ron DeSantis signed it into law in 2024. The law would ban social media accounts for children under 14 and require parental permission for their use by 14- and 15-year-olds.

In his order granting the preliminary injunction sought by the groups Computer & Communications Industry Association and NetChoice, Walker wrote that the law is “likely unconstitutional,” but acknowledged that parents and lawmakers have “sincere concerns” about social media’s effects on kids.

Walker wrote that the prohibition on social media platforms from allowing certain age groups to have accounts “directly burdens those youths’ rights to engage in and access speech.”

Also Tuesday, a federal judge in Atlanta heard arguments from NetChoice seeking to block a 2024 Georgia law scheduled to take effect July 1 that would require age verification for social media accounts and require children younger than 16 to get parental permission for accounts. Like in Florida and other states where laws have been blocked, the internet trade group NetChoice argues that the Georgia law infringes on free speech rights, is vague, and overly burdensome.

While siding with the industry groups’ claims that the law limits free speech, Walker allowed a provision of the Florida law to go into effect requiring platforms to shut down accounts for children under 16, if their parent or guardian requests it.

Parents — and even some teens themselves — are growing increasingly concerned about the effects of social media use on young people. Supporters of the laws have said they are needed to help curb the explosive use of social media among young people, and what researchers say is an associated increase in depression and anxiety.

Matt Schruers, the president and CEO of the industry association CCIA, praised the judge’s order blocking the Florida law.

“This ruling vindicates our argument that Florida’s statute violates the First Amendment by blocking and restricting minors — and likely adults as well — from using certain websites to view lawful content,” he said in a statement. “We look forward to seeing this statute permanently blocked as a violation of Floridians’ constitutional right to engage in lawful speech online.”

A spokesperson for Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier defended the law and the state’s efforts to insulate kids from social media at a time when platforms like TikTok, Instagram and Snapchat seem almost impossible to escape.

“Florida parents voted through their elected representatives for a law protecting kids from the harmful and sometimes lifelong tragic impacts of social media. These platforms do not have a constitutional right to addict kids to their products,” Uthmeier’s press secretary Jae Williams said in a statement. “We disagree with the court’s order and will immediately seek relief in the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals.”

In Atlanta, NetChoice attorney Jeremy Maltz told U.S. District Judge Amy Totenberg that Georgia’s law would impermissibly restrict speech by minors, saying that “before you share your art, before you share your political information, you need to produce your papers, please.”

Totenberg did not rule Tuesday. But citing rulings against similar laws in other states, she expressed skepticism about Georgia’s case, asking Deputy Attorney General Logan Winkles: “What makes today different from all other days?”

Winkles argued the law’s requirement of “commercially reasonable” attempts to verify age could be quite cheap and likened it to banning minors from bars serving alcohol, not restricting their speech.

“There are things about social media that make it dangerous,” Winkles said. “It’s a place where children are being restricted. It’s not about speech.”

Associated Press writer Jeff Amy contributed from Atlanta.

Kate Payne is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.

​ Orange County Register 

Fed lifts restrictions placed on Wells Fargo in 2018 because of its fake-accounts scandal

• June 3, 2025

By KEN SWEET

NEW YORK (AP) — The Federal Reserve said Tuesday that Wells Fargo is no longer subject to harsh restraints the Fed placed on the bank in 2018 for having a toxic sales and banking culture.

It’s a win for Wells Fargo, which has spent nearly a decade trying to convince the public and policymakers that it had changed its ways.

“We are a different and far stronger company today because of the work we’ve done,” said Wells Fargo CEO Charlie Scharf in a statement. Scharf also announced that each of the 215,000 employees at Wells Fargo would receive a $2,000 award for turning the bank around.

Wells Fargo used to have a corporate culture where it placed unreasonable sales goals on its branch employees, which resulted in employees opening up millions of fake accounts in order to meet those goals. Wells’ top executives called its branches “stores” and employees were expected to cross-sell customers into as many banking products as possible, even if the customer did not want or need them.

After an investigation by The Los Angeles Times in 2016, Wells Fargo shut down its sales culture and fired much of its leadership and board of directors. The fake accounts scandal cost Wells Fargo billions of dollars in fines and lost business, and permanently tarnished its reputation, particularly because the scandal broke only a few years after the Great Recession and financial crisis. It was later revealed that Wells Fargo opened up roughly 3.5 million accounts that were not wanted or needed by customers.

Wells Fargo, once thought to be the best run bank in the country, was now the poster child of the worst practices of banking in decades.

In order to push Wells to fix itself, the Federal Reserve took the unusual step of placing Wells Fargo in a program where the bank could grow no larger than it was in 2018. No bank had previously been placed into such a program, known as an asset cap. The Fed required Wells to fix it culture and redo its entire risk and compliance departments in order to address its problems.

Since taking over in 2019, Scharf’s goal has been to convince the Federal Reserve that Wells Fargo had fixed its toxic banking practices. With the asset cap removed, the bank can now pursue more deposits, new accounts and take on additional investment banking businesses by holding additional securities on its balance shet.

​ Orange County Register 

Newsom finally starts tackling Medi-Cal cuts

• June 3, 2025

California once again faces a hefty budget deficit, with the May budget revision pointing to shortfall of $12 billion. That’s not as challenging as recent deficits which had hit more than triple that number in January 2024, but it’s still a challenge. In 2022, California enjoyed an astounding $97.5-billion surplus, but proceeded to spend the extra cash rather than prepare for the inevitable bad news.

True to form, Gov. Gavin Newsom has blamed the Trump administration: “California is under assault … because we have a president that’s been reckless in terms of assaulting those growth engines and has created a climate of deep uncertainty.” He’s not wrong that tariffs and the resulting economic uncertainty are causing financial jitters that impact our state’s budget, but the main blame falls squarely on our state’s profligate spending.

His latest budget document notes that costs for Medi-Cal—the state’s healthcare program for low-income people—have soared from $17.1 billion to $37.6 billion in a decade. The administration is being forthright about the causes: “implementation of major policy changes such as the full elimination of the asset test for older adults and the full-scope expansion to all income-eligible Californians.”

Newsom wants to reinstate the asset test, which limits eligibility for Medi-Cal and In-Home Supportive Services to those with assets less than $2,000 or $3,000 for a couple. Activists are upset—and so, too, understandably are many destitute people—but this would only return the status quo to where it was last year, when the asset test was removed.

One can make a reasonable case for a higher asset limit, but removing it opened the system to abuse. This is a safety-net program, not a “de facto free” healthcare system. Furthermore, Newsom wants to scale back Medi-Cal for illegal immigrants. That never was a sensible move for fiscal and other reasons.

As always, California lawmakers eagerly expand social programs, then seem shocked when the costs lead to a deficit. Newsom is doing what he needs to do given the deficit. But it really is a problem of his own making.

​ Orange County Register 

Ukraine’s Zelenskyy arrives in Turkey for peace talks but Russia’s Putin stays away

• May 15, 2025

By MEHMET GUZEL, HANNA ARHIROVA and SUZAN FRASER, Associated Press

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin didn’t show up in Turkey on Thursday for proposed direct peace talks with Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who was waiting for him in the capital of Ankara after challenging the Kremlin leader to face-to-face discussions on ending their 3-year-old war.

With Putin absent, the Russian delegation was in Istanbul and it wasn’t clear whether the sides would meet for their first such talks since March 2022, following Russia’s full-scale invasion of its neighbor the previous month.

Zelenskyy said the Russian delegation appeared to be merely “a theater prop.” Speaking at the airport in Ankara, he said the next steps for talks would be decided after his upcoming meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who welcomed Zelenskyy with an honor guard at the presidential palace in Ankara.

Putin’s absence punctured hopes of a breakthrough in peace efforts that were given a push in recent months by the Trump administration and Western European leaders. It also raised the prospect of intensified international sanctions on Russia that have been threatened by the West.

“Now, after three years of immense suffering, there is finally a window of opportunity,” Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said at a NATO meeting taking place separately in Turkey. “The talks … hopefully may open a new chapter.”

The war has killed tens of thousands of soldiers on both sides and more than 12,000 Ukrainian civilians, according to the U.N., and continues along the roughly 1,000-kilometer (620-mile) front line. Russian forces are preparing a fresh military offensive, Ukrainian government and Western military analysts say.

At least five civilians were killed and 29 injured in the past day, according to authorities in five eastern regions of Ukraine where Russia’s army is trying to advance.

A weekend of diplomatic maneuvering

The diplomatic maneuvering began over the weekend when European leaders met Zelenskyy in Kyiv and urged the Kremlin to agree to a full, unconditional 30-day ceasefire as a first step toward peace. Putin later responded by proposing direct talks with Ukraine in Istanbul. Then came Zelenskyy’s challenge to Putin to hold face-to-face talks.

After days of silence, the Kremlin finally responded Thursday, with spokesman Dmitry Peskov saying Putin has no plans to travel to Istanbul in the next few days.

U.S. President Donald Trump said he was not surprised that Putin was a no-show. Trump had pressed for Putin and Zelenskyy to meet but brushed off Putin’s apparent decision not to attend.

“I didn’t think it was possible for Putin to go if I’m not there,” Trump told reporters as he took part in a business roundtable with executives in Doha, Qatar, on the third day of his visit to the Middle East.

Vladimir Medinsky, an aide to Putin, is leading the Russian team that will also include three other senior officials, the Kremlin said. Putin also appointed four lower-level officials as “experts” for the talks in Istanbul.

Also absent from the talks were Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Putin’s foreign policy advisor Yuri Ushakov, both of whom represented Russia at the talks with the U.S. in Saudi Arabia in March.

The top-level Ukrainian delegation included Defense Minister Rustem Umerov, Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha, and the head of the Ukrainian presidential office Andriy Yermak, a Ukrainian official said. Zelenskyy will sit at the negotiating table only with Putin, said presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak.

Details about whether, when and where the Ukrainian delegation might meet their Russian counterparts were unclear. Russia said the talks have been postponed until the afternoon “at the initiative of the Turkish side”

Tass said the talks were to take place in a presidential office on the Bosporus, in Istanbul.

Putin met Wednesday evening with senior government officials and members of the delegation in preparation for the talks, Peskov said. Defense Minister Andrei Belousov, General Staff chief Valery Gerasimov, and National Security Council secretary Sergei Shoigu also attended.

Russia calls the talks a ‘restart’

The Kremlin billed Thursday’s talks as a “restart” of peace negotiations that were held in Istanbul in 2022 but quickly fell apart. Moscow accused Ukraine and the West of wanting to continue fighting, while Kyiv said Russia’s demands amounted to an ultimatum rather than something both sides could agree on.

Russia’s delegation then was also headed by Medinsky.

Putin’s proposal came after more than three months of diplomacy kickstarted by Trump, who promised during his campaign to end the devastating war swiftly — though it’s been hard to pull off. The Trump administration in recent weeks indicated that it might walk away from the peace effort if there was no tangible progress soon.

Sybiha, the Ukrainian foreign minister, met with U.S. State Secretary Marco Rubio and Sen. Lindsey Graham on Wednesday night in the Turkish city of Antalya, which is hosting NATO foreign ministers to discuss new defense investment goals as the U.S. shifts its focus to security challenges away from Europe.

Sybiha reaffirmed Ukraine’s support for Trump’s mediation efforts and thanked the U.S. for its continued involvement, urging Moscow to “reciprocate Ukraine’s constructive steps” toward peace. “So far, it has not,” Sybiha said.

On Thursday morning, Sybiha also met with other European foreign ministers, including his French counterpart Jean-Noël Barrot, who in a post on X reiterated the call for a ceasefire and the threat of “massive sanctions” if Russia doesn’t comply.

“We’re in a very difficult spot right now, and we hope that we can find the steps forward that provide for the end of this war in a negotiated way and the prevention of any war in the future,” Rubio said Thursday.

Finnish Foreign Minister Elina Valtonen, also in Antalya for the NATO talks, accused Moscow of not being willing to to engage in a serious peace process.

“We have one chair empty, which is the chair of Vladimir Putin. So now I guess the entire world has realized that there’s only one party not willing to engage in serious peace negotiations, and that certainly is Russia,” Valtonen said.

Barrot echoed her sentiment: “In front of Ukrainians there is an empty chair, one that should have been occupied by Vladimir Putin,” he said. “Vladimir Putin is dragging his feet and in all evidence does not want to enter into these peace discussions.”

Associated Press writers Lorne Cook in Brussels; Illia Novikov and Samya Kullab in Kyiv, Ukraine; Dasha Litvinova in Tallinn, Estonia; and Matthew Lee in Antalya, Turkey, contributed.

​ Orange County Register 

Trump downplays Putin’s decision to skip Istanbul peace talks with Zelenskyy

• May 15, 2025

By ZEKE MILLER and AAMER MADHANI, Associated Press

DOHA, Qatar (AP) — U.S. President Donald Trump said Thursday he was not surprised that Russian President Vladimir Putin will be a no-show for anticipated peace talks with Ukraine in Turkey this week.

Trump, who had pressed for Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to meet in Istanbul, brushed off Putin’s apparent decision to not take part in the expected talks.

“I didn’t think it was possible for Putin to go if I’m not there,” Trump said in an exchange with reporters as he took part in a business roundtable with executives in Doha on the third day of his visit to the Middle East.

Trump earlier this week floated potentially attending himself. The U.S. president, however, noted on Thursday that Secretary of State Marco Rubio was already in the country for meetings with NATO counterparts. Trump’s special envoy, Steve Witkoff, also plans to be in Istanbul on Friday for the anticipated Russia-Ukraine talks.

The push for direct talks between Zelenskyy and Putin comes amid a flurry of negotiations aimed at producing a ceasefire agreement between Russia and Ukraine.

Putin was first to propose restarting direct peace talks Thursday with Ukraine in the Turkish city that straddles Asia and Europe. Zelenskyy challenged the Kremlin leader to meet in Turkey in person.

But the Kremlin has said its delegation at the talks will be led by Putin’s aide, Vladimir Medinsky, and include three other officials. Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak said Zelenskyy will only sit down with the Russian leader.

Trump, as he wrapped up his visit to Qatar, stopped by a U.S. installation at the center of American involvement in the Middle East to speak with U.S. troops. He has used his four-day visit to Gulf states to reject the “interventionism” of America’s past in the region.

The installation, al-Udeid Air Base, was a major staging ground during the U.S. wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The base houses some 8,000 U.S. troops, down from about 10,000 at the height of those wars.

Trump told the troops that his “priority is to end conflicts, not start them.”

“But I will never hesitate to wield American power if it’s necessary to defend the United States of America or our partners,” Trump said.

The Republican president has held up Gulf nations like Saudi Arabia and Qatar as models for economic development in a region plagued by conflict. He has urged Qatari officials during his visit to use their influence to entice Iran to come to terms with his administration on a deal to curb its nuclear program.

Trump said progress has been made in the talks but warned a “violent step” could be coming if a deal is not reached.

“Iran has sort of agreed to the terms: They’re not going to make, I call it, in a friendly way, nuclear dust,” Trump said at the business roundtable. “We’re not going to be making any nuclear dust in Iran.”

Following the address, Trump departed for Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates for the final leg of his Mideast tour. He will visit the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque, the country’s largest mosque. The UAE’s founder, Sheikh Zayed, is buried in the mosque’s main courtyard.

Trump will also be hosted for a state visit in the evening by UAE President Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan at the Qasr Al Watan palace.

Trump earlier this week met with Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa and announced plans to ease sanctions on the war-torn country. The U.S. has deployed more than 1,000 troops in Syria for years to suppress a return of the Islamic State group.

Trump heaped praise on al-Sharaa — who was tied to al-Qaida and joined insurgents battling U.S. forces in Iraq before entering the Syrian civil war — after the two met in Saudi Arabia on Wednesday. He called al-Sharaa a “young, attractive guy. Tough guy. Strong past. Very strong past. Fighter.”

It was a stark contrast from earlier years, when al-Sharaa was imprisoned by U.S. troops in Iraq. Until December, there was a $10 million U.S. bounty for his arrest.

Trump said that the opinions of Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan were big factors in his decision to lift sanctions on Syria.

“President Erdogan called me and said, ‘Is there any way you could do that? Because if you don’t do that, they don’t have a chance,’” Trump said. “So, I did it.”

Madhani reported from Dubai. Associated Press writer Gabe Levin in Dubai contributed to this report.

​ Orange County Register