The American dream is “surging” and “America is back,” according to President Donald Trump.
Trump launched the week telling Americans that his administration would work to take “America’s destiny into our own hands” and vowed that “this will be our greatest era” during a joint address to Congress Tuesday.
Additionally, Trump shared in the address that Ukraine was prepared to sign off on a rare-earth minerals deal and continue peace negotiations to end the war with Russia after talks came to a fiery halt Feb. 28. Trump also disclosed that his administration caught the terrorist behind the 2021 Afghanistan attack that resulted in the death of 13 U.S. troops.
“Tonight, I am pleased to announce that we have just apprehended the top terrorist responsible for that atrocity,” Trump said Tuesday. “And he is right now on his way here to face the swift sword of American justice.”
Additionally, Trump urged lawmakers Tuesday to bolster funding for border security to foot the bill for deportations and along the U.S. southern border, claiming that his administration has “launched the most sweeping border and immigration crackdown in American history.”
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Trump also promised to work to end the war in Ukraine, days after a tense meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy over the role of diplomacy to end the conflict with Russia. Hours earlier, Zelenskyy said Ukraine was prepared to come to the negotiating table, despite the disagreement at the White House.
“It’s time to end this senseless war,” Trump said, adding that it’s important to talk to both sides to end wars.
In response to his joint address, Sen. Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich., blasted Trump’s foreign policy agenda, claiming that Trump would have lost the Cold War if he’d been president in the 1980s.
“We all want an end to the war in Ukraine, but Reagan understood that true strength required America to combine our military and economic might with moral clarity,” said Slotkin, who was tapped to deliver the official Democratic Party response to Trump’s address. “As a Cold War kid, I’m thankful it was Reagan and not Trump in office in the 1980s. Trump would have lost us the Cold War.”
Here’s what also happened this week:
Negotiating with Iran
Trump indicated that a nuclear deal with Iran could emerge in the near future, following his administration’s effort to reinstate a “maximum pressure” campaign against Tehran in February.
Trump told reporters Friday that the U.S is “down to the final moments” negotiating with Iran, and said he’d prefer to move forward in a peaceful fashion rather than utilize military intervention.
“It’s an interesting time in the history of the world. But we have a situation with Iran that something is going to happen very soon, very, very soon,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office. “You’ll be talking about that pretty soon, I guess. Hopefully, we can have a peace deal. I’m not speaking out of strength or weakness, I’m just saying I’d rather see a peace deal than the other. But the other will solve the problem.”
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Trump also disclosed that he sent a letter to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei pushing for Tehran to agree to a nuclear agreement or otherwise Tehran could expect military consequences, according to a clip released Friday from an interview with Fox Business that is set to air Sunday.
“I would rather negotiate a deal,” Trump told Fox Business. “I’m not sure that everybody agrees with me, but we can make a deal that would be just as good as if you won militarily.”
Sanctions against Russia
Trump also signaled that he might impose harsher sanctions on Russia, after Russia reportedly fired 67 missiles and 194 drones in an overnight attack striking Ukraine’s energy and gas infrastructure, according to Reuters.
“Based on the fact that Russia is absolutely ‘pounding’ Ukraine on the battlefield right now, I am strongly considering large scale Banking Sanctions, Sanctions, and Tariffs on Russia until a Cease Fire and FINAL SETTLEMENT AGREEMENT ON PEACE IS REACHED,” Trump wrote on Truth Social Friday. “To Russia and Ukraine, get to the table right now, before it is too late. Thank you!!!”
Additionally, National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett told reporters that Trump prepared to use “carrots or sticks” to encourage both countries to reach a peace deal.
No more federal resources for Perkins Coie
Trump also signed an executive order Thursday to pull security clearances and access to certain federal resources for Perkins Coie. The law firm hired the company responsible for crafting the so-called “Steele dossier” containing salacious material about Trump’s alleged connections to Russia, which the president has denied.
“This is an absolute honor to sign,” Trump told reporters Thursday. “What they’ve done, it’s just terrible. It’s weaponization. You could say weaponization against a political opponent, and it should never be allowed to happen again.”
The executive order suspends security clearances for Perkins Coie employees until a further review evaluating its access to sensitive information is complete to determine if it aligns with the national interest.
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Perkins Coie told Fox News Digital it has reviewed the executive order and plans to challenge it.
Marc Elias, the former chair of the firm’s political law practice, hired opposition research firm Fusion GPS to conduct opposition research into presidential candidate Trump in April 2016 on behalf of Trump’s opponent, Hillary Clinton, and the Democratic National Committee.
Fusion GPS then brought on the help of former British intelligence officer Christopher Steele, who composed the so-called “Steele dossier,” which featured scandalous and mostly unverified allegations. However, the document was used to secure surveillance applications against former Trump campaign advisor Carter Page for the FBI’s investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election.
Fox News’ Rachel Wolf and Jacqui Heinrich contributed to this report.
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