Hegseth expected to skip key meeting with allies on Ukraine support
CNN
US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth is not expected to attend next week’s meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group in Brussels, marking the first time since the group’s founding three years ago that a senior Pentagon official will not be there to represent the US, officials familiar with the matter told CNN.
US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth is not expected to attend next week’s meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group in Brussels, marking the first time since the group’s founding three years ago that a senior Pentagon official will not be there to represent the US, officials familiar with the matter told CNN. The US has for months been steadily pulling back from the group, which was founded by former Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin in 2022 after Russia’s invasion as a way for dozens of countries to streamline the delivery of military equipment to Ukraine to quell Russian military advances. Whereas Austin or a senior Pentagon official always chaired the group’s monthly meetings, Hegseth has ceded that role to the UK in recent months—even as a senior US general told lawmakers on Thursday that “continuing to assist Ukraine on the battlefield daily” is “very important” when it comes to maintaining leverage over the Russians. Hegseth attended a meeting of the UDCG in February at NATO headquarters in Brussels, where he told allies that the US would no longer be a guarantor of European security and that it was highly “unlikely” that Ukraine would ever join NATO—a comment that, at the time, marked a dramatic shift from the longtime US position that Ukraine would one day join the alliance. Defense News was first to report Hegseth is likely to skip the meeting next week. The Trump administration has turned on and off its military and intelligence support to Ukraine in recent months as a way to push Kyiv to the negotiating table. The US hasn’t imposed any penalties on Russia, even as Moscow has refused to agree to a White House proposal for a 30-day ceasefire and continues to place conditions on even a partial ceasefire in the Black Sea.
Run 3 Space | Play Space Running Game
Traffic Jam 3D | Online Racing Game
Duck Hunt | Play Old Classic Game
A delegation of congressional members traveled to Louisiana Tuesday to demand the release of Mahmoud Khalil and Rumeysa Ozturk and inspect conditions at the two Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention facilities where the two remain in custody.
The man who allegedly stole a Gucci bag loaded with cash from Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem was sitting at the table next to hers, according to video of Sunday’s incident reviewed by Secret Service investigators.
The Supreme Court’s conservative majority on Tuesday signaled it will require schools to provide opt-outs for parents who have objections to LGBTQ+ books read in elementary schools, an outcome that would continue the court’s years-long push to expand religious rights.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio rolled out the first stage of a major plan to reorganize the US State Department on Tuesday with changes that will eliminate 132 domestic offices, cut around 700 positions in Washington, DC and close offices focused on war crimes and global conflict, according to a senior State Department official and documents obtained by CNN.
At a time when critical funding from the Federal Emergency Management Agency has slowed to a crawl, some states — with Republican governors — have been luckier than others in prying money loose.
CNN’s 5 Things brings you the news you need to know every morning
Democrats’ efforts to land on a winning message against President Donald Trump have led the party to consider how fully to embrace a new, politically complex cause: pressuring the administration to follow a Supreme Court order to facilitate the return of Kilmar Abrego Garcia.
Harvard University sued the Trump administration Monday, setting up a titanic clash between America’s most prestigious university and the federal government over academic freedom, federal funding and campus oversight.
Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil and his wife welcomed their first child Monday, while the Columbia University graduate and a legal permanent resident of the United States remains in federal detention, according to a statement from Khalil’s wife.
GOP Rep. Byron Donalds of Florida faced frequent shouting from the crowd at a contentious town hall on Monday with a number of attendees asking critical questions about the Trump administration and the Department of Government Efficiency.
The Department of Education announced on Monday that it will restart collecting federal student loans in default on May 5, ending a pandemic-era pause that began roughly five years ago.
The logos of Big Tech companies and key associations were featured prominently Monday at the White House Easter Egg Roll, offering an unprecedented scene and use of the grounds to promote private business.
When the newly elected Pope Francis returned to the front desk of his hotel in Rome to personally settle his bill a day after being introduced to cheering crowds in St. Peter’s Square in 2013, it was a first glimpse into the modesty that would come to define his papacy.