JD Vance on the Ukraine–Russia war: Peace requires a strong leader willing to bring all sides to the table.

The White House is weighing whether to invite Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, along with other European and Ukrainian officials, to Friday’s meeting in Alaska between U.S. President Donald J. Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin—potentially over Russia’s objections.

Dutch politician Geert Wilders said he spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, telling him that despite criticism from weak politicians and biased media, millions across Europe stand behind him and his efforts to rid both Israel and Gaza of Hamas terrorists. Wilders added that Netanyahu’s fight is shared by all who value life and freedom, in contrast to those who embrace death and destruction.

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said that if Putin does not stop targeting Azerbaijani gas facilities passing through Ukraine, he will supply weapons to the Ukrainians. Since Russia shot down an Azerbaijani Embraer E190, killing nearly 40 people, relations between Azerbaijan and Russia have been strained, and now they appear on the verge of breaking down completely due to the intense Russian attacks.

Massive plumes of smoke are still rising this morning from Russia’s Saratov oil refinery, which remains engulfed in flames. View quoted note →

U.S. President Donald J. Trump is weighing the reclassification of marijuana to a lower-risk category, following a million-dollar-a-plate fundraiser at his New Jersey golf club earlier this month attended by Kim Rivers, CEO of Trulieve Cannabis. The move could lay the groundwork for federal decriminalization and eventual nationwide legalization.

Ukraine’s overnight drone strike on Russia’s Saratov oil refinery caused significant damage, with dawn revealing towering columns of smoke and multiple fires still burning across the facility.

On Friday, the Trump Administration announced the removal of IRS Commissioner Billy Long—confirmed by the Senate just two months ago in June—with President Trump expected to nominate him as the next U.S. Ambassador to Iceland. Long’s ouster reportedly follows internal tensions between the IRS and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which has been pressing the agency to share confidential taxpayer data to help locate thousands of undocumented immigrants in the United States. Hours before his dismissal, Long and the IRS refused a White House request for additional tax records—specifically data on whether certain individuals had claimed the Earned Income Tax Credit—citing “taxpayer privacy rights” and stating the information fell outside their existing agreement with DHS.

U.S. President Donald J. Trump has instructed the Pentagon to develop military options for targeting several Latin American drug cartels that were designated as foreign terrorist organizations earlier this year, a senior U.S. official told the *Wall Street Journal*. The proposals under consideration reportedly center on special forces missions, intelligence sharing, and precision strikes, with any operations to be carried out in coordination with Mexico and other partners in Central and South America. According to sources familiar with the matter, Trump urged Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum during an April phone call to permit greater U.S. military involvement in combating Mexico’s drug cartels. U.S. and Mexican officials are now finalizing an agreement that would include intelligence cooperation and joint enforcement actions. Sheinbaum, who says she expects the deal to be signed soon, has stressed that “respecting our territory” is a non-negotiable condition in working with the United States.

According to European and Ukrainian officials cited by the Wall Street Journal, Russian President Vladimir Putin has presented the Trump Administration with a sweeping new ceasefire proposal for Ukraine, demanding significant territorial concessions from Kyiv—along with international recognition of Russia’s claims—in exchange for halting the war. During a meeting in Moscow earlier this week with U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff, Putin reportedly offered to agree to a full ceasefire if Ukraine withdrew its forces from the entirety of Donetsk Oblast. This would leave Russia in control of Donetsk, Luhansk, and Crimea—territories it insists must be recognized globally as part of the Russian Federation. The proposal marks a notable shift from Moscow’s earlier demands, which had included control over additional eastern regions, Ukrainian neutrality, an end to arms shipments to Kyiv, and a ban on NATO or U.S. troop deployments in Ukraine. European officials say the plan outlines two phases. In the first, Ukrainian troops would withdraw from Donetsk and the current battlelines in Eastern Ukraine would be frozen. In the second, Putin and U.S. President Donald Trump would reach a final peace agreement, to be formally negotiated with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. However, European and Ukrainian officials briefed by Trump and Witkoff this week expressed concern that Putin’s offer may be a calculated maneuver to stave off a new wave of U.S. sanctions and tariffs on Russia, which were set to be announced Friday.