TRUMP: ‘VERY ANGRY, PISSED OFF’: With Russian President Vladimir Putin showing he’s in no hurry to make peace with Ukraine and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky balking at the latest version of the proposed mineral deals with the U.S., President Donald Trump is showing his frustration with both leaders as the prospects for a quick, war-ending deal are fading fast.
Trump, as quoted by NBC Meet the Press moderator Kristen Welker, is unhappy with Putin’s latest delaying tactic, calling for “temporary international administration” in Ukraine under the auspices of the United Nations, because Putin claims Zelensky is not the legitimate leader of Ukraine.
“The president told me, quote, ‘I was very angry, pissed off’ when Putin started getting into Zelensky’s credibility and started talking about new leadership in Ukraine,” Welker said in the opening of her Sunday show. “If Russia and I are unable to make a deal on stopping the bloodshed in Ukraine, and if I think it was Russia’s fault, which it might not be. But if I think it was Russia’s fault, I am going to put secondary tariffs on all oil coming out of Russia,” Welker quoted Trump as saying.
Speaking to reporters last night on Air Force One en route to Washington, Trump again indicated that while his patience is wearing thin, he hasn’t lost faith in Putin. “If I think they’re tapping us along, I will not be happy about it,” he said, adding, “I don’t think he’s going to return on his word. I’ve known him for a long time. We’ve always gotten along well.”
TRUMP ‘PISSED OFF’ AT PUTIN OVER ZELENSKY COMMENTS
ZELENSKY: ‘AMERICA IS CHANGING THE RULES’: Before Zelensky was unceremoniously booted out of the White House last month, he was ready to sign a framework agreement to share his country’s mineral, oil, and gas wealth with the United States.
But now, the Trump Administration has sent Zelensky a new draft that reinstates provisions that essentially give the U.S. total control over the minerals and is even more onerous than the original proposal.
Zelensky, who has said that he doesn’t accept Trump’s assertion that all previous aid to Ukraine should be considered a loan that must be paid back, is choosing his words carefully so as not to trigger another cutoff of U.S. military aid. Still, it’s clear negotiations are at an impasse.
“I thought we already agreed that there will be a framework agreement. But now, as I understand, the Ukrainian and American teams are working on it now, because America is changing these rules now, and proposes (to sign) the deal immediately, full agreement,” Zelensky said in Paris last week.
“I would not want the United States to have the impression that Ukraine is against it in general. We have consistently shown positive signals — we support cooperation with the United States,” Zelensky said. “But practically, when there is a final version of a certain deal offered by the United States. Why? Because the terms constantly change.”
On his plane back to Washington, Trump was unhappy with what appeared to be a flat rejection of the new terms of the deal. “Zelensky, by the way, I see he’s trying to back out of the rare earth deal, and if he does that, he’s got some problems,” Trump told reporters on Air Force One. “We made a deal with rare earth, and now he’s saying, ‘Well, you know I want to renegotiate the deal.” He wants to be a member of NATO — Well, he was never going to be a member of NATO, he understands that. So, if he’s looking to renegotiate the deal he’s got big problems.
PUTIN SAYS RUSSIA WILL ‘FINISH OFF’ UKRAINE, RAISING QUESTIONS ABOUT PEACE TALKS
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TRUMP: ‘I NEVER TAKE MILITARY FORCE OFF THE TABLE’: Fresh off Vice President J.D. Vance’s three-hour visit to the Pituffik Space Base in Greenland, President Trump continued to insist it is just a matter of time before the Danish territory becomes part of the United States.
And according to NBC’s account of his telephone conversation with Kristen Welker, he is not ruling out taking the world’s largest non-continental island by force. “I never take military force off the table. But I think there’s a good possibility that we could do it without military force,” Welker quoted him as saying.
In remarks to U.S. troops in Greenland Friday, Vance argued the NATO ally had forfeited its rights to the self-ruled island by failing to provide for its security. “Our message to Denmark is very simple. You have not done a good job for the people of Greenland. You have underinvested in the people of Greenland and you have underinvested in the security architecture of this incredible, beautiful landmass filled with incredible people. That has to change,” Vance said.
“It is the policy of the United States that that will change,” Vance said. “The president said we have to have Greenland, and I think that we do have to be more serious about the security of Greenland. We can’t just ignore this place. We can’t just ignore the president’s desires.”
“President Trump says the U.S. is ‘getting Greenland.’ Let me be clear: The U.S. is not getting it. We do not belong to anyone else. We determine our own future,” Greenland’s new Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen said in response to Vance’s remarks. “We must not react with fear. We must react with calm, dignity, and unity.”
During his brief, which had been pared back considerably because of the anger it engendered among Greenlanders, Vance downplayed the idea of a military takeover of the territory.
“Because we think the people of Greenland are rational and good, we think we’re going to have to cut a deal, Donald Trump style, to ensure the security of this territory but also the United States of America,” Vance said.
TRUMP THREATENS TO BOMB IRAN: Trump continues to see punitive tariffs as his weapons of choice in his efforts to force friends and foes to bend to his will, but he continues to threaten military actions should tariffs fail.
Earlier this month, Trump sent a letter to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, seeking a new nuclear deal to replace the one he tore up during his first term. Sunday, Tehran responded, rejecting direct negotiations with the U.S., but leaving open the possibility of indirect negotiations through third party.
Trump told NBC that if Iran doesn’t make a deal, “there will be bombing, and it will be bombing the likes of which they have never seen before.”
The threat comes as the U.S. has moved several B-2 stealth bombers to a British base on the island of Diego Garcia, in the Indian Ocean. The heavy bombers could be used against Houthi targets in Yemen but also could be a signal to Iran.
But Press TV, the English-language arm of Iranian state television, suggested last week that the base in Diego Garcia could be a target of Iranian ballistic missiles, should the U.S. attack Iran.
“The Americans themselves know how vulnerable they are,” warned Iranian parliamentary speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf on Friday, according to the Associated Press. “If they violate Iran’s sovereignty, it will be like a spark in a gunpowder depot, setting the entire region ablaze. In such a scenario, their bases and their allies will not be safe.”
McKENZIE: ‘FINALLY, WE ARE HITTING THE HOUTHIS HARD’: Former U.S. Central Commander retired Marine Gen. Frank McKenzie has nothing but praise for the “unrelenting” campaign the Trump administration is conducting against Iranian-back Houthi in Yemen, in an attempt to put a stop to the threat to international shipping in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden.
“We have finally begun to strike the Houthis hard,” McKenzie said on CBS’s Face The Nation. “We’re beginning to strike effectively at a pace, a scope, and a tempo that, frankly, eluded the last information — the last administration.”
McKenzie, now a paid contributor to CBS News, obviously felt his hands were tied when he was in command of U.S. forces in the region. “For the first time, we have the political will to employ appropriate military capability against the Houthis.”
“We want one of two things from the Houthis. We want them to be deterred from attacking ships that pass through the Bab-el-Mandeb, which means the Suez Canal. That’s one condition,” McKenzie said. “The other condition would be, if they won’t stop, we want to remove their capability to do it. The second task would be harder. It is within our capability. It will not be a short action. It won’t be what would call a single period of darkness. These attacks will have to continue. They may grow in scope and scale.”
Washington Examiner: Trump ‘pissed off’ at Putin over Zelensky comments
Washington Examiner: Putin says Russia will ‘finish off’ Ukraine, raising questions about peace talks
Washington Examiner: Trump hints at running for unconstitutional third term: ‘I’m not joking’
Washington Examiner: Trump launches tirade against NBC, Kristen Welker’s Meet the Press
Washington Examiner: North Korea building land bridge with Russia to combat international sanctions
Washington Examiner: Europe notches up defense spending after Trump’s demands but faces troubles
Washington Examiner: European leaders backing Ukraine say now’s not the time to lift Russian sanctions
Washington Examiner: US deploying more advanced military capabilities to Philippines
Washington Examiner: State Department restarts funding for organization tracking abducted Ukrainian children
Washington Examiner: Senate Armed Services leaders ask Pentagon IG to investigate Signal scandal
Washington Examiner: Trump says first call with Canada’s Mark Carney was ‘productive’
Washington Examiner: Hamas attempts to spin protests breaking out in Gaza against its leadership
Washington Examiner: State Department revoking visas of pro-Hamas students involved in campus riots ‘every day’: Spokeswoman
Washington Examiner: Trump’s multimillion-dollar gold card visas plan could help pay down national debt
Washington Examiner: Republicans push Trump DHS to expose Biden administration’s mass parole scheme
Washington Examiner: Trump to travel to Saudi Arabia for first foreign trip: Report
Washington Examiner: Iran rejects direct negotiations with Trump over nuclear program
Washington Examiner: Pete Hegseth under fire for bringing wife to meetings with foreign military officials
Washington Examiner: Mike Waltz goofed when he set up top-level chat on unclassified Signal app. Pete Hegseth made it worse.
Washington Examiner: US will ‘go as far as we have to go’ to acquire Greenland, Trump says
Washington Examiner: Tom Rogan Opinion: The Trump administration turns the screws on free speech
Washington Examiner: Tom Rogan Opinion: FBI Director Kash Patel is off to a strong start
New York Times: Hegseth Pledges to Step Up Military Cooperation with Japan
DefenseScoop: DOD Reopens Deferred Resignation Program amid Push to Reduce Civilian Workforce
AP: Military Review of Fitness Standards Will Find Array of Tests, But Higher Requirements for Combat
Bloomberg: Air Force Weighs Keeping 1970s-Era Missiles Until 2050
AP: US, Japan, Philippines Stage Navy Drills in Disputed South China Sea as a Chinese Ship Keeps Watch
Air & Space Forces Magazine: Space Force Adds 2 New Launch Providers
Space News: China Launches Classified TJS-16 Spacecraft, Companion Object Emerges Alongside Earlier TJS-15 Satellite
Air & Space Forces Magazine: Experts: US Military Needs ‘Software Literate’ Workforce, Not Just Coders
Task & Purpose: More A-10 Warthogs Deploy to the Middle East
Air & Space Forces Magazine: As Maryland ANG A-10 Departs for Boneyard, Its Future Flying Mission Is in Doubt
CNN: Collision Warning Sounds in Cockpit of Delta Plane due to Close Call with Air Force Jet near Reagan National Airport
THE CALENDAR:
MONDAY | MARCH 31
9 a.m. 1700 Richmond Hwy., Arlington, Virginia — Association of Defense Communities 2025 National Summit, March 31-April 2, with Air Force Lt. Gen. Andrew Gebara, deputy chief of staff for strategic deterrence and nuclear integration; John Lee, CFO, Defense Health Agency; and Tim Dill, performing the duties of assistant Defense secretary for manpower and reserve affairs https://adcsummit.org/
9 a.m. 1201 Pennsylvania Ave. NW — Hudson Institute discussion: “Fully Exploiting Autonomous Military Systems,” with Wahid Nawabi, chairman, president and CEO of AeroVironment; Lindsey Sheppard, director, Defense Department’s Advanced Command and Control Accelerator, Chief Digital and AI Office; Scott Gilloon, sector vice president of Air Force strategic development at General Atomics Aeronautical systems; and Matt Macnak, chief technology officer at Primer Technologies https://www.hudson.org/events/fully-exploiting-autonomous-military-systems
10 a.m. — Atlantic Council’s Eurasia Center and Razom for Ukraine virtual discussion: beginning at 10 a.m., on “What’s next for the Ukrainian children kidnapped by Russia?” with Mykola Murskyj, director of advocacy at Razom for Ukraine; Nathaniel Raymond, executive director of Yale University’s Humanitarian Research Lab; Kristina Hook, Atlantic Council nonresident senior fellow; and Shelby Magid, deputy director, Atlantic Council’s Eurasia Center https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/event/whats-next-for-the-ukrainian-children
12:30 p.m. 58 East 68th St., New York, New York — Council on Foreign Relations discussion: on “The Future of U.S.-China Relations,” with Liza Tobin, managing director of Garnaut Global and former director for China at the National Security Council; Jeremie Waterman, president, China Center and vice president for Greater China, Chamber of Commerce (virtual); Zongyuan Zoe Liu, CFR senior fellow for China Studies; and Rush Doshi, senior fellow for Asia studies and director, CFR China Strategy Initiative https://cfr.zoom.us/j/89675138981#success
1 p.m. — Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies virtual discussion: “Setting the Nuclear Deterrence Record Straight: Commanders’ Perspectives,” with Retired Air Force Gen. Robert Kehler, former commander, U.S. Strategic Command; Navy Adm. Charles Richard, former commander, U.S. Strategic Command; Retired Air Force Gen. Kevin Chilton, explorer chair in the Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies Spacepower Advantage Center of Excellence; Retired Air Force Lt. Gen. David Deptula, dean, Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies https://www.mitchellaerospacepower.org/events
5:30 p.m. 555 Pennsylvania Ave. NW — Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies discussion: “Weaponizing the Dollar: Trade Wars and Global Power,” with Abraham Newman, director of Georgetown University’s BMW Center for German and European Studies; Edward Fishman, foreign policy expert at the Foreign Policy Research Institute; Juan Jose Gomez-Camacho, senior fellow at the SAID Foreign Policy Institute; and Narges Bajoghli, SAIS associate professor https://hub.jhu.edu/events/2025/03/31/weaponizing-the-dollar
6:15 p.m. 555 Pennsylvania Ave. NW — Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg Center and the Johns Hopkins Advanced Academic Program’s Graduate Film and Media Program film screening of “Porcelain War,” which is a “firsthand account of the war in Ukraine, told by ordinary people who join the citizen army to fight against the erasure of their country and culture,” with co-director Slava Leontyev; co-director Brendan Bellomo; producer Paula DuPre Pesmen https://hub.jhu.edu/events/2025/03/31/film-screening-porcelain-war-documentary/
TUESDAY | APRIL 1
9:30 a.m. G50 Dirksen — Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on the nomination of retired Lt. Gen. John D. “Razin” Caine for promotion to general and to serve as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff https://www.armed-services.senate.gov/hearings
10:30 a.m. — Middle East Institute Virtual discussion: “Gaza’s Cease-Fire Shattered: What Role Can the Arab World Play?” with Ibrahim Dalalsha, founder and director, Horizon Center for Political Studies and Media Outreach; Nadav Eyal, senior research scholar at Columbia University; Yasmine Farouk, director, International Crisis Group’s Gulf and Arabian Peninsula Project; and Brian Katulis, MEI senior fellow https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_LLl2DcgEQCuB0wbESiiVeA#/registration
11 a.m. — Federalist Society for Law and Public Policy Studies virtual discussion: “The Case of Mahmoud Khalil: Free Speech or National Security?” with Conor Fitzpatrick, supervising senior attorney at the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression; Ilya Shapiro, senior fellow and director of constitutional studies at the Manhattan Institute; and Casey Mattor, vice president of legal strategy at Stand Together https://fedsoc.org/events/the-case-of-mahmoud-khalil
2 p.m. 2172 Rayburn — House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing: “Countering the Iranian Regime’s Malign Activities,” with testimony from Norman Roule, non-resident senior adviser, Warfare, Irregular Threats, and Terrorism Program, Center for Strategic and International Studies; and Claire Jungman, chief of staff, United Against Nuclear Iran https://foreignaffairs.house.gov/hearing/a-return-to-maximum-pressure
2 p.m. HVC-210 — House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Task Force on the Declassification of Federal Secrets Subcommittee hearing on “The JFK Files.” http://oversight.house.gov
2 p.m. — Center for Strategic and International Studies virtual discussion: beginning at 2 p.m., on “Chinese Advances in Space Weaponization,” with Tom Karako, director, CSIS Missile Defense Project; Kari Bingen, director, CSIS Aerospace Security Project; and Heather Williams, director, CSIS Project on Nuclear Issues https://www.csis.org/events/chinese-advances-space-weaponization
