What we're covering
• Peace proposal deadline: President Donald Trump has given Ukraine less than a week to accept his 28-point proposal to end the war with Russia, which is widely seen as favoring Moscow, though he suggested today that the plan is still open for negotiation.
• Geneva meetings: Top US diplomats will meet with senior Ukrainian officials and European national security advisers tomorrow in Switzerland. The US proposal needs “additional work,” Kyiv’s European allies said today, after discussing the plan on the sidelines of the G20 summit.
• Plans for NYC: Meanwhile, Trump has indicated that New York City is not a priority for deploying National Guard troops, as he’s done in other cities during the administration’s immigration and law enforcement crackdown. It follows a notably cordial appearance alongside NYC Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani at the White House yesterday.
Trump says he will send National Guard to NYC "if they need it"
President Donald Trump suggested today that New York City is not a priority for deploying National Guard troops, following a cordial Oval Office meeting with Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani yesterday.
Asked if he plans to send the National Guard to New York, Trump said, “If they need it.”
Yesterday, Trump said he and Mamdani discussed crime in New York City and that they appeared to be on the same page in their efforts to combat it.
“He doesn’t want to see crime, and I don’t want to see crime, and I have very little doubt that we’re not going to get along on that issue,” the president said.
Remember: Trump has made extraordinary use of the military during his second term, including deploying the National Guard to cities where his administration is carrying out immigration raids and other law enforcement efforts. The deployments have prompted a slew of legal challenges and condemnation from Democrats.
Trump open to reconciling with Rep. Taylor Greene but says she would've "never survived" a primary without him
President Donald Trump expressed today he was open to reconciliation with Georgia GOP Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene shortly after she announced her plans to resign from Congress amid a falling-out she had with the president.
Trump recently rescinded his endorsement of Greene and attacked her in personal terms.
“I just disagreed with her philosophy. She started backing perhaps the worst Republican congressman in our history,” Trump said to reporters a short time ago. The president made it clear he was referencing Greene’s support of GOP Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky.
For context: Massie helped lead a bipartisan effort on Capitol Hill to get the Department of Justice to release files related to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Greene was one of a handful of Republicans in the House who signed on to his petition to force a vote in the chamber.
After a monthslong political pivot that catapulted Greene from one of Trump’s closest allies to a critic on various issues, Greene announced yesterday that she will be resigning from office in January.
Trump says the US-proposed Ukraine peace plan is not final offer
President Donald Trump said the US peace plan presented to Ukraine is not the final offer to end the war with Russia.
“No, not my final offer,” Trump told reporters just now. “We’d like to get to peace. It should’ve happened a long time ago.”
“The Ukraine war with Russia should have never happened. If I were president, it never would have happened. We’re trying to get it ended. One way or the other we have to get it ended,” he added.
Asked by CNN’s Kevin Liptak what happens if Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky doesn’t accept the plan by his deadline Thursday, Trump replied:
Trump made the remarks as he said he was heading to meet with former professional golfer Jack Nicklaus at the Joint Base Andrews golf course.
CNN’s Kaanita Iyer contributed to this post.
Another Democratic lawmaker's office is target of bomb threat
Democratic Rep. Maggie Goodlander’s district office in Concord, New Hampshire, was the target of a bomb threat yesterday, according to her spokesperson.
President Donald Trump on Thursday accused Goodlander and five other Democrats, who had urged service members and intelligence officials in a video to disobey illegal orders, of “SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR, punishable by DEATH!”
“Tonight, the office of Congresswoman Maggie Goodlander was targeted with a bomb threat. Law enforcement responded swiftly and confirmed that no credible threat is present at this time,” Annie Lentz, a spokesperson for Goodlander, said in a statement.
The district offices of three other Democratic lawmakers who appeared in the video — Reps. Chris Deluzio, Chrissy Houlahan and Jason Crow — were also targeted by bomb threats yesterday.
The home of Democratic Sen. Elissa Slotkin, who was also featured in the video, was the target of a bomb threat, according to her spokesperson.
Marjorie Taylor Greene leaves Congress in January. What's next remains unclear
President Donald Trump said early this morning that Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s resignation from Congress is due to poor polling numbers and fear of a potential primary challenge against a Trump-endorsed candidate.
That was the president’s first public reaction to Greene’s resignation, which she announced on social media yesterday evening.
How we got here: It came after a months-long political pivot that catapulted Greene from one of Trump’s closest allies to one of his top antagonists.
And it caps a turbulent five-year career in Washington, during which she was publicly condemned for violent rhetoric on the House floor and booted from the Freedom Caucus over a feud with a fellow Republican — while wielding extraordinary influence in her party as one of Trump’s most trusted political allies.
Ripple effects: Greene, who just months earlier had been discussed as a potential candidate for her state’s Senate race, currently has no plans to run for any office, according to a person close to her.
The Republican’s exit is likely to be quickly felt in the House, where Speaker Mike Johnson must navigate a razor-thin majority.
The speaker already faces the tall order in the new year of corralling his fractious conference to move on major legislation and further the president’s priorities.
US Army secretary meeting with Ukrainian officials in Geneva to discuss peace plan
Army Secretary Dan Driscoll and his team landed in Geneva this morning, where he will hold meetings with senior Ukrainian officials to discuss next steps for peace, a US official said.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and special envoy Steve Witkoff will join the talks tomorrow in Geneva, the official said. The goal is to iron out language before Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky meets with President Donald Trump.
A meeting between a Russian delegation and the US to discuss the proposed peace plan is also planned and “will happen quickly,” the official said, but not in Geneva. The official declined to elaborate further on where or when that meeting would take place.
National security advisers from Germany, France and the United Kingdom are also going to the Geneva meeting, a diplomatic source told CNN Saturday.
What Ukraine is saying: Senior Ukrainian defense official Rustem Umerov confirmed on X that senior US and Ukrainian officials will go over “possible parameters of a future peace agreement” in Switzerland.
Zelensky made a presidential decree approving a delegation of top Ukrainian security officials for talks with the US, Ukrainian allies and Russian representatives, his office said on X today.
It comes as Zelensky’s government grapples with a US peace plan that backs key Russian demands.
CNN’s Jennifer Hansler contributed reporting.
This post has been updated with information about additional allies attending the meeting.
Ukrainians express fears over US-backed peace plan
Ukrainians spoke to CNN today about their reaction to a US proposal for ending the war with Russia, which President Donald Trump has given Kyiv less than a week to accept.
Vira Semenova, a Kyiv resident and mother of three, told CNN she feels as scared as she has been since Moscow first launched its full-scale invasion in 2022.
She said the talks are “definitely not heading in the right direction” and that she may need to flee Ukraine if the plan is adopted:
Valerii Moroz, a builder who spoke with CNN in Kyiv, said the country risks losing its identity and its independence if it agrees to a deal that’s favorable to Russia:
What's on President Trump's schedule today?
President Donald Trump is expected to spend this weekend in Washington, DC.
We’ve seen the White House schedule, which states the president will leave at 11:35 a.m. ET today en route to Joint Base Andrews to visit the golf courses at The Courses at Andrews at 12 p.m. ET. His departure will take place from the South Lawn and will be open to the press.
Trump is then due to return to the South Lawn at the White House at 2:40 p.m. ET. This will again be open to press.
He has no public events scheduled tomorrow.
Trump is ratcheting up pressure on Ukraine over his peace proposal. Here's what you should know
As we keep a close eye on the diplomacy surrounding Russia’s war in Ukraine during our coverage of the Trump administration today, here’s what to know about how we got here.
Looming deadline: President Donald Trump has given Kyiv until Thursday to accept his 28-point plan to end the war, which lays out commitments each side would make to finally end the conflict that began with Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022.
What’s in the plan: The proposal calls on Kyiv to cede territory, limit the size of its military and promise not to join NATO in exchange for an end to the war. It calls for a halt to fighting, global funding for reconstruction and a board overseeing the commitments led by the US president.
Reaction to the proposal: European powers have been caught off guard by the plan, with the European Council saying in a statement today that it needs “additional work.” US and Ukrainian officials will meet tomorrow in Geneva to discuss next steps.
It looks like a win for Moscow: The proposal is widely seen as favoring Russia. Trump appears to be giving Moscow almost everything it wants, largely resembling the Kremlin’s maximalist positions from talks in Istanbul shortly after the invasion, when its forces held more of Ukraine.
What Ukraine is saying: President Volodymyr Zelensky said yesterday that Ukraine faces a choice between losing its dignity or a key ally in the US. He vowed to “work calmly” and quickly with the US and its partners toward an end to the war.
What Russia is saying: President Vladimir Putin earlier told a security council briefing he had received the US proposal and that he believed it “could form the basis of a final peace settlement.”
Here’s a deeper dive for subscribers: CNN annotated the 28-point proposal.
Trump's plan to end Ukraine war needs "additional work," European leaders say
The US plan for peace in Ukraine needs “additional work,” the European Council said in a statement today, as leaders on the continent scramble to find a coordinated response to the proposal.
While welcoming the US efforts, the leaders expressed concern over “proposed limitations on Ukraine’s armed forces.”
“We reiterate that the implementation of elements relating to the European Union and relating to NATO would need the consent of EU and NATO members respectively,” the statement added.
Remember: European powers have been caught off guard by the plan, which contains major concessions to Russia and was drawn up with little input from Ukraine or Europe.
One of the stipulations includes a commitment by Kyiv not to join NATO, a long-standing Kremlin demand.
Ukraine's allies will discuss US-drafted peace plan on sidelines at the G20 summit
Ukraine’s allies will discuss the US-drafted peace plan on the sidelines of the G20 summit today amid alarm over the proposals, which are widely seen as favoring Russia, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said.
“Ukraine’s friends and partners will meet in the margins of the G20 summit to discuss how we can secure a full ceasefire and create the space for meaningful peace negotiations,” Starmer said in a statement released by the UK government ahead of the talks.
We’ll bring you any significant developments from these meetings when we get them.
President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, said on X that she sat down for talks with Starmer ahead of the summit.
“The situation regarding Ukraine right now a clear reminder of why that matters,” von der Leyen said.
For context: The summit, which is being held today and Sunday, marks the first taking place in Africa. It will be attended by leaders including Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva but the US will be absent.
Trump wrote in a social media post on Friday that the US would boycott the event due to South African “human rights abuses” against Afrikaners, an ethnic group descended mostly from Dutch settlers, as well as German, French and British immigrants to South Africa, claims strongly disputed by the South African government.
Greene quits, Mamdani visits and much more. Catch up on the latest
Welcome to today’s coverage of the latest developments from the Trump administration.
We’ll keep you updated on President Donald Trump’s movements in Washington, as well as reaction to the United States’ 28-point proposal to end the war in Ukraine. The US will be absent from the G20 summit in Johannesburg, South Africa today, where world leaders are expected to discuss the proposal.
In the meantime, here’s what’s happened over the last 24 hours or so:
- Georgia GOP Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene announced yesterday she will be resigning from office in January, just days after her public falling-out with Trump, who called her a “traitor” and said he’d support a GOP challenge to her House seat next year.
- The president described his meeting with New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani yesterday on social media as a “great honor,” after their strikingly cordial joint appearance in the Oval Office.
- The home of Democratic Sen. Elissa Slotkin was the target of a bomb threat, according to her spokesperson. It came after Slotkin and five other lawmakers released a video earlier this week urging US troops to disobey illegal orders that might be issued by the Trump administration. Trump called for the arrest of the lawmakers, saying it was “seditious behavior, punishable by death,” but the White House denied that Trump was calling for them to be executed.
- And Trump yesterday announced he is immediately terminating temporary protected status for Somalis living in Minnesota, issuing the declaration in an incendiary social media post that accused the state of being a “hub of fraudulent money laundering activity.”
- Meanwhile, armed bandits kidnapped more than 300 students at a private Catholic school in Nigeria’s north-central Niger State, authorities say, the latest in a spate of mass abductions and attacks that have drawn the attention of the Trump administration.
