Budget battle

This week, the House passed a budget framework on a near-party-line vote. That’s just the first step in crafting a federal budget, but the move likely puts off the threat of a government shutdown early in President Donald Trump’s term.

The budget resolution drew fire from the Left and Right, though among Florida’s congressional delegation, every Republican member felt the plan deserved to advance.

“Tonight, I was pleased to vote for the FY25 budget resolution, which will set important spending and savings goals to deliver on President Trump’s America First budget policies in ONE bill,” said Rep. Scott Franklin, a Lakeland Republican.

“This critical package will cut the deficit by $2 trillion by rooting out wasteful and fraudulent spending, secure the border, make critical investments in our national security, and restore American energy independence. Most importantly, it will extend the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, preventing record tax hikes and ensuring families and small businesses keep more of their hard-earned money. This is the only budget resolution that fully unleashes the President’s vision for a stronger, safer and more prosperous America.”

However, every Democrat in the House voted “no” to the plan, which the minority caucus said hampers critical government functions and thus puts Americans at risk. Democrats rebuked Medicare cuts particularly sharply. But Rep. Kathy Castor, a Tampa Democrat, said the entire budget framework threatened the nation’s welfare.

“Colleagues, out of all of the outrageous, damaging and illegal firings and shutdowns, whether talking about the Inspectors General, or the top military JAG officers, or the folks in charge of the Office of Government Ethics,” Castor said on the floor. “I mean, the list goes on and on. I think we can all agree that one of the most troubling was the firings at the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA). Their professional workforce was targeted by Elon Musk and Donald Trump’s reckless gutting of the federal workforce and the illegal layoffs.”

She filed an amendment that was not passed, but it would have preserved the NNSA.

“I think this is so arbitrary and outlandish to go in and fire people who are responsible for our nuclear enterprise, working at our labs, making sure our nuclear weapons are safe and secure. Yes, I think it is outrageous.”

Ungrateful dead

Sen. Rick Scott says a good way to save on Medicaid spending is to stop paying benefits to deceased enrollees. The Naples Republican filed the Leveraging Integrity and Verification of Eligibility for Beneficiaries (LIVE Beneficiaries) Act, requiring all states to review rolls every quarter to ensure the government is paying insurance bills for deceased enrollees.

“Washington has spent too long failing Americans with its dysfunction, shown clearly by government’s complete complacency with wasting tens of millions of taxpayer dollars each year writing Medicaid checks to people who have died simply because they haven’t checked if they’re alive,” Scott said.

“That’s unacceptable and a complete disappointment to taxpayers and those who rely on this program’s benefits when they need it most. While President Trump and his team are hard at work making our government more efficient, Congress must take action, too. Our bill, the LIVE Beneficiaries Act, will require states to verify that a beneficiary is alive before they send a payment. This is common sense and a practical step to cut down on improper payments and ensure tax dollars are spent wisely.”

Rep. Gus Bilirakis, a Palm Harbor Republican, filed a companion bill in the House.

“As we work to ensure the long-term solvency of critical safety net programs, like Medicaid and Medicare, we have an obligation to ensure we are serving as good stewards of taxpayer dollars,” he said. “This means we must prevent fraud, waste and abuse whenever possible. By implementing simple safeguards like the ones in this bill, we can strengthen these programs and help ensure they (meet) their intended purpose of providing access to quality care for our most vulnerable citizens.”

Gator Nation

During a confirmation hearing for Keith Sonderling, Trump’s nominee for Deputy Labor Secretary, Sen. Ashley Moody brought a little school spirit to a Senate Health Education and Labor Pensions Committee hearing. Florida’s junior Senator, like Sonderling, counts herself among the alumni of the University of Florida, opening her questions with a vocal “Go Gators.”

She also praised Sonderling’s background.

“I was so impressed with you, not only because of your incredible education pedigree, but your grasp of what this Department does, what it is meant to do, what it is not meant to do, and the way you have volunteered so selflessly when you could be doing so much in the private world,” she said.

Moody also promised at the hearing’s end to get a picture of herself, Sonderling and Gunster Chair and former U.S. Sen. George LeMieux, another Gator alum. LeMieux was at the meeting to give introductory remarks for Sonderling.

“Keith is a friend and a leader who has dedicated his career to public service and the advancement of the American worker,” LeMieux said. “I am honored to introduce him today and I am confident that he will serve our country with distinction and integrity as the Deputy Secretary of Labor.”

Sonderling, formerly a U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission Commissioner, practiced labor and employment law at Gunster for nearly a decade.

Lunch money

According to Rep. Cory Mills, President Joe Biden’s administration misused federal funding to keep troops fed, spending it on other unidentified priorities. The New Smyrna Beach Republican just led a letter to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth demanding a change in that policy and transparency regarding how sustenance pay is disbursed.

“As a combat veteran, I’ve once been in the position of a young Army Soldier with limited financial resources. Mismanaging funding for Soldiers’ nutrition is a betrayal of those who sacrifice to defend our freedom,” Mills wrote.

“For junior enlisted Soldiers, the $465 monthly flat rate for BAS can make up as much as 18% of their total pay. This misappropriation of funds directly reduces the financial support they rely on for their basic needs. The fact that nearly 50% to 80% of the $225 million collected from Soldiers’ BAS pay last year was redirected elsewhere demands an immediate investigation and swift accountability. We cannot achieve military readiness by robbing those who serve of the resources they’ve been promised.”

Mills said he was optimistic that the new administration would address the problem.

“I trust that Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth will thoroughly investigate this issue. His leadership and unwavering commitment to our warfighters is evident. Under his guidance, we have a real opportunity to address these oversights and strengthen our armed forces, retention and lethality.”

Mission to Mars

Artemis II, a mission to send astronauts to orbit the moon for the first time in 50 years, will launch from Cape Canaveral in just over a year. At a House Space and Aeronautics Subcommittee, Rep. Mike Haridopolos said that NASA and Congress must keep that effort on track.

“If we succeed, we will clear the path for Artemis 3 in 2027, when American astronauts will once again step onto the lunar surface and plant the Stars and Stripes,” the Indian Harbor Beach Republican said.

“This is the most significant moment for America’s space program since the Apollo program. We stand at a crossroads: The world is watching and our competitors, like Communist China, are racing to beat us there. We cannot afford to fall behind; this is an opportunity to prove that America still leads the world in exploration and innovation. Failure is not an option.”

As Chair of the subcommittee, Haridopolos said he would act as a watchdog to ensure that every dollar NASA spends contributes to reaching the moon and (eventually) Mars.

“The Moon is our crucial steppingstone — a proving ground to test technologies, refine operations and reduce risks for that future Mars mission. Every step we take toward the Moon is a giant leap toward Mars,” he said. “To my fellow Americans, you deserve to know your dollars are spent wisely. We will conduct careful oversight to ensure that NASA operates at the highest standards, and we will settle for nothing less than efficiency, productivity, and results.”

Grift shift

A tense exchange over name-calling nearly got Rep. Maxwell Frost ejected from a House Oversight hearing. Committee Chair James Comey threatened to have the Sergeant-at-Arms forcibly remove Frost from the chamber after Frost called Trump the nation’s “Grifter in Chief” and said the President and Department of Government Efficiency head Musk are using their positions to enrich themselves.

Other Republican members called for the remark to be stricken from the record. “Would you like to revise your remark as to improperly identifying the President of the United States?” Comer asked.

Frost changed his language to refer to Trump as “engaged in grifting” and said he felt no need to go further after watching Comer call Biden “corrupt for two years.” He eventually left the committee voluntarily after Comey hinted at his forced removal. While Comer struck the comment from the record, Frost issued a statement that didn’t shy from even more colorful language.

“Donald Trump is a grifter; he lied to the American people to get back inside the White House. And Elon Trump is his puppeteer. They are openly using their public offices to enrich themselves and their already-rich friends,” Frost said.

“James Comer can hide behind the Sergeant in Arms and have me removed and arrest me if he wants to. But that’s not going to stop me from calling out Donald Trump and his bullshit.”

Epstein irritation

Rep. Anna Paulina Luna is furious that a congressional task force she heads hasn’t received information being released on Jeffrey Epstein.

Attorney General Pam Bondi promised to release significant information about the dead sex trafficker. But Luna, who leads the recently formed Task Force on the Declassification of Federal Secrets, feels that panel should have looked at more records by now.

“I nor the task force were given or reviewed the Epstein documents being released today,” Luna posted on X. “A NY Post story just revealed that the documents will simply be Epstein’s phone book. THIS IS NOT WHAT WE OR THE AMERICAN PEOPLE ASKED FOR. GET US THE INFORMATION WE ASKED FOR instead of leaking old info to press.”

She referenced a report by New York Post reporter Steven Nelson that said Epstein’s personal address book, a 100-page document, would be published without context. The newspaper had a heads-up that the list would include Trump, former President Bill Clinton, Microsoft founder Bill Gates and Prince Andrew of Britain. But importantly, it isn’t a “client list;” it is just contacts for known associates of Epstein.

The same information was distributed to a series of conservative influencers later in the day, but the lack of new revelations led to far-right backlash. For her part, Bondi blamed a New York FBI office for sitting on further records not provided for review and redaction.

Speculation swirled for years about what influential figures may have engaged in criminal activity associated with Epstein, a tech billionaire who died in custody in 2019 while awaiting trial for sex trafficking minors in Florida and New York. While authorities ruled his death a suicide by hanging, Epstein’s network of business and political connections has fueled speculation about his death for years.

That’s part of why Luna’s task force listed scrutinizing the “Epstein client list” among tasks including the investigation of the assassination of John F. Kennedy and the lead-up to the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks among its priorities.

Taxing authority

This week, Rep. Vern Buchanan was elevated to the position of one of Congress’ senior tax writers. The Longboat Key Republican was named to the Joint Committee on Taxation.

“I’m honored to join this respected panel, which has a large and experienced staff of economists, analysts and accountants who provide guidance to Congress on tax legislation,” Buchanan said. “I look forward to working with members of the Joint Committee as Congress prepares to write historic legislation to cut taxes for millions of Americans.”

The nonpartisan, bicameral committee comprises some of the most senior members of the House Ways and Means Committee, of which Buchanan is the longest-serving Republican and the Senate Finance Committee. Created in 1926, the committee prepares official revenue estimates of all tax legislation considered by Congress and drafts legislative histories for tax-related bills.

Parkland policymaking

The Democrat who shepherded a school safety and gun control bill to passage in Florida’s Republican Legislature still hopes Congress will adopt more provisions of the Parkland law at the national level.

Rep. Jared Moskowitz filed two bipartisan bills this week, the Alyssa’s Legacy Youth in Schools Safety Alert (ALYSSA) Act and the Strengthening Our Schools (SOS) Act, which he hopes will find support on both sides of the aisle. The ALYSSA Act, named for Marjory Stoneman Douglas High shooting victim Alyssa Alhadeff, would require silent panic alarms in schools to alert law enforcement of an active shooter situation. The SOS Act would increase investments in School Resource Officers nationwide.

“Congress has to use every tool we can to ensure schools have the resources to respond to emergency situations and the ALYSSA Act and SOS Act I filed with Congressman (Josh) Gottheimer are common sense solutions to build those out,” said Moskowitz, a Parkland Democrat. “By improving emergency notification systems and the availability of first responders at Florida schools, Congress can take necessary action with this bill to help protect our students, teachers, and families.”

Broward County School Board member Lori Alhadeff, mother to Alyssa, came out in favor of the legislation.

“I strongly encourage swift action to pass the ALYSSA Act nationally so that every school can have a panic button as a standard level of safety protection,” said Alhadeff, President of Make Our Schools Safe. “Our children deserve immediate access to emergency response — there is no time to wait when lives are on the line.”

TPS legacy

Rep. Frederica Wilson led a letter questioning Homeland Security Kristi Noem over her decision to vacate Temporary Protected Status (TPS) early for Haitian refugees.

“Your recent notice contradicts the determination made by former Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, yet we see no compelling evidence that justifies this abrupt change,” the Miami-Dade Democrat wrote in a letter to Trump and Noem.

“Returning individuals to Haiti, where their safety and well-being are at serious risk, is not only unjust but also goes against our moral obligation to protect those in need. As champions of equality and human rights, we are compelled to oppose this decision, which jeopardizes the well-being of Haitian nationals and sets a concerning precedent for U.S. humanitarian policy. When Haitians are supported and unified, they possess profound potential for recovery and growth. We remain highly concerned about your administration’s hostile tone concerning TPS, where a DHS spokesperson claimed that the TPS system has been abused and exploited for decades. First, TPS is not being abused or exploited by foreign nationals, and the claims as such are cruel and uncouth.”

Wilson notes that the TPS system originated under Republican President George H.W. Bush in 1990. The letter states that the tool is vital for demonstrating U.S. humanitarian values.

“We urge you to rescind this decision, reaffirm TPS for Haitian Nationals and engage with Congress, humanitarian organizations, and the Haitian diaspora to address the urgent situation in Haiti,” the letter reads. “Our values as a nation dictate that we extend compassion and support to our neighbors facing adversity.”

Venezuela sanctions

A decision by Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio to restore sanctions on Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro’s government drew mixed reviews from Florida lawmakers.

“Pursuant to POTUS directive, I am providing foreign policy guidance to terminate all Biden-era oil and gas licenses that have shamefully bankrolled the illegitimate Maduro regime,” Rubio posted.

Reps. Mario Díaz-Balart, Carlos Giménez and María Elvira Salazar, all South Florida Republicans, held a news conference to announce the move. The three lawmakers also released a joint statement cheering “promises made, promises kept.”

“Within his first 100 days, President Trump has made clear that American Prosperity and National Security must come first,” the statement reads.

“Since day one, his foreign policy has prioritized national security in the Western Hemisphere by focusing on mutual priorities that will bolster stability, security, and prosperity both at home in and in our region. For example, he restored a tough U.S. policy on Cuba by placing the regime back where it belongs — on the State Sponsor of Terrorism list. He also reinstated the Cuba Restricted List to prohibit financial transactions with the Cuban military, and once again allowed those whose property was confiscated by the Castro regime to sue those who profit from their stolen property.”

But to Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, a Weston Democrat, the move seemed hollow. Trump only returned sanctions when Maduro refused to accept deported aliens back into his country, and Wasserman Schultz said even trying to negotiate with the regime was a betrayal.

“In his first one hundred days, President Trump renewed Chevron’s license before he revoked it. He did so quietly earlier this month in exchange for Maduro’s cooperation in the mass expulsion of law-abiding Venezuelans from the U.S. while revoking Temporary Protected Status and parole,” she said.

“My support for defunding the Maduro regime’s crimes against humanity and promoting democracy in Venezuela has been clear, regardless of who is in the White House. And while I welcome President Trump’s change of heart, his decision to revoke this license was his anger that Maduro wasn’t taking deported Venezuelans fast enough, rather than how fast we can restore Venezuela’s freedom. Trump does not care how many Venezuelans have been tortured, killed or jailed by Maduro. He is solely focused on how many he can deport. And he is clearly willing to dispense with democracy, human rights, and our international interests to achieve that goal.”

On this day

Feb. 28, 1961 — “John Kennedy names Henry Kissinger as special adviser” via Famous Daily — The man who shaped foreign policy for at least three presidential administrations got his start with a young Kennedy. Kissinger graduated summa cum laude with a bachelor’s degree from Harvard, returned there to complete his doctoral and stayed on as a member of the faculty. He had already made a name for himself when his former dean brought him in to advise President Kennedy on foreign policy. Kennedy appointed Kissinger as a consultant for foreign affairs. Despite spending only several days a week in the White House and being kept at bay by his dean-turned-boss, Kissinger earned vast influence over the President’s policies.

Feb. 28, 1993 — “The Branch Davidian siege begins” via Waco History — Vernon Howell, who changed his name to David Koresh in 1990, assumed leadership of the Branch Davidians and increasingly incorporated radical ideas into his messages. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms obtained search and arrest warrants for Koresh on weapons charges, noting the many firearms the group accumulated. The ATF originally planned a raid for March 1, but the bureau changed the date in response to the Waco Tribune-Herald’s series, which alleged Koresh physically abused children at Mount Carmel. Any advantage of surprise was lost when a KWTX-TV reporter, tipped off about the raid, asked a mail carrier for directions, who was actually Koresh’s brother-in-law.

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Peter Schorsch publishes Delegation, compiled by Jacob Ogles, edited and assembled by Phil Ammann and Ryan Nicol.

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Former COVID data manager Rebekah Jones won’t be getting her old job back, nor will she receive back pay from the Department that terminated her.

Judge Angela C. Dempsey of the 2nd Judicial Circuit granted a motion for summary judgment this week to the Department of Health (DOH) and Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo. She ruled that former DOH Deputy Secretary Shamariel Roberson, also a named defendant in a suit filed by Jones, did not violate Jones’ First Amendment rights by firing her in May 2020.

In a 20-page order, Dempsey dismissed all claims against the Department, Ladapo and Roberson. She concluded Jones did not qualify for whistleblower protections because she participated in publishing COVID data she later said was misleading and “therefore ‘committed or intentionally participated in committing the violation or suspected violation for which protections (under the Federal Whistleblower Act were) sought.’”

The anonymous X account, Max Nordau, first flagged the decision Thursday.

The ruling by Dempsey, who was appointed to the bench by ex-Gov. Jeb Bush, marks another legal defeat for Jones. In December 2022, just over a month after losing a congressional race against now-former U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz, Jones admitted to illegally accessing Florida’s computer system in an agreement with prosecutors that required her to pay $20,000, perform 150 hours of community service and attend mental health counseling in exchange for serving no prison time.

That ruling came seven months after a state Inspector General’s investigation into Jones’ allegations that she was fired for refusing to manipulate state COVID data concluded that her claims were “unfounded” or “unsubstantiated.”

Dempsey agreed with that assessment.

“After careful consideration of the motion papers, and the pertinent legal standards, the Court finds that there are no genuine disputes of material fact regarding the nature of the Plaintiff’s speech or the legitimate, non-retaliatory reason for her termination,” the Judge wrote.

“The evidence unequivocally demonstrates the Plaintiff’s termination was based on documented insubordination, including unauthorized communications with external entities that violated Department policies, and unauthorized disclosures that disrupted the Department’s ability to maintain data integrity and public trust during a public health crisis.”

Jones, whom Forbes named its 2020 Technology Person of the Year, has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars since her firing. She was granted whistleblower status by DOH Inspector General Michael Bennett in May 2021, five months after police raided her home in response to an unauthorized login at the Department’s emergency communications system.

She denied involvement and asked for criminal charges against her to be dropped. They weren’t. Jones sued the Florida Department of Law Enforcement over the raid, but later dropped the complaint.

Dempsey’s order cites testimony from Craig Curry, an IT Director at DOH, who said he became aware in April 2020 of since-deleted Facebook posts Jones made in which she identified herself as the person who maintained the state’s COVID dashboard and discussed the logic behind what was displayed on it.

Curry said he subsequently learned Jones had given an interview to DOH geographic information services vendor ESRI in which she discussed her COVID dashboard work and that she’d also published a blog post representing herself as the author of the COVID dashboard, displaying charts of DOH data she had created.

This was done without DOH approval, Curry said.

Jones testified that later the same month, Roberson told her to falsify some counties’ COVID positivity percentages to 10% so that Gov. Ron DeSantis could follow through on his plan to reopen most Florida counties. Jones refused and later resisted other changes to the dashboard she considered misleading. She did, however, admit to publishing new case positivity rates and data DOH gave her.

“Notwithstanding Roberson’s alleged directive,” Dempsey wrote, “there is no evidence that any COVID-19 data was ever falsified.”

On May 5, 2020, Dempsey’s order said, Roberson, Epidemiology Division Director Carina Blackmore and “several other epidemiologists” became concerned about Jones’ public posting. She was publishing both DOH data and information related to on-Florida resident deaths through the Open Data hub, an open-source site the state operates as a repository for disease-tracking information.

Jones was told to temporarily take the hub down. She resisted. The next day, she was removed from the dashboard project. The day after that, “Jones made changes to the dashboard files and removed several team members’ administrative software rights, which hindered their ability to do their jobs and contributed to the Dashboard malfunctioning,” Dempsey wrote.

“Curry instructed Jones to correct the administrative privileges for her colleagues and directed her not to ‘impede’ work with the Dashboard. … It is undisputed that Jones never complied, and that Curry had to contact the software vendor directly to get the privileges reinstated.”

After several email exchanges with Curry in which Jones questioned the abilities of her replacements, she was fired May 18, 2020. Two months later, she filed a complaint with the Florida Commission on Human Relations alleging whistleblower retaliation. She then accessed a DOH database without authorization and was subsequently arrested.

Jones, 35, has other legal woes aside from her issues with DOH. In June 2023, she pleaded no contest to cyberstalking a former boyfriend with whom she’d had an affair in 2017, when she was his married professor. Police cited a lengthy document Jones published online that included texts and nude photographs of the man.

Prosecutors had previously dropped another set of charges involving the same man, including felony robbery, trespass and contempt of court for violating a domestic violence injunction.

In April 2023, police arrested Jones’ teenage son for allegedly threatening to shoot up a middle school. Police and multiple Navarre schoolmates of the boy, identified as J.J. in court documents, said he’d spoken of planning to shoot and stab students.

Jones said her son had merely shared memes about school shootings and intimated that police interest in the boy and his subsequent arrest were retaliation for the whistleblower lawsuit she filed March 13, 2023.

Santa Rosa County Judge Steven Warrick sentenced J.J., who pleaded no contest, to indefinite probation until he turned 19, ordering the boy to do community service, write an essay, undergo therapy, adhere to a curfew and make better life choices.

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President Donald Trump shouted at Ukraine’s leader on Friday during an extraordinary meeting in the Oval Office, berating President Volodymyr Zelenskyy for “gambling with millions of lives” and suggesting his actions could trigger World War III.

The last 10 minutes of the nearly 45-minute engagement devolved into a tense back and forth between Trump, Vice President JD Vance and Zelenskyy — who had urged skepticism about Russia’s commitment to diplomacy, citing Moscow’s years of broken commitments on the global stage.

It began with Vance telling Zelenskyy, “Mr. President, with respect. I think it’s disrespectful for you to come to the Oval Office to try to litigate this in front of the American media.”

Zelensky tried to object, prompting Trump to raise his voice and say, “You’re gambling with the lives of millions of people.”

“You’re gambling with World War III, and what you’re doing is very disrespectful to the country, this country that’s backed you far more than a lot of people say they should have,” Trump said.

It was an astonishing display of open antagonism in the Oval Office, a setting better known for somber diplomacy. Trump laid bare his efforts to coerce Zelenskyy to agree to giving the U.S. an interest in his country’s valuable minerals and to push him toward a diplomatic resolution to the war on the American leader’s terms.

Earlier in the meeting Trump said the U.S. would continue to provide military assistance to Ukraine, but said he hoped that not too much aid would be forthcoming. “We’re not looking forward to sending a lot of arms,” Trump said. “We’re looking forward to getting the war finished so we can do other things.”

“You’re not in a good position. You don’t have the cards right now,” Trump said pointing his finger toward Zelenskyy. “With us you start having cards.”

He also accused Zelenskyy of being “disrespectful” to the U.S.

“It’s going to be a very hard thing to do business like this,” Trump told Zelenskyy at one point, as the two leaders talked over each other about past international support for Ukraine. The entire tense exchange was caught on video as the two began to argue in front of a room full of reporters.

“Again, just say thank you,” Vance interjected to Zelenskyy, blasting him for litigating “disagreements” in front of the press. Trump, though, suggested he was fine with the drama. “I think it’s good for the American people to see what’s going on,” he added.

“You’re not acting at all thankful,” Trump said, before adding, “This is going to be great television.”

The harsh words came at a pivotal and precarious moment for Ukraine. Zelenskyy had planned to try to convince the White House to provide some form of U.S. backing for Ukraine’s security against any future Russian aggression.

Zelenskyy is still expected to sign a landmark economic agreement with the U.S. aimed at financing the reconstruction of war-damaged Ukraine, a deal that would closely tie the two countries together for years to come.

The deal, which is seen as a step toward ending the three-year war, references the importance of Ukraine’s security. Earlier in the meeting, before tempers flared, Trump said the agreement would be signed soon in the East Room of the White House.

“We have something that is a very fair deal,” Trump said, adding, “It is a big commitment from the United States.”

He said the U.S. wants to see the killing in the war stopped, adding that U.S. money for Ukraine should be “put to different kinds of use like rebuilding.”

Earlier, Zelenskyy called Russian President Vladimir Putin a terrorist and told Trump that Ukraine and the world need “no compromises with a killer.”

“Even during the war there are rules,” he said.

As Ukrainian forces hold out against slow but steady advances by Russia’s larger and better-equipped army, leaders in Kyiv have pushed to ensure a potential U.S.-brokered peace plan would include guarantees for the country’s future security.

Many Ukrainians fear that a hastily negotiated peace — especially one that makes too many concessions to Russian demands — would allow Moscow to rearm and consolidate its forces for a future invasion after current hostilities cease.

According to the preliminary economic agreement, seen by The Associated Press, the U.S. and Ukraine will establish a co-owned, jointly managed investment fund to which Ukraine will contribute 50% of future revenues from natural resources, including minerals, hydrocarbons and other extractable materials.

Speaking about the rare earths agreement, Trump said the U.S. is lacking in many such minerals while Ukraine has among the best on the planet. He said U.S. interests plan to take those reserves and use them on everything from artificial intelligence operations to military weapons.

Asked about long-term security guarantee to guard against future Russian aggression, Trump says once the agreement is signed that a return to fighting was unlikely.

Trump, a Republican, has framed the emerging agreement as a chance for Kyiv to compensate the U.S. for wartime aid sent under his predecessor, Democratic President Joe Biden.

But Zelenskyy has remained firm that specific assurances for Ukraine’s security must accompany any agreement giving U.S. access to Ukraine’s resources.

This is Zelenskyy’s fifth White House visit, but his previous four came during the Biden administration. The Ukrainian president also was meeting with U.S. senators during his time in Washington.

Fears that Trump could broker a peace deal with Russia that is unfavorable to Ukraine have been amplified by recent precedent-busting actions by his administration. Trump held a lengthy phone call with Putin, and U.S. officials met with their Russian counterparts in Saudi Arabia without inviting European or Ukrainian leaders — both dramatic breaks with previous U.S. policy to isolate Putin over his invasion.

Trump later seemed to falsely blame Ukraine for starting the war, and called Zelenskyy a “dictator” for not holding elections after the end of his regular term last year, though Ukrainian law prohibits elections while martial law is in place.

A formal press conference that was scheduled between Trump and Zelensky was cancelled along with any other meetings that were suppose to take place.

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Republished with permission of The Associated Press.

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