First Thing: Trump envoy Witkoff reportedly advised Kremlin official on Ukraine peace deal | US news
Good morning.
Donald Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff told a senior Kremlin official last month that achieving peace in Ukraine would require Russia taking control of Donetsk and potentially a separate territorial swap, according to a recording of the call.
In an Oct. 14 phone call with Yuri Ushakov, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s top foreign policy adviser, Witkoff said he believed the land concessions were necessary and advised Ushakov to congratulate Trump and frame the discussions more optimistically.
Meanwhile, Americans involved in Ukraine’s war effort have expressed embarrassment and dismay at Trump’s continued pressure on Kiev and view his administration’s latest peace plan as tantamount to another disastrous failure of U.S. foreign policy and backstabbing.
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What did Witkoff say? “Now I’m against you, I know what it takes to get a peace agreement: a land swap in Donetsk and maybe somewhere,” Witkoff told Ushakov during the five-minute conversation, according to a transcript of the recording obtained by Bloomberg. “But instead of talking like that, I say let’s talk more hopeful because I think we will reach an agreement here.”
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This is an evolving story. Follow the live blog here.
US justice department memo on boat attacks differs from Trump’s narrative
The Trump administration is framing boat attacks against drug cartels in the Caribbean in part as a collective self-defense effort on behalf of U.S. allies in the region, according to three people directly familiar with the Trump administration’s domestic legal argument.
The legal analysis is based on the proposition — for which there is no public evidence yet — that the cartels are committing armed violence against the security forces of allies such as Mexico and that this violence is financed by cocaine shipments.
Consequently, according to legal analysis, the attacks target cocaine and the death of anyone on board should be treated as enemy casualties or collateral damage if any civilians are killed, rather than murder.
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What has changed? This marks a sharp departure from the narrative Donald Trump has presented to the public every time he discusses 21 attacks that left more than 80 people dead, which he portrays as an effort to stop overdose deaths.
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What did the White House say? A White House official said Trump was not engaging in a legal argument. Yet Trump’s words remain the only public reason for the US launch of missiles; However, the legal justification is actually very different.
US triples national park fee for non-residents amid ‘new’ fee for Americans
The interior department today announced new “America-first” entrance fees for national parks, annual souvenir passes featuring Donald Trump and “resident-only patriotic free days for 2026,” including on Trump’s birthday.
Interior Minister Doug Burgum said entry fees for international visitors will more than triple from next year, allowing them to “contribute their fair share to help protect and sustain these precious places.”
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How much transitions now?? Nonresidents can purchase a $250 annual pass or pay $100 per person “to enter the 11 most visited national parks in addition to the standard entrance fee,” according to the department’s press release.
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