Trump blames ‘no angel’ Zelensky for Russian invasion ahead of LA visit: Live

Also in the Hannity interview, the president expressed his desire to rekindle his friendship with the North Korean dictator, who once memorably called him a “dotard” before they became unlikely pen pals.

Shweta Sharma has this report.

Donald Trump blamed Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky for Russia’s invasion of his homeland during the second part of his interview with Sean Hannity, which aired on Fox News last night.

The president said Zelensky was “no angel” and had allowed the war to rumble on by, er, putting up a fight but did say he would be prepared to impose massive tariffs on Moscow if Vladimir Putin refused to enter talks on ending the conflict.

Also on tariffs, Trump said he “would rather not” land China with them but insisted it was a “tremendous power” at his disposal in dealing with Beijing.

There was also some more raving about windmills and an insistence that the US would be snatching back the Panama canal.

He closed it all out, naturally, by calling former Justice Department special counsel Jack Smith “a moron” for attempting to hold him to account.

Here’s Andrew Feinberg on his Zelensky comments.

Gustaf Kilander has the story.

The Trump administration canceled a Justice Department recruiting program for young lawyers at prestigious colleges and revoked recent job offers, according to a report.

President Donald Trump scrapped the Attorney General’s Honors Program that had been in place since 1953, sources familiar with the cancellation told the Washington Post. The department’s website describes the program as the “nation’s premier entry-level federal attorney recruitment program,” attracting candidates from top law schools across the country.

The reason for tossing out the program wasn’t immediately clear.

Kelly Rissman reports from New York.

Alex Woodward reports from New York.

CNN anchor Jim Acosta seemingly acknowledged the current state of flux he now finds himself in at the network, cheekily telling viewers that he is “still reporting from Washington” while signing off from his morning show on Thursday.

The rhetorical wink and nod to the audience came hours after CNN announced that not only is it laying off 6 percent of its workforce as it pivots to a digital-first operation but that the network is also revamping its weekday television lineup – which currently leaves Acosta in limbo as he contemplates moving to late-night.

President Donald Trump on Thursday said he’s ordering the declassification and release of all remaining records relating to the assassinations of President John F Kennedy, his brother and New York Senator Robert F Kennedy Sr, and the Rev Dr Martin Luther King Jr.

Trump made the announcement during an impromptu signing ceremony in the Oval Office after being handed the order to sign by White House Staff Secretary Will Scharf.

Andrew Feinberg reports from Washington, D.C.

On Thursday morning’s Fox and Friends episode, the hosts told federal workers to use Donald Trump’s work ethic as an “example” and to “work all day.”

The hosts accused federal employees of seeking “special treatment” after Trump issued an executive order ending remote work for the federal workforce.

Donald Trump said he is unbothered by Elon Musk’s criticism of the Stargate artificial intelligence infrastructure project he announced this week, telling reporters that Musk is critical because one of the people involved in the deal is “one of the people he happens to hate.”

The president brushed aside the clash that’s been unfurling online between two of his tech business allies, Musk and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman. Musk has questioned the value of the AI investment, of which OpenAI is a partner.

“People in the deal are very, very smart people. But, Elon, one of the people he happens to hate. But I have certain hatreds of people, too,” Trump said.

The president did not elaborate.

The president made the comments after the TV show host suggested authorities would’ve tried to put him in jail.

“I think so,” Trump said. “You got a deranged Jack Smith, a total moron…He was looking for something and he’s done it in the past with people. But he’s a failure. He’s a total failure and he failed in the past also. You know why? Because he goes too far.”

The president also addressed the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine and his pledge that he would stop it within the first 24 hours of his administration, which didn’t materialize. He appeared to blame the war’s continuance on Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

Zelensky, he said, is “no angel” and “shouldn’t have allowed this war to happen,” even though it was Russia that invaded Ukraine.

“First of all, he’s fighting a much bigger entity, okay, much bigger. When he was, you know, talking so brave … Zelensky was fighting a much bigger entity, much bigger, much more powerful. He shouldn’t have done that, because we could have made a deal, and it would have been a deal that would have been, it would have been a nothing deal,” Trump claimed.