US President Donald Trump warned his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin to make a deal to end the grinding Ukraine war ‘now’ or face tariff hikes and more sanctions on Wednesday. 

“If we don’t make a ‘deal’, and soon, I have no other choice but to put high levels of Taxes, Tariffs, and Sanctions on anything being sold by Russia to the US, and various other participating countries,” Trump said on his Truth Social network.

The US president said he was “not looking to hurt Russia” and had “always had a very good relationship with President Putin”, a leader for whom he has expressed admiration in the past.

“All of that being said, I’m going to do Russia, whose Economy is failing, and President Putin, a very big FAVOR. Settle now, and STOP this ridiculous War! IT’S ONLY GOING TO GET WORSE.”

“Settle now, and stop this ridiculous war! It’s only going to get worse. If we don’t make a “deal”, soon, I have no other choice but to put high levels of taxes, tariffs, and sanctions on anything being sold by Russia to the United States, and various other participating countries. Let’s get this war, which never would have started if I were President, over with! We can do it the easy way, or the hard way - and the easy way is always better. It’s time to ‘make a deal’. No more lives should be lost,” Trump added.

Trump was taking a harder line than he had during a White House press conference on Tuesday when he said it “sounds likely” that he would apply additional sanctions if Putin did not come to the table.

The US president also declined to say whether he would continue his predecessor Joe Biden’s policy of sending weapons to Ukraine to fight off Russia’s invasion, launched in February 2022.

“We’re looking at that,” he said at the press conference.

“We’re talking to (Ukrainian President Volodymyr) Zelensky, we’re going to be talking to President Putin very soon.”

Before his inauguration on Monday, Trump had vowed to end the Ukraine war before even taking office, raising expectations he would leverage aid to force Kyiv to make concessions to Moscow.

In unusually critical remarks of Putin on Monday, Trump said the Russian president was “destroying Russia by not making a deal”.

Trump added that Zelensky had told him he wanted a peace agreement to end the war.

Whatever route Trump chooses, he is unlikely to execute it before speaking with Putin, firm in his belief that direct communication could lead to positive results.

A call between the men will happen “very soon”, Trump said this week.

No Pride or ‘Black Lives Matter’ flags in US offices

The Trump administration has passed an order that only the ‘Stars and Stripes’ (US national flag) will be flown from diplomatic buildings.

“Starting immediately, only the United States of America flag is authorised to be flown or displayed at US facilities, both domestic and abroad, and featured in US government content,” reportedly reads the order.

Free speech

The Trump administration is vying to restore ‘free speech’ through an executive order.

“Under the guise of combatting ‘misinformation’, ‘disinformation’, and ‘malinformation’, the Federal Government infringed on the constitutionally protected speech rights of American citizens across the United States in a manner that advanced the Government’s preferred narrative about significant matters of public debate. Government censorship of speech is intolerable in a free society,” read the order of White House.

Civil rights

The Justice Department has ordered the civil rights division to stop its investigative activity dating from the Biden administration and not pursue new indictments, cases or settlements, according to US media.

The order could scuttle agreements recently reached with Louisville, including a police killing of 26-year-old Breonna Taylor, an African-American medical worker, and with Minneapolis in the aftermath of the George Floyd murder, according to former administration officials, as per US media.

Neither has received final approval by a federal judge. Other voluntary agreements could also be in jeopardy, as per reports.

(With reports from syndicated feed)

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