The Stakes Of A Potential Trump-putin Summit: From The Politics Desk

Welcome to nan online type of From nan Politics Desk, an evening newsletter that brings you nan NBC News Politics team’s latest reporting and study from nan White House, Capitol Hill and nan run trail.

Happy Friday! In today’s edition, we excavation into a tentatively scheduled acme adjacent week betwixt President Donald Trump and Russian leader Vladimir Putin. Plus, Kristen Welker previews her question and reply this play pinch Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker. And Aria Bendix answers this week’s scholar mobility connected nan Trump administration’s latest vaccine moves.

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— Adam Wollner

Trump appears to manus Putin a negotiated triumph pinch a tentatively scheduled summit

By Alexander Smith

Just erstwhile Ukraine and its European friends thought President Donald Trump was coming astir to their position of nan war, he appeared to springiness a immense triumph to his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin.

For Kyiv, this was Trump’s deadline to Putin: extremity nan fighting by Friday aliases look reliable caller economical sanctions. Instead, Trump has handed Moscow a negotiated coup by agreeing to meet Putin face-to-face successful a matter of days, their first brushwood since nan penetration of Ukraine.

Trump had initially suggested that specified a acme would only spell up if Putin agreed to meet pinch Volodymyr Zelenskyy, thing nan Ukrainian president’s management has agelong called for but has been resisted by Russia. On Thursday, Trump dispelled nan thought that they would person to get together — raising nan specter of a bilateral speech that freezes retired Kyiv.

The latest: Gabe Gutierrez and Monica Alba study that nan gathering betwixt Trump and Putin is tentatively scheduled for nan extremity of adjacent week. The location is still being discussed, a elder White House charismatic said, but possibilities see nan United Arab Emirates, Hungary, Switzerland and Rome.

Further specifications and logistics of nan gathering are still unclear and stay very fluid, including whether Zelenskyy will beryllium involved.

The stakes: “The threat for Ukraine is really rather grave,” said Jonathan Eyal, world head astatine nan Royal United Services Institute, a London-based deliberation tank. “There will beryllium a consciousness of siren successful European capitals.”

For Eyal and others, Ukraine’s nightmare is now 1 measurement person to reality: “Trump will beryllium truthful pleased by what he perceives arsenic nan awesome accomplishment of getting Putin to nan negotiating array that he grabs immoderate benignant of connection that is made,” Eyal said. “The threat of half-baked compromise, which Trump tin declare arsenic his main achievement, is very high.”

That discuss could beryllium a impermanent ceasefire that would let Russia to restock its service and springiness its system a break from world sanctions, according to Hope for Ukraine, a nonprofit statement based successful Roseland, New Jersey.

Even if location is nary truce agreement, “a gathering pinch Trump — nary matter nan result — would beryllium a large negotiated triumph for Putin,” Gabriella Ramirez, Hope for Ukraine’s executive assistant, said successful an email. “Putin wants to break his negotiated isolation,” and specified a gathering “will changeable his ego.”

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The ripple effects of nan increasing redistricting wave

Analysis by Kristen Welker

The redistricting conflict has boiled over.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott vowed Thursday in an question and reply pinch NBC News to telephone “special convention aft typical convention aft typical session” until authorities Republicans tin walk caller maps to pad nan party’s mostly successful Congress, arsenic Republicans ramp up their ineligible threats against nan Democrats who fled nan authorities to artifact their progress.

Democrats are vowing to push back. Governors for illustration Illinois’ JB Pritzker, California’s Gavin Newsom and New York’s Kathy Hochul are informing they whitethorn move guardant connected efforts to redraw their ain states’ districts to boost Democrats if Texas enacts caller legislature lines.

This push by nationalist Democrats to spell “nuclear” puts them successful statement pinch nan conflict that their voters person said they want to spot from their leaders, astatine a clip wherever poll aft poll shows nan statement astatine its lowest marks pinch nan American nationalist successful decades.

But it’s a risky stake — perchance much truthful for Democrats than Republicans.

Democrats are up against a important clip crunch to get a typical predetermination onto nan ballot this autumn that could let them to redraw maps successful California. Hochul’s reliable talk successful New York is chastened by nan laws there, which require a lengthy legislative process that wouldn’t apt lead to caller maps until nan 2028 elections. And Pritzker’s float of a redraw successful Illinois runs up against much applicable concerns — tin Democrats compression immoderate much juice retired of a legislature representation that has 14 Democrats and 3 Republicans?

And if each these efforts are successful, creating a caller world wherever America redraws its legislature districts perpetually for short-term governmental gain, will that beryllium nan last nail successful nan coffin for nan already endangered type of governmental moderates connected Capitol Hill?

We’ll talk this rumor and galore much connected Sunday’s “Meet nan Press,” which includes exclusive interviews pinch Pritzker, erstwhile Attorney General Eric Holder and Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C.

✉️ Mailbag: The effect of RFK’s latest vaccine policies

Thanks to everyone who emailed us! This week’s scholar mobility is astir Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s caller moves connected vaccine funding:

“Will location beryllium capable Covid and flu shots disposable this fall?”

To reply this, we turned to wellness newsman Aria Bendix:We’re not anticipating immoderate awesome proviso issues correct now. Kennedy’s determination this week to cut $500 cardinal successful mRNA vaccine contracts doesn’t use to nan existent shots. Rather, he’s slashing national costs for investigation projects intended to create caller vaccines, specified arsenic inhaled Covid aliases flu vaccines aliases shots that protect against vertebrate flu. mRNA vaccines are seen arsenic a captious instrumentality for nan adjacent pandemic, since they tin beryllium produced and updated quickly.

As acold arsenic this autumn and wintertime are concerned, flu vaccine manufacturers person already begun shipping doses to wellness attraction providers and pharmacies successful anticipation of flu play starting astir October. And nan FDA approved caller formulations of nan Covid vaccine to beryllium rolled retired later this year.

However, location whitethorn still beryllium a fewer impediments to getting vaccinated: It’s not clear whether insurers will screen Covid vaccines for patient children aliases pregnant group aft Kennedy said nan CDC was no longer recommending them for these groups. And flu vaccines containing nan preservative thimerosal — which made up a very mini information of past year’s shots — won’t beryllium available, per a determination from a Kennedy-appointed vaccine advisory panel.

That’s each From nan Politics Desk for now. Today’s newsletter was compiled by Adam Wollner and Dylan Ebs.

If you person feedback — likes aliases dislikes — email america astatine politicsnewsletter@nbcuni.com

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