‘Disappointed in him, but not done with him’, Trump says of Putin as he offers his backing to Nato
On Putin, Trump said he thought he had a deal with him on Ukraine “four times.”
“I’m disappointed in him, but I’m not done with him, but I’m disappointed in him.
We had a deal done four times and then you go home and you see just attacked a nursing home in Kyiv. And so what the hell was that all about?”
Asked if he trusted him, he said:
I trust almost nobody, to be honest with you.
Trump also said he strongly supported Nato, saying that “Nato is now becoming the opposite of” being obsolete, as he once said.
He added it was “very unfair because the United States paid for almost 100% of it, but now they are paying their own bills.”
Asked if he believes in Nato’s fundamental Article 5 on collective defence, he said:
Yeah, I think collective defence is fine.
Trump also spoke on how his relationship with European leaders changed over the years, saying “it’s maybe not all luck; it’s like when you do it twice, it’s a big difference.”
“Over the years, they’ve gotten to know me.
This is not an easy crowd to break into. You understand, these are smart people heading up very, very successful generally, countries, you know, they’re all Germany and France, Spain and, you know, big countries.
And you know, I’ve gotten to know them, and I think they’ve come to respect my, respect me and my decision making.”
Key events
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Irish tourist jailed by Ice for months after overstaying US visit by three days
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Sweden to contribute to new Ukraine arms deal with US, defence minister says
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Ukrainian PM Shmyhal resigns as part of Zelenskyy’s government reshuffle
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Thousands offered UK asylum in secret scheme after personal data of Afghans who helped British forces leaked by mistake
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EU offers Slovakia reassurances on Russian gas exit to unblock sanctions talks
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Thousands of vehicles sit idle at EU port as Trump’s tariffs leave their mark
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EU continues talking to US on trade, technical teams on way to Washington
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Ukrainians hail ‘Agent Melania Trumpenko’ for challenging husband’s faith in Putin
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Trump’s statements on deal with Nato, Ukraine ‘serious, require analysis,’ Kremlin says
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Polish, Hungarian astronauts return to Earth as part of Axiom mission
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Trump asked Zelenskyy if Ukraine could strike Moscow, St Petersburg, FT reports
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Embattled French PM set to present outline of 2026 budget
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EU, US alignment on Russia means Putin has to face reality, French foreign minister says
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‘Put this agreement into action, stop killing people,’ EU crisis commissioner says on Gaza and Israel
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Crew rescued from Frontex’s boat after incident near Lesbos
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Good to see Europe, US convergence on approach to Russia, Dutch foreign minister says
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EU sanctions needed to ‘take momentum’ from Trump’s decision forward, push Russia more, Danish minister says
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EU’s Kallas welcomes US military deal with Nato, hopes new Russia sanctions will be adopted ‘today or tomorrow’
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Brexit ‘sloppy’ but getting ‘straightened out’ by Starmer, Trump says
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‘Disappointed in him, but not done with him’, Trump says of Putin as he offers his backing to Nato
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‘Like to think about it as little as possible,’ Trump tells BBC of assassination attempt last year
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Morning opening: ‘Disappointed, but not done’
Irish tourist jailed by Ice for months after overstaying US visit by three days
Sam Levin
In other news, we reported earlier today on a disturbing story of an Irish tourist jailed by the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement for months after overstaying US visit by three days.
From there, what should have been a minor incident became a nightmarish ordeal: he was detained by Ice in three different facilities, ultimately spending roughly 100 days behind bars with little understanding of why he was being held – or when he’d get out.
“Nobody is safe from the system if they get pulled into it,” said Thomas, in a recent interview from his home in Ireland, a few months after his release. Thomas asked to be identified by a nickname out of fear of facing further consequences with US immigration authorities.
Despite immediately agreeing to deportation when he was first arrested, Thomas remained in Ice detention after Donald Trump took office and dramatically ramped up immigration arrests.
Amid increased overcrowding in detention, Thomas was forced to spend part of his time in custody in a federal prison for criminal defendants, even though he was being held on an immigration violation.
Thomas was sent back to Ireland in March and was told he was banned from entering the US for 10 years.
Thomas’s ordeal follows a rise in reports of tourists and visitors with valid visas being detained by Ice, including from Australia, Germany, Canada and the UK. In April, an Irish woman who is a US green card holder was also detained by Ice for 17 days due to a nearly two-decade-old criminal record.
The arrests appear to be part of a broader crackdown by the Trump administration, which has pushed to deport students with alleged ties to pro-Palestinian protests; sent detainees to Guantánamo Bay and an El Salvador prison without presenting evidence of criminality; deported people to South Sudan, a war-torn country where the deportees had no ties; and escalated large-scale, militarized raids across the US.
Read Thomas’s story here:
Sweden to contribute to new Ukraine arms deal with US, defence minister says
Meanwhile, Swedish defence minister Pal Jonson confirmed to Reuters that the country will contribute to efforts to boost arms supplies to Ukraine following US president Donald Trump’s decision to supply billions of dollars of weapons.
“We welcome the American decision to make possible increased sanctions against Russia and to pave the way for the delivery of Patriots and other weapon systems to Ukraine,” Jonson said in an emailed comment to Reuters.
“Sweden will contribute,” he added, without offering further details.
Ukrainian PM Shmyhal resigns as part of Zelenskyy’s government reshuffle
Ukrainian prime minister Denys Shmyhal has just confirmed he filed his resignation from the post, a day after president Volodymyr Zelenskyy asked his deputy, Yulia Svyrydenko, to lead the government after a reshuffle.
In a Telegram message posted alongside a picture of his hand-written resignation note, he said:
“Thank you to our defenders who are holding the front and protecting Ukraine!
Thank you to the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy for the trust!
Thank you to the entire team for their tireless work for our country!
Glory to Ukraine!”
Thousands offered UK asylum in secret scheme after personal data of Afghans who helped British forces leaked by mistake
There is a major news story breaking in the UK about thousands of people being relocated to the UK as part of a secret £850m scheme set up after a personal data leak of Afghans who supported British forces.
PA news agency reported that a dataset containing the personal information of nearly 19,000 people who applied for the Afghan relocations and assistance policy (Arap) was released “in error” by a defence official in February 2022.
The breach resulted in the creation of a secret Afghan relocation scheme – the Afghanistan Response Route – in April 2024.
The scheme is understood to have cost about £400m so far, with a projected cost once completed of about £850m. Millions more is expected to be paid in legal costs and compensation.
You can follow live updates here:
EU offers Slovakia reassurances on Russian gas exit to unblock sanctions talks
Back to Brussels and the 18th package of EU sanctions on Russia, Reuters reported that the European Commission has told Slovak prime minister Robert Fico the EU will work to address his concerns over the bloc’s proposal to end Russian gas imports by 2028.
The commission will take steps including to clarify how an ’emergency break’ can be triggered if gas prices spike because of scarce supply during the Russian gas phase-out, said the letter, seen by Reuters, addressed to Fico and signed by European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen.
Slovakia has been blocking the EU’s new sanctions package against Russia, until its concerns are addressed over the separate EU proposal to phase out imports of Russian gas.
Thousands of vehicles sit idle at EU port as Trump’s tariffs leave their mark
Lisa O’Carroll
in Brussels
The Port of Antwerp-Bruges has been turned into a giant car park with thousands of cars, vans, trucks and tractors bound for the US sitting idle as manufacturers try to avert the worst of Donald Trump’s tariffs.
Figures released by the port show a 15.9% drop in the transport of new passenger cars and vans to the US in the first six months of 2025 compared with the same period last year, with a sharp decline emerging in May – one month after the US president announced his “liberation day” tariffs.
Exports of trucks and what they call “high and heavy equipment” is down by almost a third at 31.5%.
This category includes tractors and construction vehicles, with the fall off in transatlantic movements perhaps reflecting the impact a 25% tariff would have on vehicles that can cost more than $100,000 (£74,430).
The port is one of the world’s largest car transport hubs, shipping more than 3m vehicles around the world in 2024.
“The outlook for the second half of the year remains uncertain. Much will depend on whether a trade agreement between the EU and the US can be reached by 1 August,” the port said in a statement.
European carmakers from Volkswagen to Volvo had been hoping that a deal would have been sealed last week after Trump’s original deadline for a tariff deal with the EU was due to expire.
Before Trump arrived in the White House they paid a 2.5% tariff on exports but since April they are being charged an extra 25%, adding tens of thousands of dollars to the price of a family-size car in the US.
Ports across Europe have been tested by Brexit, the coronavirus pandemic, the port congestion caused by container shortages in 2024, with congestion a widespread issue across all northern ports, said Justin Atkin, the UK and Ireland port representative of the Port of Antwerp-Bruges.
Compared with Brexit, the tariff impact has been “more of an instant shock,” he said.
“With the pandemic, we had lockdown, then we were out of lockdown, then back into lockdown, and people got used to managing it after being unprepared. Whereas here … people have talked about tariffs in the build up [to Trump] but I don’t think anyone expected the level and the severity of the instantaneous action.”
The port couldn’t put a figure on the number of cars waiting to be transported but said it was in the thousands.
Jakub Krupa
Speaking about the EU-US trade, let’s cross over to Lisa O’Carroll for her story on the real-life consequences of the continuing concerns about Trump’s tariffs.
EU continues talking to US on trade, technical teams on way to Washington
EU trade commissioner Maroš Šefčovič spoke with US commerce secretary Howard Lutnick last night, and will speak with US trade representative Jamieson Greer later tonight, an EU spokesperson said.
EU trade spokesperson Olof Gill also confirmed that EU technical teams “are on their way to Washington DC as we speak” for further talks, but he refused to speculate about the outcome of the process.
He said:
“I will not going to go into any greater level of detail concerning the negotiations with the US, because, as we all are very well aware, we are in the most sensitive stage of those negotiations right now, working towards getting an agreement in principle over the line before the deadline set by the US of 1 August.”
Ukrainians hail ‘Agent Melania Trumpenko’ for challenging husband’s faith in Putin
Luke Harding
in Kyiv and Artem Mazhulin
Ukrainians are celebrating Melania Trump on social media in a series of memes, after Donald Trump suggested the first lady played a part in his apparent change of heart over Russia.
Speaking at a meeting in the White House on Monday with the Nato secretary general, Mark Rutte, Trump said his wife had played a key role in pointing out Vladimir Putin’s duplicity.
“My conversations with him [Putin] are always very pleasant. I say, isn’t that a very lovely conversation? And then the missiles go off that night,” Trump said.
“I go home, I tell the first lady: I spoke with Vladimir today. We had a wonderful conversation. She said: Really? Another city was just hit.”
Slovenian-born Melania Trump, who grew up in the former Yugoslavia, has previously appeared to be a bigger supporter of Ukraine than the sceptical US president, who in February this year called Volodymyr Zelenskyy a dictator.
Shortly after the 2022 full-scale Russian invasion, she appealed to her social media followers to donate to the Red Cross, saying it was “heartbreaking and horrific to see innocent people suffering”.
After Trump’s Oval Office comments on Monday, one social media user posted a photo of “Agent Melania Trumpenko” wearing a blazer with a Ukrainian trident insignia. Her face is half-shaded with a big hat, giving the impression she is working undercover inside the White House, to Kyiv’s benefit.
Trump’s statements on deal with Nato, Ukraine ‘serious, require analysis,’ Kremlin says
Russian deputy foreign minister Sergei Ryabkov said Moscow was ready to negotiate with the US after Trump’s comments last night, but added it didn’t want to bow to any ultimatums, Reuters reported.
Separately, the Kremlin said that Trump’s statements were “serious and required analysis.”
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said president Vladimir Putin will comment on Trump’s proposals if he deems it necessary to do so.
Polish, Hungarian astronauts return to Earth as part of Axiom mission
Elsewhere, Polish and Hungarian astronauts returned from the International Space Station on Tuesday, after a Crew Dragon capsule carrying them alongside two crewmates landed safely back on Earth off the coast of California.
Sławosz Uznański-Wiśniewski of Poland and Tibor Kapu of Hungary spent 18 days aboard the ISS running research experiments in microgravity.
They were part of a private space mission organised by Texas-based startup Axiom Space in partnership with Elon Musk’s SpaceX, led by former Nasa astronaut Peggy Whitson and with India’s Shubhanshu Shukla as the third crewmate.
“SpaceX copy, splashdown, and stable one. On behalf of SpaceX, welcome home,” they were told by mission control.
“Happy to be back,” replied Whitson.
Reuters noted that for India, Poland and Hungary, the launch marked the first human spaceflight in more than 40 years and the first mission ever to send astronauts from their government’s respective space programs to the ISS.
Trump asked Zelenskyy if Ukraine could strike Moscow, St Petersburg, FT reports
In the meantime, there’s a strong news line emerging from the Financial Times (£) reporting that US president Donald Trump has allegedly encouraged Ukraine to consider strikes deeper into Russia, and asked Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskyy if he could target Moscow if given long-range weapons by the US.
Quoting “people briefed on the discussions” and the leaders’ call on 4 July, the paper reported that Trump wanted Russians to “feel the pain” and asked Zelenskyy “can you hit Moscow? … can you hit St Petersburg too?”
The paper reported that Zelenskyy replied:
Absolutely. We can if you give us the weapons.
The FT said the reported exchange “marks a sharp departure from Trump’s previous stance on Russia’s war and his campaign promise to end US involvement in foreign conflicts.”
During last week’s interview with NBC, Trump pointedly spoke about “defensive weapons” for Ukraine to stop the attacks on Ukrainian cities.
(Usual caveats apply for such stories as we could not independently verify the FT’s report.)
Embattled French PM set to present outline of 2026 budget
Jon Henley
France’s prime minister, François Bayrou, is due to present the main outlines of his proposed 2026 budget this afternoon, laying out just how he plans to cut a massive €40bn of government and social security spending next year.
The timing is far from accidental: MPs are on holiday and there will be no debate on the plans – which is probably just as well because when it comes in October, it will be heated and, in the view of many, could well topple Bayrou’s minority government.
“It’s very simple: we drop a few bombshells, MPs jump up and down for 24 hours, and then everyone leaves Paris,” an MP from president Emmanuel Macron’s camp told BFMTV. The government is giving itself, in effect, three month’s breathing space.
The objective, under heavy pressure from the European Commission and financial markets, is to reduce France’s ballooning deficit to 4.6% of GDP next year, which the centrist prime minister reportedly hopes to achieve by freezing or cutting specific budgets, taxing better-off retirees more, and reducing some public services.
Macron, however, added to the difficulty of an already unenviable task, calling on Sunday for a significant €3.5bn increase in defence spending to be found – without any additional borrowing.
Bayrou’s government does not have a majority in parliament and will need the support of both the far-right National Rally (RN) and the centre-left Socialist Party (PS) if it is to stand any chance of passing a budget bill in the autumn. Both have already promised not to lend it their support without significant concessions.
“Our red line will be anything that demands that the French people contribute more than the efforts they are already making morning, noon and night,” said Sébastien Chenu, a RN MP, on Tuesday. “Regardless of their category – workers, retirees, young people, civil servants – if he asks for more, we will say no.”
After setting out his stall this afternoon, Bayrou will make intensive use of the summer months to try to win over as many opposition MPs as possible with potential concessions – his only chance, many experts believe, of avoiding the fate of his predecessor Michel Barnier, who lost a no confidence vote on his proposed austerity budget after just three months in office.
Jakub Krupa
And since we are on France, let’s go to Jon Henley in Paris to explain what’s going to happen in domestic French politics later today…