Monday morning news: August 18, 2025

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Zelenskyy, EU leaders to visit White House » Leaders from the European Union and NATO will join Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy for his high-stakes White House meeting with President Trump today.

The meeting comes after Trump’s summit with Russian leader Vladimir Putin Friday, where the White House says significant progress was made toward a possible peace deal to end Russia’s war on Ukraine.

Among the breakthroughs: Putin agreed the U.S. and Europe could provide Ukraine with security guarantees… similar to what NATO gives its member nations.

U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff tells Fox News Sunday:

WITKOFF: We agreed on much more robust security guarantees. The Russians agreed on enshrining legislatively… they would attest to not attempting to take any more land from Ukraine after a peace deal.

Trump is expected to share details of the summit with Zelenskyy and the European leaders today… and talk more about what a peace agreement with Putin could look like.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio warns… the war won’t end without concessions from both sides.

RUBIO: You can’t have a peace deal between two warring factions unless both sides agree to give up something and both sides agree that the other side gets something, right? Otherwise, if one side gets everything they want, that’s not a peace deal. It’s called surrender.

Leaders from Britain, France, Germany, Italy, and Finland will be joining Zelensskyy for today’s meeting. It’s an effort to display a united front in support of Ukraine… and to help ensure this Oval Office visit goes better than one in February, in which Trump and Zelenskyy got into a heated dispute.

Massive protests in Israel over Gaza war » Protesters interrupted everyday life across Israel Sunday… demanding a peace deal to end Israel’s war with Gaza.

A key factor driving the protests: fears that plans for a stepped-up Israeli military offensive against Hamas in Gaza… could endanger the lives of remaining hostages in Hamas captivity.

Frustrated protesters blocked roads and gathered outside politicians’ homes and military headquarters.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, interpreted through a translator, says the protests are counterproductive.

NETANYAHU: Those who are calling today for an end to the war without defeating Hamas not only harden Hamas’s position and delay the release of our hostages — they also ensure that the horrors of October 7th will be repeated and that we will be forced to fight an endless war.

Organizers representing hostages’ families say hundreds of thousands of people took part in the protests. Police say they arrested at least 38 people.

U.S. suspends visitor visas for Gazans » The U.S. is suspending visitor visas for people from Gaza.

The State Department says it’s making the move… while it looks into how a small number of medical-humanitarian visas were issued over the past few days. The visas were issued to children in need of medical aid who were accompanied by adults.

The State Department says several congressional offices have since reached out with concerns that the organizations arranging the visas have ties to terror groups like Hamas.

Conservative activist Laura Loomer first posted concerns about the children arriving from Gaza Friday on social media. The State Department has not said whether its decision had anything to do with Loomer’s posts.

More National Guard troops coming to police D.C. » Hundreds more National Guard troops are coming to Washington, D.C… to support the Trump Administration’s security takeover there.

Republican governors from three states -West Virginia, Ohio, and South Carolina- have agreed to send a combined total of 650 to 750 soldiers. They’ll join the 800 D.C. National Guardsmen and hundreds of federal agents patrolling the streets… after President Trump’s federalization of the city’s police force last week.

U.S. Attorney for D.C. Jeanine Pirro says it’s past time to tackle Washington’s crime problem.

PIRRO: 45 teenagers killed in the last year and eight months by weapons… by shotguns, by firearms, okay?

But D.C.’s mayor calls using the military to police American citizens on American soil “un-American.” Democratic Maryland U.S. Senator Chris Van Hollen agrees, telling ABC’s This Week:

VAN HOLLEN: This is all an opportunity for Donald Trump to play dictator in Washington, D.C.

Since Trump’s federalization of the police force, there have been at least 240 arrests and close to 40 illegal guns taken off the streets.

Newsom calls for special election re: California redistricting » Governor Gavin Newsom is calling for a special election to allow for a new congressional map in California.

Lawmakers in that Democrat-controlled state are planning to circumvent the usual independent commission in charge of redistricting… and redraw district lines giving their party more of an advantage this week, then hold a special election in November giving voters a chance to approve the new maps.

This move is to counter efforts by President Trump and Republican-controlled states like Texas to create more GOP-friendly congressional districts ahead of next year’s midterms… through early redistricting.

Democratic California Congressman Eric Swalwell…

SWALWELL: I’m not going to wake up the day after the election and look at democracy in ashes and say, ‘Well, at least we protected California’s independent redistricting commission.’ No. I’m going to support fighting fire with fire.

Democratic Texas lawmakers who fled their state to break quorum and delay a vote on pro-GOP redistricting… could be returning this week.

Hurricane Erin could impact East Coast weather » Hurricane Erin has weakened to a Category 3 storm, but forecasters say that doesn’t wipe out its potential to cause chaos.

Though its maximum winds diminished Sunday, its actual size grew. The storm’s outer bands pelted parts of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.

And this week, Erin could produce life-threatening surf and rip tides anywhere from Florida to New England. National Hurricane Center Deputy Director Jamie Rhome…

RHOME: As these waves come and strike the coast, all that energy is going to break with these big breakers at the coastline. And that’s going to increase the rip current risk significantly through the week.

Forecasters don’t expect the storm to hit the East Coast of the U.S. directly, but county leaders in North Carolina’s Outer Banks have declared a state of emergency as a precaution.

I'm Mark Mellinger.

Straight ahead: defending pregnancy resource centers and the abortion pill reversal treatment. Plus, the Monday Moneybeat with economist David Bahnsen.

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