Monday morning news: December 29, 2025

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Trump-Zelenskyy » President Trump hosted Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy Mar-A-Lago resort Sunday in South Florida to continue peace talks.

Trump praised Zelenskyy, calling him “brave” and struck an optimistic tone about ending the war. He said peace in Ukraine is “closer than ever” though he acknowledged that talks could still break down.

Trump also said he spoke with Russia leader Vladimir Putin before his meeting with Zelenskyy:

TRUMP:  We have two willing parties. We have two willing countries. They want to see it end. Look, the people of Ukraine wanted to end, and the people of Russia wanted it to end, and the two leaders want it to end.

US and Ukrainian diplomats have been working for weeks to hammer out a peace plan. And Zelenskyy has said that in his view, that proposal is nearly ready for US officials to begin talks with Moscow.

Zelenskyy said Sunday that his talks with President Trump would focus on the sequence of the steps outlined in that 20-point plan.

ZELENSKYY:  Our teams talked about strategy, how to, to make step by step and to bring this closer and we will discuss this strategy.

Security guarantees for Ukraine also a major topic.

Zelenskyy is still drawing a hard line at ceding territory to Russia.

Trump-Netanyahu to meet » Meantime, Trump is set to meet in Florida today with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Mediators are pushing to move the deal into its next phase. That stage would involve Israeli forces pulling back from Gaza … and removing Hamas from power — to be replaced by a temporary governing authority.

Inside Israel, protests continue, with demonstrators insisting the process cannot move forward until the remains of the last deceased hostage are returned.

Northeast snowstorm » Severe winter weather snarled holiday traffic in parts of the country over the weekend, and there’s more of it on the way.

Several inches fell in New York City over the weekend, catching some tourists by surprise.

AUDIO:  We're from West Virginia, so we're not from here. Right? Going here for a three year anniversary, which was yesterday, we realized it was gonna snow [SIC]. We didn't even think it was coming.

Numerous airports have been dealing with delays after a busy travel weekend between Christmas and New Year’s.

Bob Oravec with the National Weather Service:

ORAVEC:  Storm track was a little, little atypical for some of the northeastern storms we've seen in the past, but it was pretty quick moving, but it did produce, uh, periods of heavy snow and there was some, uh, pretty decent accumulations.

More than 8 million Americans were still under winter storm warnings as of last night.

Forecasters say those warnings are driven by an intense bomb cyclone that’s bringing a mixture oFrom Nf snow, ice, rain and strong winds.

Severe winter weather is expected from Montana to Texas to Pennsylvania.

The National Weather Service on Sunday predicted 6 to 12 inches of snow in parts of the upper Midwest.

SBA regulations » Several provisions from President Trump’s sweeping tax and spending bill are set to take effect on January 1st, and the White House says small businesses stand to gain the most.

The head of the Small Business Administration, Kelly Loeffler, says the changes give owners more certainty as they plan for the year ahead.

LOEFFLER:  A lot of it thanks to the Working Families Tax Cut that small businesses finally have certainty about what their tax rate's gonna be, that 20% pass through deduction.

Supporters say those tax breaks could free up cash for hiring, raises, and new equipment.

But states that adopt the cuts may also face tighter budgets, as the bill shifts more costs onto them for programs like Medicaid and SNAP.

New Years security » Security is expected to be tight for New Year’s celebrations this week across the country.

But the Department of Homeland Security is not tracking any specific credible threats. And DHS spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin says no one should be deterred from celebrating.

MCLAUGHLIN:  You know, we're not going to bend the need to these cowards, these terrorists as we've seen in the past. And so, uh, Americans should go out. They should celebrate this great year we've had, be with friends and family, but just be aware of your surroundings.

Federal authorities say they foiled a bomb plot whereby suspects were planning to detonate explosives at multiple sites in Southern California.

A year ago, a man driving a truck in New Orleans rammed into a crowd at a New Year’s celebration, killing fourteen people.

I'm Kent Covington.

Straight ahead: determining when intellectual disability should limit enforcing the death penalty. Plus, the Monday Moneybeat with David Bahnsen.

This is The World and Everything in It.

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