Welcome to the online version of From the Politics Desk, an evening newsletter that brings you the NBC News Politics team’s latest reporting and analysis from the White House, Capitol Hill and the campaign trail.
In today’s edition, one of our resident experts on global affairs, Dan De Luce, breaks down President Donald Trump’s striking shift in policy toward Russia. Plus, Sahil Kapur provides a reality check on how Trump and DOGE’s plans would affect the deficit.
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— Adam Wollner
Over the course of a week, Trump upends decades of U.S. foreign policy
Analysis by Dan De Luce
Before and after his inauguration, President Donald Trump appeared to be taking a more critical line on Russia, warning Moscow that it would face new sanctions if it didn’t enter into peace talks.
In a social media post last month, Trump wrote: “We can do it the easy way, or the hard way ... It’s time to ‘MAKE A DEAL’.”
But everything changed last week.
After a phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Trump flipped the script. The U.S. and Russia would enter into negotiations to end the war in Ukraine, Trump said, without mentioning any role for Ukraine’s government. His defense secretary flew to Europe and said NATO membership for Ukraine was off the table and it was unrealistic to expect Kyiv to regain the territory Russia had seized.
By Tuesday night, Trump claimed that Ukraine, which was invaded by Russia three years ago, “should have never started” the war. That spat continued into Wednesday, with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy accusing Trump of living in a Russian “disinformation bubble” and Trump calling Zelenskyy a “dictator.”
With his conciliatory words toward Putin and willingness to launch into direct talks, Trump effectively invited Russia in from the cold after three years of diplomatic and economic isolation. A photo from Saudi Arabia showing Trump’s deputies, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio and national security adviser Mike Waltz, sitting across the table from senior Russian officials, seemed to capture the seismic shift.
Within a week, Trump upended decades of U.S. foreign policy with Russia and Europe. And he raised grave questions in the minds of every American ally — not only in Europe but around the world.
One consistent foreign policy theme throughout Trump’s public life, dating back to the 1980s, is his belief that allies are ripping Americans off. He has repeatedly questioned the value of alliances that date back to the end of World War II, arguing that the United States is being taken advantage of, either due to the cost of America’s military presence or allegedly lopsided trade relationships.
Historians and analysts say the post-war order fueled a rise in living standards around the world, bolstered and spread democratic rule from Prague to Tokyo, and helped avert a war between major powers. But Trump and his supporters believe the U.S. has been too deferential toward its allies.
Trump is testing the proposition that America can survive and thrive without cultivating its friends. Will “America First” mean “America Alone”?
How Europe is responding: European leaders have been left stunned by Trump’s swift reversal of American policy toward Russia as they struggle to unite around a shared response.
How Republicans are responding: In Washington, a handful of GOP senators sought distance from Trump’s comments labeling Zelenskyy a “dictator” while avoiding directly criticizing the president.
More: How an investment banker became Putin’s man in the room for high-level U.S. talks, by Keir Simmons and Natasha Lebedeva
What else to know from the Trump presidency today
- Trump offered his most emphatic endorsement yet of the House GOP’s strategy to pass one sweeping bill to advance his legislative agenda. But Senate Republicans said they’d still plow ahead with a vote on their own budget resolution.
- Former Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer, Trump’s nominee for labor secretary who has drawn some skepticism from Republican senators, faced questions on her stances toward unions and right-to-work laws during her confirmation hearing.
- The Trump administration nixed federal approval of New York’s “congestion pricing” tolls, which had been instituted just last month to raise funds for the region’s aging mass transit system.
- The Justice Department offered a contradictory new explanation for why it is seeking to drop corruption charges against New York City Mayor Eric Adams, with a top official arguing that the charges against the mayor are not well supported in law.
- A federal judge ordered spy agencies to temporarily halt the firing of 11 intelligence officers over their assignments related to diversity, equity, inclusion and access programs.
- Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is considering firing a slate of military generals and flag officers as early as this week.
DOGE's targeted cuts are just a slice of the federal budget – and Trump's agenda could add trillions to the deficit
By Sahil Kapur
President Donald Trump and his billionaire adviser Elon Musk have sent shock waves through the federal government by attempting to take a hatchet to certain agencies in the name of reducing the federal deficit.
But the reality is far more complex.
Budget experts say that even if Trump succeeds at slashing the spending the Department of Government Efficiency is targeting, his policies would still substantially add to the deficit if they come to fruition.
Calls for new tax cuts and spending: Trump has called for a series of steep tax cuts that would add at least $5 trillion to the 10-year deficit compared to the red ink if no changes are made to current federal law, according to the nonpartisan Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget. Plus, Republican leaders in Congress are pushing for more military and border security spending.
Foreign aid: Trump has focused heavily on slashing foreign aid, which last accounted for 1.2% of the overall budget, even after adding up emergency assistance to Ukraine.
Education Department: Trump has also called for dissolving the Education Department, which accounts for about 3% of federal spending, according to the Treasury Department.
Federal workforce: While Trump and Musk have sought to shrink the government workforce, federal workers make up 6% of the budget, according to a Congressional Budget Office report on fiscal 2022.
Entitlement programs: When it comes to Social Security and Medicare, Trump last year called for tackling “the theft and the bad management of entitlements,” while promising not to jeopardize benefits. But the president and Musk have yet to show evidence of fraud that would bend the cost curve.
Related DOGE reads:
Big swings, big misses: DOGE struggles to back up its outsized claims, by Jane C. Timm
At least 11 lawsuits are taking on DOGE over data access and privacy laws, by Kevin Collier
🗞️ Today’s other top stories
- 📊 By the numbers: New data from Immigration and Customs Enforcement shows that the administration is not just arresting criminals, and detention centers are getting close to their maximum capacity. Read more →
- 👀 Getting tense: Rep. Mike Lawler, R-N.Y., questioned the citizenship status of an elected county official in New York during a discussion about ICE at a public meeting. Read more →
- 🚪Heading for the exits: Two of Sen. John Fetterman’s longest-serving staff members are leaving his team, as the Pennsylvania Democrat takes a more open approach to Trump than many of his colleagues. Read more →
- 🚫 Not pardoned after all: Justice Department prosecutors said that Trump’s sweeping Jan. 6 pardons do not apply to a rioter who plotted to kill FBI agents. Read more →
- 🐝 Beehive State buzz: The New York Times explores how Utah has become the “lonely holdout” for Republicans who are looking to resist Trump and his style of politics. Read more →
That’s all From the Politics Desk for now. Today’s newsletter was compiled by Adam Wollner and Bridget Bowman.
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