Trump admin updates: Trump teases 'big day' at White House

President Donald Trump also said Zelenskyy can end the war "almost immediately."

Last Updated: August 18, 2025, 12:09 AM EDT

President Donald Trump returned from Alaska after his high-stakes meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, and the president's crime-reduction push in Washington, D.C. continues.

National Guard are in Washington as part of Trump's plan to reduce violent crime in the city.

On Friday, an order by U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi designating the head of the Drug Enforcement Administration Terry Cole as the District's "Emergency Police Commissioner" was retooled after a legal challenge by local officials.

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Aug 14, 2025, 2:29 PM EDT

'We want the museums to treat our country fairly': Trump on Smithsonian review

As the White House plans to conduct a wide-ranging review of the Smithsonian Institution to ensure the museums align with the president's view of American history, Trump said Thursday that the focus is on being "fair" and not "woke."

"We want the museums to treat our country fairly," he said during remarks from the Oval Office. "We want the museums to talk about the history of our country in a fair manner, not in a woke manner or a racist manner, which is what many of them, not all of them, but many of them are doing."

President Donald Trump speaks after signing a presidential proclamation honoring the 90th anniversary of the Social Security Act in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, August 14, 2025.
Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images

"Our museums have an obligation to represent what happened in our country over the years, good and bad, but what happened over the years in an accurate way," he continued.

The review of the Smithsonian Institution's museum exhibitions, materials and operations will be conducted ahead of America's 250th anniversary next year.

Aug 14, 2025, 2:17 PM EDT

Trump says he believes Putin and Zelenskyy will 'make peace'

President Donald Trump said he believed Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy want to make peace.

"We're going to see what happens. And, I think President Putin will make peace. I think President Zelensky will make peace. We'll see if they can get along and if they can, it'll be great," Trump said in the Oval Office.

Zelenskyy on Wednesday warned Trump and European leaders that Putin is "bluffing."

President Donald Trump speaks after signing a presidential proclamation honoring the 90th anniversary of the Social Security Act in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, August 14, 2025.
Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images

"I told my colleagues, the U.S. president and our European friends, that Putin definitely does not want peace. He wants the occupation of our country. And we all really understand that. Putin will not be able to deceive anyone. We need further pressure for peace. Not only American, but also European sanctions," Zelenskyy said.

Aug 14, 2025, 2:10 PM EDT

Trump sets sights on 2nd meeting with Putin, Zelenskyy

President Donald Trump discussed his expectations for Friday's summit in Alaska with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

"We're going to see what happens with that meeting," Trump said in the Oval Office on Thursday. "We have a big meeting, and it's going to be, I think, very important for Russia. And it's going to be very important for us and important for us only in that we're going to save a lot of lives."

Trump said he believed he'd have a "good" conversation with Putin, but that the more significant development would be a trilateral meeting between the U.S., Ukraine and Russia.

"We have a meeting with President Putin tomorrow. I think it's going to be a good meeting, but the more important meeting will be the second meeting that we're having. We're going to have a meeting with President Putin, President Zelenskyy, myself and maybe we'll bring some of the European leaders, maybe not," Trump said.

President Donald Trump speaks prior to signing a presidential proclamation honoring the 90th anniversary of the Social Security Act in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, August 14, 2025.
Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images

Aug 14, 2025, 12:43 PM EDT

Trump says 25% chance Putin meeting could fail

President Donald Trump, joining "The Brian Kilmeade Show" on Thursday, indicated there’s a 25% chance that his meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin won’t be successful in achieving his goal of securing progress toward a ceasefire.

“This meeting sets up the second meeting, but there is a 25% chance that this meeting will not be a successful meeting, in which case I will run the country and we have made America great again," Trump said.

The president has said he wants the next meeting to include Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

President Donald Trump and Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, are seen at the Elysee Palace, Dec. 7, 2024 in Paris, and Russian President Vladimir Putin addresses a Technology Forum in Moscow, Feb. 21, 2025.
AP

Trump even floated that teams stay in Alaska for the second meeting, given the logistics of the event.

"I don't know where we're going to have the second meeting, but we have an idea of three different locations, and will be including the possibility, because it would be by far the easiest of staying in Alaska. You know, we have, we have big flights of and he has the same thing," Trump said.

-ABC News' Kelsey Walsh and Michelle Stoddart

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