Trump to meet with Zelenskyy over Ukraine minerals deal, war with Russia

[CRAIG NIGRELLI]

IT’S FRIDAY FEBRUARY 28TH, 2025, AND THESE ARE YOUR UNBIASED UPDATES.

UKRAINE’S PRESIDENT ZELENSKY COMES TO WASHINGTON TO SIT DOWN WITH PRESIDENT TRUMP.   HOW MINERAL RIGHTS WILL BE A KEY TOPIC AND WHAT WE’VE LEARNED ABOUT A POSSIBLE, PEACE-KEEPING FORCE AFTER THE UKRAINE-RUSSIA WAR IS OVER. 

AND — THE INVESTIGATION DEEPENS INTO THE DEATH OF ACTOR GENE HACKMAN AND HIS WIFE IN NEW MEXICO.  WHAT THE SHERIFF’S DEPARTMENT HAS RULED OUT AT THIS POINT AND WHAT’S NEXT.

AS HE LOOKS TO FULFILL A CAMPAIGN PROMISE TO END THE WAR BETWEEN RUSSIA AND UKRAINE, PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP IS SET TO MEET WITH UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY AT THE WHITE HOUSE TODAY.

THE TWO LEADERS ARE TO SIGN A DEAL THAT WOULD GIVE THE UNITED STATES ACCESS TO UKRAINE’S RARE EARTH MINERALS, such as GRAPHITE, LITHIUM, titanium, and uranium,   IN EXCHANGE FOR CONTINUED SUPPORT,  WHICH THE UNITED STATES PROVIDED SINCE RUSSIA’S INVASION IN 20-22.

PRESIDENT TRUMP HAS DESCRIBED THE AGREEMENT AS A BREAKTHROUGH DEAL THAT WOULD REIMBURSE U-S TAXPAYERS FOR BILLIONS OF DOLLARS OF SUPPORT — AND HELP UKRAINE REBUILD —  ONCE THE WAR COMES TO AN END.

ALTHOUGH THE AGREEMENT  — WHICH IS SEEN AS A KEY STEP TOWARD ENDING THE THREE-YEAR WAR — REFERENCES THE IMPORTANCE OF UKRAINE’S SECURITY, IT LEAVES THAT TO A SEPARATE ASPECT, WHICH HAS NOT BEEN FINALIZED.

PRESIDENT TRUMP HAS YET TO MAKE ANY GUARANTEES FOR UKRAINE’S SECURITY.  DURING A PRESS CONFERENCE YESTERDAY WITH BRITISH PRIME MINISTER KEIR STARMER AFTER THEIR MEETING TO DISCUSS ENDING THE WAR IN UKRAINE — THE PRESIDENT  SAID DESPITE EUROPEAN SUPPORT, UKRAINE’S DEMANDS FOR THE FUTURE ARE NOT LIKELY TO BE MET.

MEANWHILE, STARMER AND FRENCH PRESIDENT EMMANUEL MACRON — WHO MET WITH PRESIDENT TRUMP IN WASHINGTON EARLIER THIS WEEK — HAVE BOTH AGREED THAT IF A TRUCE CAN BE REACHED BETWEEN UKRAINE AND RUSSIA, THEY WILL SEND TROOPS FROM THEIR COUNTRIES,  TO UKRAINE ON A PEACE-KEEPING MISSION TO TRY TO ENSURE THAT FIGHTING DOES NOT FLARE UP AGAIN.

AS OF NOW, IT is VERY UNLIKELY AMERICAN TROOPS WOULD TAKE PART IN THAT PEACE KEEPING EFFORT.

A FEDERAL JUDGE HAS PUT A STOP TO THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION’S MASS FIRINGS OF FEDERAL PROBATIONARY EMPLOYEES, FOR NOW.

IN HIS RULING Thursday, U-S DISTRICT JUDGE WILLIAM ALSUP SAID THE FIRINGS WERE LIKELY AGAINST THE LAW, AND ORDERED THE OFFICE OF PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT TO TELL CERTAIN FEDERAL AGENCIES IT HAD NO AUTHORITY TO ORDER THE FIRINGS OF PROBATIONARY EMPLOYEES, INCLUDING AT THE DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE.

THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION HAS ALREADY FIRED THOUSANDS OF PROBATIONARY GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES, THOSE ARE WORKERS WHO HAVE BEEN ON THE JOB FOR LESS THAN A YEAR AND HAVE LITTLE PROTECTION.

GOVERNMENT LAWYERS HAVE AGREED O-P-M HAS NO AUTHORITY TO LAYOFF EMPLOYEES OF OTHER AGENCIES,  BUT SAY O-P-M ONLY ASKED AGENCIES TO REVIEW AND DETERMINE WHETHER probationary EMPLOYEES WERE FIT FOR CONTINUED EMPLOYMENT.

THIS COMES AS THE LATEST ROUND OF FEDERAL GOVERNMENT LAYOFFS HIT THE NATIONAL OCEANIC AND ATMOSPHERIC ADMINISTRATION.

THE NEW YORK TIMES IS REPORTING SEVERAL HUNDRED MORE NOAA STAFF MEMBERS ARE EXPECTED TO LEAVE TODAY AS PART OF THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION’S SO-CALLED DEFERRED RESIGNATION PROGRAM.  ON TOP OF THE LAYOFFS, THE ADMINISTRATION IS EXPECTED TO CANCEL CONTRACTS OF WORKERS AFFILIATED WITH NOAA,  WHICH COULD REDUCE THE AGENCY BY AS MANY AS 25-HUNDRED PERSONNEL.

U-S ATTORNEY GENERAL PAM BONDI IS DEMANDING THE F-B-I TURN OVER MORE DOCUMENTS RELATED TO THE HIGH-PROFILE JEFFREY EPSTEIN SEX TRAFFICKING CASE, ACCUSING THE F-B-I OF WITHHOLDING THOUSANDS OF FILES.

SHE’S CALLING ON NEWLY CONFIRMED F-B-I DIRECTOR KASH PATEL TO ROOT THEM OUT.

IN A LETTER TO PATEL YESTERDAY, BONDI SAID THE BUREAU HAD REASSURED HER THE DOCUMENTS SHE RECEIVED WERE THE FULL PACKAGE OF INFORMATION BUT LATER, A WHISTLEBLOWER INFORMED HER THE F-B-I’S NEW YORK FIELD OFFICE HAD NOT HANDED OVER A SUBSTANTIAL AMOUNT OF EPSTEIN INFORMATION.

NOW, SHE’S DEMANDING THE REST BY THIS MORNING.

BONDI HAD ORIGINALLY PROMOTED A MAJOR RELEASE OF DOCUMENTS this week, BUT AFTER THEIR RELEASE yesterday,  THE CONSENSUS FROM RECIPIENTS WAS DISAPPOINTMENT, WITH THOSE WHO RECEIVED THE DOCUMENTS SAYING  THEY DID NOT OFFER ANY NEW INFORMATION AND AMOUNTED TO EPSTEIN’S CONTACT LIST.  BUT IT IS NOT A CLIENT LIST.

NOW TO THE latest on the DEATH OF ACTOR GENE HACKMAN AND HIS WIFE, Betsy Arakawa IN SANTA FE, NEW MEXICO.  THE COUNTY SHERIFF SAYS WHILE THERE ARE NO obvious SIGNS OF FOUL PLAY, nothing HAS BEEN RULED OUT, calling their deaths “suspicious.” 

WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON, A MAINTENANCE MAN,  DOING PEST CONTROL,  DISCOVERED THE COUPLE DEAD IN THE HOME, IN A GATED COMMUNITY.  DEPUTIES ARRIVED AND FOUND THE 95-YEAR-OLD ACTOR, DOWN,  NEAR THE KITCHEN IN WHAT APPEARED TO BE A MUD ROOM. ACCORDING TO A SEARCH WARRANT,  A CANE AND SUNGLASSES WERE NEAR HIS BODY. 

THEY DISCOVERED HIS WIFE’S BODY IN A BATHROOM WITH A SPACE HEATER NEARBY.  THE WARRANT INDICATES THERE WAS AN OPEN PRESCRIPTION BOTTLE ON THE COUNTER AND PILLS WERE SCATTERED EVERYWHERE. 

BASED ON THE SAME, SEARCH WARRANT DEPUTIES BELIEVED THE COUPLE SUDDENLY FELL. THERE WERE NO SIGNS OF FORCED ENTRY AND NO INDICATION OF A STRUGGLE AND THE SHERIFF SAYS NOTHING APPEARED TO BE MISSING FROM THE HOME.

THE SANTA FE FIRE DEPARTMENT SAID IT DID NOT FIND ANY SIGNS OF A CARBON MONOXIDE LEAK.   

INVESTIGATORS ARE NOW WAITING FOR AUTOPSY RESULTS, AS WELL AS TOXICOLOGY REPORTS.  

A GRASSROOTS GROUP IS CALLING FOR A NATIONAL BOYCOTT IN THE FORM OF AN “ECONOMIC BLACKOUT” TODAY.

THE GROUP “THE PEOPLE’S UNION U-S-A” IS URGING AMERICANS NOT TO SHOP FOR 24 HOURS — IN RESPONSE TO THE RECENT ROLLBACKS IN DIVERSITY, EQUITY, AND INCLUSION INITIATIVES AT SEVERAL MAJOR COMPANIES.

THE BOYCOTT IS MEANT TO COINCIDE WITH PROTESTS AGAINST PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP’S PLANS TO REDUCE THE GOVERNMENT WORKFORCE AND MASS FIRINGS AT FEDERAL AGENCIES.

FINALLY THIS MORNING, AMAZON FOUNDER JEFF BEZOS’ SPACE COMPANY BLUE ORIGIN is SENDING AN ALL-FEMALE CREW INTO SPACE FOR THE FIRST TIME IN MORE THAN 60 YEARS.

THE MISSION WILL BE THE 11-TH HUMAN FLIGHT FOR BLUE ORIGIN’S NEW SHEPARD PROGRAM AND THE 31-ST IN ITS HISTORY.

THESE ARE YOUR UNBIASED UPDATES FOR THIS FRIDAY. WE’LL SEE YOU BACK HERE ON MONDAY.