Trump news at a glance: G7 leaders wrestle Ukraine back on to president’s agenda

By Guardian staff • June 17, 2026 • US news

President comments that Moscow ‘should make a deal’; Trump-aligned Ossoff wins Senate primary in Georgia – key US politics stories from Tuesday 16 June at a glance

At the G7 summit, Donald Trump repeated familiar language about the Ukraine war – lamenting “the great antipathy” between the Ukrainian and Russian leaders that made it difficult to reach a settlement. He vowed to do what he could, saying Moscow “should make a deal”, noting that it had “lost a great many people, just like Ukraine”. Trump spoke to Ukraine’s Volodymr Zelenskyy and Russia’s Vladimir Putin on Sunday before travelling to the G7 and claimed both men were open to a meeting. He described the death toll in the war as “ridiculous”. The US president some time ago lost patience with his inability to force home a deal in which Ukraine gave up territory it had not lost on the battlefield. ‘Ridiculous … Ukraine and Russia should make a deal’ European leaders at the G7 summit have urged Trump to try to break the deadlock over ending the Ukraine war by taking up the proposal for him to host talks in the US between Zelenskyy and Putin. Speaking at a morning session of G7 leaders and Zelenskyy, Trump said he would do what he could, and German sources claimed Trump recognised that Russia was in a weaker position than previously. Read the full story Collins v Ossoff in Georgia’s Senate race Georgia’s Republican primary runoff voters chose Trump-aligned US representative Mike Collins over former college football coach Derek Dooley to lead the party’s bid to challenge US senator and rising Democratic star Jon Ossoff in November’s midterm elections. They also selected billionaire healthcare executive Rick Jackson over Trump-backed lieutenant governor Burt Jones to face Democratic gubernatorial candidate Keisha Lance Bottoms in November, after a bruising election campaign that led to libel litigation and federal challenges to Georgia election law. Read the full story Fifteen charged over alleged interference in Minnesota immigration crackdown Fifteen people in Minnesota were charged with conspiracy to impede or injure federal officers over their response to a controversial and deadly immigration enforcement crackdown in the state earlier this year. The prosecutors allege the defendants were part of two Minneapolis-based “antifa” groups that “violently oppose immigration law enforcement”. The indictment names the two groups as Direct Action Minnesota and Black Cat Worker’s Collective, which it described as a subgroup. Read the full story DoJ charges five men over alleged plot to attack White House UFC event Law enforcement officials disrupted an attempt to attack the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) cage fighting event staged at the White House on Sunday with guns and explosive-laden drones, and multiple people were in custody, federal US authorities said. The Department of Justice charged five men over an alleged plot to carry out an attack to kill government officials and others attendees at the “UFC Freedom 250” event on Sunday. Read the full story Experts alarmed as Trump launches broad-front attack on US voting rights The Trump administration is waging war on voting rights using justice department lawsuits, FBI investigations, and an executive order to limit voting by mail, moves mirroring the US president’s false claims he lost the 2020 election due to voting fraud, say election experts and ex-officials. Read the full story Algae thwart Trump’s $14m attempt to clean reflecting pool Trump’s $14.2m attempt to turn the Lincoln Memorial reflecting pool from what the US president described as a “filthy” and “dirty” site into a “beautiful” monument has encountered a hitch. The water is green again. Days after the renovation was finished, algae have frustrated Trump’s attempt to transform the shade of the pool to “American flag blue” in time for the country’s 250th birthday. Read the full story What else happened today: Joe Biden’s decision to seek a second term was “a terrible mistake” that cost Democrats the presidency and may have permanently damaged his legacy, Hillary Clinton has declared. Keir Starmer has denied being snubbed by Trump at the G7 after the two did not have a bilateral meeting at the summit. Sean Penn will direct a new film about the January 6 riot set to star Bradley Cooper. Catching up? Here’s what happened Monday 15 June.

Source: The Guardian