Up First from NPR - Updated Ukraine Peace Plan, MAGA Fractures, Fragile Gaza Ceasefire

Episode Date: November 24, 2025

The U.S. and Ukraine have updated President Trump’s 28-point peace proposal. They acted after widespread criticism of the original plan that appeared to heavily favor Russia. Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia announced that she will resign form Congress early next year following a feud with Trump. She also said Trump and her party lost their ways. Also, Israel and Hamas are accusing each other of ceasefire violations.Want more comprehensive analysis of the most important news of the day, plus a little fun? Subscribe to the Up First newsletter.Today’s episode of Up First was edited by Willem Marx, Krishnadev Calamur, Miguel Macias, HJ Mai and Martha Ann Overland.It was produced by Ziad Buchh, Nia Dumas and Christopher Thomas.We get engineering support from Stacey Abbott. Our technical director is Carleigh Strange.And our Supervising Producers are Vince Pearson and Michael Lipkin.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

The U.S. and Ukraine updated a peace proposal. They acted after widespread criticism of the original plan that appeared to heavily favor Russia. What's in this new version, and could it bring the fighting to a close? I'm Steve Inskeep with Michelle Martin, and this is up first from NPR News. President Trump's relationship with a flamboyant supporter flamed out. Representative Marjorie Taylor Green of Georgia says she will resign from Congress early in the year. What does her choice reveal about the Republican coalition? And Israel and Hamas are accusing each other of ceasefire violations.

How will this affect the next phase of the truce that's supposed to set up a multinational group to provide security in Gaza? Say with us, we'll give you the news you need to start your day. This message comes from Wise, the app for using money around the globe. When you manage your money with Wise, you'll always get the mid-market exchange. rate with no hidden fees, join millions of customers and visit wise.com. T's and C's apply. Support for this podcast comes from Dignity Memorial. For many families, remembering loved ones means honoring the details that made them unique. Dignity Memorial is dedicated to professionalism and compassion in every detail of a life celebration. Find a provider near you at DignityMemorial.com.

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U.S. and Ukrainian officials met on Sunday in Geneva to discuss President Trump's proposed peace plan. This comes as the president criticized Ukraine for expressing what he called zero gratitude for American efforts. European leaders have been skeptical of Trump's plan and say it needs work. NPR's Berlin, correspondent Rob Schmitz, has been reporting on this. He's with us now to tell if we're about it. Good morning, Rob. Morning, Michelle. So President Trump set a deadline of Thursday for Ukraine to agree to his 28-point plan. How are the Europeans feeling about this so far? they are feeling left out, you know, even though the Europeans were present for some of the meetings in Geneva, when President Trump and his advisors drafted this peace plan, they did not consult European heads of state. And in Europe's view, that is a big oversight because the plan is filled with commitments that Europeans would have to make, like ponying up a hundred billion dollars for the reconstruction of Ukraine or being part of an emergency blueprint if the peace plan is violated. This is a war, after all, all in Europe. You know, on the sidelines of the G20 summit in South Africa yesterday, German Chancellor

Friedrich Meertz, had this to say to German broadcaster Deutsche Welle. I think that it's not achievable to have all the 28 points agreed until Thursday. So we are trying to figure out which part of this plan could be achieved unanimously between the Europeans, the Americans and Ukraine on the one side and the Russian on the other side. Are there any parts of Trump's plan that the Europeans agree on? Well, yeah, there's one part they agree on that Ukraine must remain a sovereign state. But there are several points in the plan that the Europeans say are non-negotiable, starting with the idea that Ukraine should cede territory that it currently controls.

European leaders have always held that the front line in the war has to be the starting point for negotiations. And the part of the plan that calls for Ukraine to reduce the size of its army, that is also a non-starter for the Europeans. Here's European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on social media. As a sovereign nation, there cannot be limitations on Ukraine's armed forces that would leave the country vulnerable to future attack and thereby also undermining European security. So, Rob, where does this leave this peace process?

I mean, are we looking at another, I don't know, stalemate? Yeah, you know, the Kremlin still hasn't weighed in on the Geneva talks, and the U.S. says it'll hold separate talks with the Russians. We've got Turkey's president offering to mediate talks between Russia and Ukraine. We've also got French president Emmanuel Macron saying he'll meet with the leaders of Britain, Canada, and other nations. So there's been this flurry of diplomacy here. And from what we understand, Ukrainian and U.S. officials have already changed the working version of the 28-point plan from the original. But there is still a fair bit of confusion about that original 28-point proposal.

A bipartisan group of senators said over the weekend that, Rubio told them the Trump plan was essentially a wish list of the Russians. Now, the State Department and Rubio himself both denied that, but what is clear is that however this peace plan started, it is quickly evolving and it is now at the center of a big debate here in Europe about how this war could and should end. That is. NPR's Rob Schmitz, joining us from Berlin. Rob, thank you. Thank you. What's it really mean when the president breaks up with one of his loudest supporters? Marjorie Taylor Green went to Congress from Georgia in 2021, just in time to promote President Trump's bid to overturn his election defeat. Her comments and conspiracy theories caused even her own party to shun her at times until she rose as a flamboyant Trump backer that made it all the more striking when she resigned on Friday, saying the president has abandoned his own agenda.

This has prompted conversation about who gets to define the republicans. Republican Party. And NPR Stephen Fowler is listening to that conversation. Stephen, good morning. Good morning. How exactly does Green critique Republicans? Well, there was this nearly 11-minute video she released Friday night that aired a wide array of complaints, including mentioning threats to where adult children and attacks led by President Trump, calling her a, quote, traitor. But I think it's really important to listen to this point she made early on. Americans are used by the political industrial complex of both political parties, election cycle, election cycle, in order to elect whichever side can convince Americans to hate the other side more.

And the results are always the same. No matter which way the political pendulum swings, Republican or Democrat, nothing ever gets better for the common American man or woman. Green says that American politics are not great right now. And even though Republicans have complete control of Washington, her argument is that party leadership isn't actually keen on leading. Well, I guess this has been building up for a while. She criticized the president over his foreign policy, like when the United States bombed Iran. She questioned some domestic policies. And above all, she wanted the release of the Epstein files a lot more quickly than Trump was willing to agree to. So did she change? Well, in Greensview, she's not the one to change. It's Donald Trump and others in the Republican Party who have not maintained consistency when it comes to being Make America Great Again America First Conservatives. It's also important to note that Trump, Trump has never been a traditional conservative, and his return to office was built on convincing a lot of different groups and demographics with different ideologies and priorities to unite under that America First banner, but defer to his interpretation of what being a conservative meant. There have been a number of instances where some of the Republican-based voters this year have said, whoa, whoa, whoa, that's not actually what we wanted, like the Epstein files, where Trump went from, I will release them, to saying Republicans who want that to happen are stupid, to collaring Marjorie Taylor. arena traitor for supporting the measure to signing the bill.

Indeed. So what's the president saying now about Green? Well, he told ABC News. It was good for the country she was leaving. Posted on his truth social website that she was a traitor, again, who would have lost a primary. Then he told NBC News that he'd actually love to see her return to politics eventually, all in the span of less than a day or so. What? Okay. It does underscore what people have been saying about the president, both in public and behind the scenes. There are some on the right who are echoing his attacks and say about Marjorie Taylor Green, good riddance. There are other Republicans and even Democrats in the House who say she's making some good points about things.

And for what it's worth, Marjorie Taylor Green says she would have won her primary and thinks Republicans are set to lose the midterms. Some of that feeling is backed up by voters in the district and in Georgia, expressing support for her and disappointment in what President Trump is doing. and unlike plenty of clashes with more moderate Republicans who've all but disappeared from Trump's GOP, her role as this conservative stalwart inside the MAGA movement is really forcing the party to reckon more publicly and more quickly with a question of what the post-Trump GOP is going to look like. NPR Stephen Fowler, who's reporting from Atlanta. Stephen, thanks so much. Thank you.

Over the weekend, Israel and Hamas both accused each other of violating the ceasefire agreement in Gaza. The ceasefire is still officially in place, has been for a little over six weeks. Israel also struck a crowded suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, killing a commander of Hezbollah. This is the first Israeli strike in Lebanese capital in more than five months and has many people asking about the nearly year-long ceasefire there. To catch us up on both, we're joined now by Empress Kat-Lonstorf in Tel Aviv. Kat, good morning. Good morning. So let's start in Gaza. There were several Israeli strikes there over the weekend. What can you tell us about those? Yeah. On Saturday, Israel said that Hamas militants crossed the yellow line in Gaza, which is the dividing line between Israeli-controlled and Hamas-controlled territory right now. In response, Israel carried out a series of strikes across Gaza, which killed at least 20 people, according to health officials there.

Hamas sent a delegation to Cairo yesterday to meet with mediators to discuss Israeli violations of the ceasefire. Israeli strikes have killed more than 300 Palestinians, including more than 60 children during this ceasefire. And Michelle, I know that sounds contradictory. We're talking about a ceasefire, and there are still so many people being killed. As you said, both sides have accused each other of violations. But the agreement between the two is still holding, and we've not seen a full return to war. So get the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas was put forward by President Trump. It's supposed to have several phases toward a lasting peace.

Can you tell us where we are right now in that process? Yeah, we've gotten through a lot of the first phase, which saw the return of all remaining living hostages to Israel in exchange for thousands of Palestinian prisoners and detainees, and most of the hostage bodies have also been returned. And that's where it's kind of stuck right now. The next phase is supposed to set up an international stabilization force in Gaza, see Hamas disarm and have Israel fully withdraw.

I talked to Nimrod Novik. He's a fellow with the U.S.-based Israel-based Israel, Israel Policy Forum, and he was also an advisor to former Israeli Prime Minister Shimon Peres. Novick told me he's worried there's not a clear path forward in this agreement. A lot of thought was given to phase one, a lot of thought was given to phase two. Very little thought was given to the transition between them. There's still a lot of question marks hanging in the air. Who will make up that international stabilization force?

How will it be trained? How will Hamas disarmament work? Meanwhile, that means the nearly two million Palestinians living in Gaza still can't get a lot of the aid and assistance they desperately need. Let's turn now to Lebanon where Israel struck Beirut yesterday. What can you tell us about that? This was an Israeli strike on a crowded residential area in Beirut. It killed a senior Hezbollah commander and also several other members, which the group confirmed. It also wounded dozens of civilians, including some children. Our colleague, Jane Arraf, is in Beirut this morning. She's visiting the site of the strike. We'll hear more from her later today. This attack has raised fears that an all-out war could restart, despite a ceasefire that's been in effect for almost a year now.

During that time, Israel has launched almost daily and deadly attacks in South Lebanon. This was its first strike in Beirut in months. Meanwhile, Hezbollah has refrained from striking Israel, but a Hezbollah official called this weekend's attack a new red line. That is. And Pierce Kat Lansdorf in Tel Aviv. Thank you. Thank you. And that's Up First for Monday, November 24th. I'm Michelle Martin.

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