Up First from NPR - Zelenskyy Meets Trump, Gaza Latest, More National Guard Troops to D.C.

Episode Date: August 18, 2025

President Trump will host Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelenskyy and European leaders at the White House. Israelis protest to demand a hostage deal as the military and government leaders pursue plans to occupy Gaza City. And growing number of National Guard troops are on their way to the nation’s capital.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 Jason Breslow, Ryland Barton, Russell Lewis, Olivia Hampton and Adriana Gallardo. It was produced by Ziad Buchh, Nia Dumas and Christopher Thomas. We get engineering support from Stacey Abbott. And our technical director is Carleigh Strange.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Guys, I sent a picture of me at a baseball game on Friday, and he wrote, who is this? And how do you have Layla's phone? It was surprising. Because I was watching that game, and you sent the text, I was like, okay, this has got to be like a joke or something. You're like, did you lose a bet? President Trump says Volodymyr Zelensky can stop the war with Russia if Ukraine makes concessions, giving up Crimea and never joining NATO. The pair will meet today at the White House. Hamas Zelensky respond to Trump's suggestion.

I'm Leila Falded. That's A. Martinez, and this is up first from NPR News. Hundreds of thousands of Israelis shut down roads demanding a deal to get hostages home. Can an agreement happen when Israel's military is planning to take control of Gaza City and force Palestinians out? And in Washington, D.C., residents are angry about Trump deploying troops send federal agents. Trump is using this, one, to distract from the Epstein files, and two, to basically do a fascist takeover of D.C. Could the frustration explode into street violence?

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President Trump is hosting Ukrainian president Volodomir Zelensky at the White House today. Joining him will be several key European leaders in a united front for a meeting that could shape Ukraine's future. Trump is expected to lean on Ukraine to take a deal that. involves giving up territory, possibly Crimea, he may also insist that Zelensky give up any hope of Ukraine ever joining NATO. MPR White House correspondent Franco Ordonez has been covering the story. So, Franco, that scenario that Leila just described giving up Crimea and NATO membership is what Trump posted last night on truth social. How much do you think that's going to hang over today's meeting between the two? I mean, a lot. I mean, it really speaks to the big issues that need to be worked out.

and there are some real sticky ones like land swaps, like possibly Crimea, and another is security guarantees to prevent Russia from invading again. And let's also remember that last time Zelensky was in the Oval Office, it was really a disaster. He was lectured by the vice president, lectured by the president. And this time, Zelensky will be joined by, among others, European Union Chief Ursula von der Leyen, and French President Mani Macron and the NATO Secretary General, Mark Rout,

And this kind of United Front is partially an effort to prevent a repeat of that last meeting. But it's also to make sure that Europe has a voice in these negotiations, especially after Zelensky was not invited to that Alaska summit between Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin. So on that, where do things stand after the big meeting on Friday? I mean, yeah, I mean, that's another reason they're there. Trump has shifted his positions after meeting with Putin before Trump insisted that the next step needed to be a ceasefire. He didn't get that.

And now he's actually saying that the best way to end the conflict is to go directly to a peace agreement, which is Putin's preferred position. So the European leaders want to prevent Trump from forcing more of Putin's positions on Ukraine. How is the Trump administration responding to these concerns? As you can imagine, they're pushing back. Secretary of State, Marco Rubio was on CBS's face the nation yesterday, roundly dismissing the idea that the leaders were coming to protect Zelensky. They're not coming here tomorrow to keep Zelensky from being bullied. They're coming here to Mark, because we've been working with the Europeans. We talked to them last week. And Trump's special envoy, Steve Whitkoff, said on CNN's State of the Union that the U.S.

is working on concessions from Russia, security guarantees, that in his words would be game-changing. We were able to win the following concession, that the United States could offer Article 5-like protection, which is one of the real reasons why Ukraine wants to be in NATO. You know, of course, he's referring to Article 5 of the NATO Treaty, which says that an attempt against one of its members? Is it considered an attack on all? To be sure, Russia has not said this publicly, but that is significant because it would be a shift in position by the Trump administration. Yeah, Article 5, like isn't Article 5, a little bit of a different. We'll see how it goes. Now, speaking of Lancewops, let's get specific, what do you make about Trump's post on social media

that Zelensky can end the war if Ukraine gives up Crimea and agrees never to join NATO? Yeah, I think off the start, he's making clear that he's going to lean on Zelensky to make some uncomfortable choices. something that Zelensky won't do or says he won't do. But the NATO thing speaks to Whitkoff, what Whitkoff was saying, NATO membership, but maybe NATO-like guarantees. I mean, it's a complicated workaround, and that's why the details are so important. A lot really needs to be hashed out. That's White House correspondent, Franco Ordonez. Ranko, thanks a lot. Thank you, A. The Israelis yesterday staged one of their biggest protests in nearly two years of war. Organizers said hundreds of thousands of people rallied shutting down roads across Israel with this demand for the Israeli government to end the war in Gaza and reach a deal with Hamas to release the remaining hostages.

There are new efforts to restart ceasefire negotiations, but Israeli leaders are still advancing plans to expand the war. NPR's Daniel Estrin is in time. Tel Aviv, Daniel, what did those Sunday protests look like? Oh, they were huge. Protesters blocked highways. They rallied around our outside government ministers' homes. Many businesses and restaurants shut down as well. And then at night, there was this massive swell of protests in downtown Tel Aviv.

This was one of the biggest protests Israel has seen since the war in Gaza began nearly two years ago. And the protests reflected really this immense frustration and rage many in Israel feel at this particular chapter of the war when negotiations with Hamas have collapsed and the government is now planning to expand the war in Gaza while the hostages are still held there. Israeli leaders criticized the protests, putting them squarely against the families of hostages who led the protests. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said, calling for an end of the war today without defeating Hamas only hardens Hamas's stance. So where do efforts stand to restart these fire negotiations? Talks broke down weeks ago. Israel and the U.S. walked away from efforts with Hamas and blamed Hamas for the breakdown.

And now Qatar and Egypt are working on a new proposal. The new proposal is not to release half of the living and dead hostages in Gaza. That was the previous offer. But we are hearing reports that they are trying to seek the release of all of the hostages. 20 are believed to be alive. 30 believed to be dead. That is Israel's demand. And Israel also has another central demand for ending the war, and that's that Hamas disarm. Hamas is actually finding itself facing much more public Arab regional pressure on that point than ever before, to give up its weapons. Even facing calls by the Palestinian authority for Hamas to give up its weapons, Hamas says, absolutely no, they won't do it. There are some changing dynamics now in the Gaza war. Israel is allowing more food into Gaza that somewhat eases the extreme hunger crisis there, European,

and Arab countries are dropping food packages into Gaza from airplanes. Humanitarian aid groups say that is not an effective solution for feeding two million people. But also, you'll remember a couple weeks ago Israel announced plans to displace Palestinians from Gaza City and to eventually take control there. Now, Israel's military is slowly advancing those plans. We're hearing it could take a couple of months to pursue that, but this is the biggest pressure point now in the war. And mediators are trying to prevent that outcome with a new ceasefire deal. One more thing to ask you about those leak recordings of comments of a top Israeli military

official who resigned after Hamas's October 7th attack. What did he say? Israeli television aired leaked recordings of Israel's former head of military intelligence. He was speaking about many intelligence failures that led to the October 7th, 2023 attack. And one of his comments got a lot of attention. He said that the death toll of tens of thousands of Palestinians killed by Israel and Gaza that that death toll was necessary. He said, for every Israeli killed on October 7th, quote, 50 Palestinians must die. He said, I'm not speaking out of revenge. I'm speaking about a message to the next generations. Now, he resigned more than a year ago. He did acknowledge the authenticity of the

recordings. His comments will certainly add to the global debate over the nature of Israel's conduct in Gaza, including the charge it's committing genocide, which Israel denies. That's NPR's Daniel Estrin in Tel Aviv. Thank you. You're welcome. Washington, D.C. is entering its second full week with troops and federal agents on the streets with more National Guard troops now on their way to the nation's capital. There's growing tension over President Trump's decision to militarize policing in the nation's capital with no clear exit strategy. Local civic leaders are scrambling to avoid major

clashes. And Pierre's Brian Mann has been on the streets through the weekend and joins us now in Studio 31. Hey, Brian. Good morning, Leila. Good morning. Okay, so we both know there's already this big presence of troops and federal agents on the streets here. What do we know about these new troops and why Trump has asked for them? Yeah, what we know is that three Republican governors in Ohio, South Carolina and West Virginia have agreed to send hundreds of additional soldiers. And there's another escalation, Lela, the National Guard confirms some of these troops conducting what they call roving patrols on D.C. streets may now be armed. That's a big change from last week. And Trump's team really hasn't offered a clear rationale for needing more soldiers. Right now,

this city is calm. The streets are busy with tourists. A lot of residents say they're angry. This seems to keep escalating. I spoke about it with Megan Marie during one of the protests over the weekend outside the White House. Trump is using this one to distract from the Epstein files and two to basically do a fascist takeover of D.C. In a statement, White House spokesperson Taylor Rogers characterized this very differently, describing this growing military deployment as a common sense way to stop crime. President Trump is delivering on his campaign promise, she said. You know, I'm thinking about Los Angeles.

Trump deployed National Guard and active duty Marines there back in June following immigration protests. And those deployments mostly ended last month, though they're still unease in L.A. How is what's happening here in D.C. different? I think part of it's the symbolism. You know, this is the nation's capital. Trump put Humvees and soldiers on the streets based also on claims about rampant crime that just aren't factual. I haven't found a single expert, Leila, who thinks the crime that does occur here amounts to the kind of emergency that warrants this sort of crack down. People are also concerned that Trump keeps blurring the line between criminals and people who are really vulnerable, the homeless, poor people, mentally ill, those in severe addiction. Armed troops are a really blunt instrument for dealing with those kinds of social problems. And finally, as you mentioned, there's no exit strategy here. We're a week into this. We haven't heard how or when or why Trump might declare victory and end this emergency. And what are local leaders saying? Yeah, I'm hearing real fear about this situation. There's been relative calm so far, but it could spin out of control. This is playing out in the heat of summer, growing numbers of troops and agents on the streets that they don't know well. There's confusion about command and control of police. There are these growing protests. And on top of that, Lela, the public school year's about to begin. That means more. kids out on the streets. People think this could turn into something like Ferguson, Missouri in 2014 or Minneapolis in 2020. I spoke with Reverend Ronald Bell Jr. who leads one of D.C.'s predominantly black churches. He said community leaders are working to maintain calm.

I think we have learned the lessons from the past. We who are on the ground, I think we are well-equipped to handle this moment. I also got a letter on social media from Mayor Muriel Bowser over the weekend. She acknowledged people are feeling waves of anxiety in the community. Bowser also urged calm. She said, I know if we keep sticking together, we will make it to the other side of this. NPR's Brian Mann with me in studio in Washington, D.C. Thank you, Brian.

Thank you. And that's up first for Monday, August 18th. I'm A. Martinez. And I'm Lela Faldale. Thanks for waking up with NPR. Your NPR station makes up first possible each morning, support their work and hours. at donate.npr.org slash upfirst. Today's episode of Up First was edited by Jason Bresloo, Rylan Barton, Russell Lewis, Olivia

Hampton, and Adriana Gallardo. It was produced by Zad Butch, Nia Dumas, and Christopher Thomas. We get engineering support from Zoe Van Genhoeven, and our technical director is Carly Strange. Join us again tomorrow. Want to hear this podcast without sponsor breaks? Amazon Prime members can listen to Up First sponsor-free through Amazon music. Or you can also support NPR's vital journalism and get Upfirst Plus at plus.npr.org.

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