President Donald Trump spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin about ending the war in Ukraine, hosting the South African president in the White House, and threatened stricter tariffs on the European Union this week.
During a visit to the oval office of South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, Trump became a spiritual exchange with South African leaders about the treatment of white farmers there. Specifically, Trump aired a video showing a white cross that he said was the burial site of about 1,000 white farmers in South Africa.
Trump has repeatedly claimed that these farmers have been killed and pushed out of their land.
Trump to meet “out of control” South African leaders at the White House
South African President Donald Trump and Cyril Ramaphosa will meet in the oval office of the White House in Washington, DC on May 21st. (Jim Lo Scalzo/EPA/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Trump told the White House Ramaphosa that the burial site on the side of the road will be visited by people who “respectfully respect the families who were killed.”
“It's very bad now. These are buried here. The burial sites are over 1,000 white farmers. And those cars line up to pay their love on Sunday mornings. Each of the white things you see is a cross. “They are all white farmers. The families of white farmers. And those cars are not driving. They are stopped there to pay tribute to the murdered families. It's a terrible sight.
“They said where it was, the president?” Ramaphosa said. “I want to know where it is, because I've never seen it.”
“So there's what's in South Africa,” Trump said.
“We need to look into it,” Ramaphosa said.
The White House defended by showing the clips, saying the video was “proven.” Cross then appeared after encounters from a memorial demonstration, following the murder of a white farming couple rather than an actual burial site.
That happened again this week.
Please call Putin
Trump and Putin spoke on the phone on Monday, moving forward with peace talks to end the war between Moscow and Kiev. The call comes days after Russia and Ukraine met in Turkey and negotiated its first peace talks since 2022.
After the call, Trump said the two countries would move towards a ceasefire and push for debate to end the war. However, Trump has shown that the US will have Moscow and Kiev lead negotiations after a call with Putin.
“The terms will be negotiated between the two parties as much as possible, as we know the details of the negotiations no one else notices,” Trump said in a post on Monday on the True Society.
Trump says he can “walking” from the Russian Ukraine story, quoting “risky hatred” on both sides
President Donald Trump, left, and Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke on the phone Monday, moving forward with peace talks to end the war between Moscow and Kiev. (Contributor/Getty Images; Getty Images via Bonnie Cash/UPI/Bloomberg; Fox News Digital)
Additionally, Trump has continued to move the US away from the conflict this week, describing the conflict as a “European situation.”
“It has a big ego involved, but I think something's going to happen,” Trump told reporters Monday. “And if that's the case, I'd just go back and they'd have to continue. This was a European situation. It should have been a European situation.”
Trump expressed similar sentiment when Ramaphosa visited on Wednesday, saying, “It's not our people, it's our soldiers…Ukraine, it's Russia.”
“The evil of anti-Semitism”
The White House on Wednesday condemned a fatal attack on two employees at the Israeli Embassy in Washington, D.C., labeling the incident as anti-Semitism.
A gunman fires and kills Jaron Lisinski and Sarah Lynn Milgrim while leaving the event at the Capital Jewish Museum. The two had planned to get engaged in Jerusalem next week, White House press chief Karoline Leavitt said at a press conference.
Authorities arrested a pro-Palestinian man identified as Elias Rodriguez, 31, of Chicago, in connection with the attack, authorities said.
In response, Trump and other leaders of his administration said such attacks must cease, and those responsible will face justice.
The White House swears justice after the fatal shooting of Israeli embassy officials “reducing the evils of anti-Semitism”
Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Lynn Milgrim were shot and killed when they left the event at the Capital Jewish Museum, and photographed an unknown location in this handout released to the US by the Israeli Embassy (Israel Embassy via X/handout via Reuters)
“These horrifying DC murders, clearly based on anti-Semitism, must now be over!” Trump wrote in the Truth Social Post. “Hate and radicalism have no place in America. I express my sadness to the families of the victims. I am sad that this kind of thing can happen! God bless you!”
Levitt later told reporters he spoke with Attorney General Pam Bondy and that those who attacked him would face prosecution.
“The evil of anti-Semitism must be eradicated from our society,” Leavitt told reporters Thursday. “I spoke to the Attorney General this morning. The Department of Justice will prosecute perpetrators who are responsible for this to the fullest extent of the law. There is no hatred in the United States under President Donald Trump.”
The threat of EU tariffs
Trump threatened to slap 50% tariffs on imports from the European Union on Friday after trade negotiations have been underway and halted trade contracts with the UK
The UK deal is the first historic trade negotiations signed after the release date after Trump announced extensive tariffs across multiple countries on the rate range on April 2.
The administration later coordinated its first proposal, and announced on April 9 that it would impose a 145% tariff on Chinese products, while also reducing the mutual tariffs between other countries and EU to a 10% baseline for 90 days.
Trump is interested in securing China a trade deal ahead of Swiss negotiations
Treasury Secretary Scott Bescent later showed in an interview with Fox News that he hoped the warning would “stoke a fire under the EU” and that Trump's threats stemmed from the frustration he negotiated with European countries over trade transactions. (Mandel nkan/AFP via Getty Images)
“Their strong trade barriers, VAT taxes, outrageous corporate punishments, non-monetary trade barriers, financial operations and unfair and unfair litigation against American companies have led to a trade deficit with the United States of more than $250,000,000 a year.
“Therefore, I am recommending a 50% linear tariff on the European Union from June 1, 2025,” he said.
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Treasury Secretary Scott Bescent later showed in an interview with Fox News that he hoped the warning would “stoke a fire under the EU” and that Trump's threats stemmed from the frustration he negotiated with European countries over trade transactions.
“The EU proposal was not of the same quality as we saw from other key trading partners,” Bessent said.
Greg Norman of Fox News Digital contributed to this report.
