National Guard troops in DC are now armed, defense official says

Earlier, Trump offered to send troops to Baltimore, Maryland.

Last Updated: August 24, 2025, 9:57 PM GMT

President Donald Trump on Sunday responded to Maryland Gov. Wes Moore's invitation to attend a public safety walk next month in Baltimore, offering to send "troops" to the city.

On Friday, Trump announced on social media that the U.S. "now fully owns and controls 10% of INTEL." Trump said he negotiated the deal with Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan.

Earlier Friday, federal agents were seen searching the Maryland residence of former Trump national security adviser turned critic John Bolton. Sources told ABC News the search was related to allegations that Bolton is in possession of classified records.

Aug 20, 2025, 2:47 AM GMT

Gabbard revokes security clearances of 37 officials, including Obama-era 2016 Russia probe veterans

Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard has revoked the security clearances of 37 current and former intelligence officials, a sweeping action that includes several who contributed to the assessment ordered by former President Barack Obama on Russian interference in the 2016 election.

The director said the intelligence professionals "abused the public trust by politicizing and manipulating intelligence, leaking classified intelligence without authorization, and/or committing intentional egregious violations of tradecraft standards."

Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard speaks during a press briefing in the Brady Briefing Room at the White House in Washington, July 23, 2025.
Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images

"Being entrusted with a security clearance is a privilege, not a right. Those in the Intelligence Community who betray their oath to the Constitution and put their own interests ahead of the interests of the American people have broken the sacred trust they promised to uphold, Gabbard said in a post.

"In doing so, they undermine our national security, the safety and security of the American people and the foundational principles of our democratic republic."

Gabbard posted the list of 37 individuals whose clearances were revoked on X.

-ABC News' Beatrice Peterson

Aug 20, 2025, 1:03 AM GMT

Trump's top general meets with European defense chiefs: Official

Gen. Dan Caine, President Donald Trump's top military adviser, met Tuesday evening in Washington with several military chiefs from Europe, according to a defense official.

The meeting came as Trump suggested there might be a kind of NATO-led peacekeeping force in Ukraine.

PHOTO: Defense Secretary Hegseth Hosts Israeli Defense Minister Katz At The Pentagon
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine attends a meeting between Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz at the Pentagon on July 18, 2025 in Arlington, Virginia.
Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

Caine's discussion with the "European Chiefs of Defence" was expected to include his counterparts from Germany, the U.K., France, Finland and Italy.

NATO military chiefs were scheduled to talk again Wednesday but via videoconference.

That online discussion will be led by Gen. Alexus Grynkewich, the top U.S. commander in Europe who serves as NATO’s senior military commander. Caine will also be in attendance.

-ABC News' Anne Flaherty

Aug 19, 2025, 11:15 PM GMT

Trump says Putin-Zelenskyy meeting 'would be better' without him

In a phone interview with the radio program The Mark Levin Show on Tuesday, President Trump indicated that he thinks a meeting between the leaders of Russia and Ukraine is the best next step in peace negotiations. But Trump said that after he'd join the men for a meeting to get a peace deal "closed."

"I had a very successful meeting with President Putin. I had a very successful meeting with President Zelenskyy. And now I thought it would be better if they met without me, just to see, I want to see what goes on," he said. "You know, they had a hard relationship, very bad, very bad relationship. And now we'll see how they do and if necessary, and it probably would be, but if necessary, I'll go and I'll probably be able to get it closed."

"I just want to see what happens at the meeting. So they're in the process of setting it up, and we're going to see what happens," he continued.

-ABC News' Michelle Stoddart

Aug 19, 2025, 6:13 PM GMT

White House says Putin promised to meet with Zelenskyy in coming weeks

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said on Tuesday that Russian President Vladimir Putin has promised to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

"I understand that the White House is working and allies are working to make this meeting happen, but did Putin promise to do a meeting with Zelenskyy, a direct meeting, in the coming weeks?" a reporter asked Leavitt.

"He has," she responded.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt holds a press briefing at the White House in Washington, August 19, 2025.
Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images

Trump wrote in a social media post on Monday that he called Putin, "and began the arrangements for a meeting, at a location to be determined, between President Putin and President Zelenskyy."

On Tuesday morning, during an interview on "Fox & Friends," Trump said he was "trying to work out a meeting."

“I called President Putin, and we're trying to work out a meeting with President Zelenskyy. We'll see what happens there. And then, if that works out, if it works out, then I'll go to the trilateral and close it up,” Trump said.

Meanwhile, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Tuesday refrained from committing to a meeting and said any possible summits between the two leaders must be "prepared with the utmost care."

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