TRUMP TO PUTIN: ‘I WANT TO END YOUR WAR’: In a phone conversation that lasted more than 90 minutes, Russian President Vladimir Putin told President Donald Trump that he’d like to help the U.S. get Iran’s enriched uranium out of the country, but Trump said he replied, “I’d much rather have you be involved with ending the war with Ukraine.”
Despite Russia’s overt support for Iran, and intelligence that suggests Moscow has provided Iran both with drone and targeting information to kill Americans, an aide to Putin said “the conversation ended on a warm note, wishing each other all the best.”
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Trump told reporters that he “suggested a little bit of a ceasefire” in Ukraine. “And I think he might do that,” he said. “Even if it’s a little ceasefire. There’s so many people being killed, it’s so ridiculous.”
The Kremlin version is that Putin, who initiated the call, “informed his American counterpart of Russia’s readiness to declare a ceasefire for the period of the Victory Day celebrations,” in Moscow’s Red Square on May 9, which has already been scaled back because of the lack of military hardware and the threat of drone attack from Ukraine.
Trump said he had “a good talk” with Putin, whom he said he’s known for “a long time,” and in response to a question suggesting the wars in Ukraine and Iran could end “on a similar timetable.”
“I want to end your war,” Trump said he told Putin. “And we had a very good conversation. I think we’re going to come up with a solution relatively quickly, I hope. I think he’d like to see a solution, I can tell you, and that’s good.”
ZELENSKY: ‘SECURITY FOR A PARADE IN MOSCOW, OR SOMETHING MORE? Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who was not consulted by Trump — and who Trump seemed to refer to as an impediment in the peace process, citing “some people” who “made it difficult for [Putin] to make a deal” — said he was seeking immediate clarification.
“I have instructed our representatives to contact the team of the President of the United States and clarify the details of Russia’s proposal for a short-term ceasefire,” Zelensky posted on X. “We will clarify what exactly this is about – a few hours of security for a parade in Moscow, or something more.”
“Ukraine seeks peace and is doing the necessary diplomatic work to bring this war to a real end,” Zelensky said. “Our proposal is a long-term ceasefire, reliable and guaranteed security for people, and a lasting peace. Ukraine is ready to work toward this in any dignified and effective format.”
According to a Kremlin readout by Putin aide Yury Ushakov, Putin told Trump that “Russian forces retain the strategic initiative and are pushing back the opposing side,” which is contrary to the current battlefield status, in which Ukraine has stopped all Russian advances with its impregnable “drone wall” while inflicting devastating casualties in Russian ground forces.
“Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump expressed broadly similar views on the behavior of the Kyiv regime led by Zelensky, which, incited and supported by Europeans, is pursuing a course aimed at prolonging the conflict,” Ushakov said, and reiterated that Ukraine must accept all of Russia’s demands.
Trump seemed to accept Putin’s exaggerated claims of battlefield success. “I think Ukraine, militarily, they’re defeated,” Trump said. “Remember, you wouldn’t know that by reading the fake news.”
ANOTHER GIFT TO PUTIN: No sooner did he get off the Putin call than Trump posted on Truth Social that he was considering another move that was sure to please the Russian leader.
“The United States is studying and reviewing the possible reduction of Troops in Germany, with a determination to be made over the next short period of time,” Trump posted.
It’s a move that Trump ordered during his first term, when he was feuding with then-Chancellor Angela Merkel, but was unable to complete before he left office. Now, Trump is fuming about recent comments from German Chancellor Friedrich Merz that the U.S. is being “humiliated” by Iranian leaders.
“Merz, thinks it’s OK for Iran to have a Nuclear Weapon. He doesn’t know what he’s talking about! If Iran had a Nuclear Weapon, the whole World would be held hostage,” Trump said in a Truth Social post Tuesday. “ I am doing something with Iran, right now, that other Nations, or Presidents, should have done long ago. No wonder Germany is doing so poorly, both Economically, and otherwise!”
“We are shooting ourselves in our own feet,” Rep. Don Bacon (R-NE), a retired Air Force brigadier general, posted on X. “The continued attacks on NATO allies are counterproductive. The comments hurt Americans. I commanded the huge Ramstein AB in Germany. The two big airfields in Germany give us great access in three continents.”
GERMAN CHANCELLOR SAYS US IS BEING ‘HUMILIATED’ BY IRAN
Good Thursday morning and welcome to Jamie McIntyre’s Daily on Defense, written and compiled by Washington Examiner National Security Senior Writer Jamie McIntyre (@jamiejmcintyre) and edited by Christopher Tremoglie. Email here with tips, suggestions, calendar items, and anything else. Sign up or read current and back issues at DailyonDefense.com.
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HAPPENING TODAY: Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Dan Caine, and acting Pentagon Comptroller Jules Hurst are back on Capitol Hill today, this time testifying before the Senate Armed Services Committee at 11 a.m.
HEGSETH STORMS THE HILL: Combative “War” Secretary Pete Hegseth’s “suffer no fools, take no prisoners” pugilistic persona was on full display at his appearance Wednesday before the House Armed Services Committee. Before lawmakers had a chance to ask their first questions about the administration’s $1.5 trillion budget request or the war in Iran, Hegseth fired a preemptive opening shot across their bow.
“The biggest challenge, the biggest adversary we face at this point are the reckless, feckless, and defeatist words of congressional Democrats and some Republicans,” Hegseth said, holding up two fingers. “Two months in, I remind you, two months into a conflict, lest I remind you, and my generation understands how long we were in Iraq, how long we were in Afghanistan, how long we were in Vietnam.”
From there, the hearing turned into a verbal slugfest, with Democrats grilling Hegseth. Here are some highlights:
SMITH ON ‘IMMINENT THREAT’: One of the most spirited exchanges was between Hegseth and Rep. Adam Smith (D-WA), the top Democrat on the Committee, who questioned how Iran could present an imminent threat if its nuclear program had been obliterated by Operation Midnight Hammer last summer.
HEGSETH: Their nuclear facilities have been obliterated, underground. They’re buried, and we’re watching them 24/7.
SMITH: Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.
HEGSETH: So we know where any nuclear material might be. We’re watching that.
SMITH: We had to start this war, you just said, 60 days ago because the nuclear weapon was an imminent threat. Now you’re saying that it was completely obliterated?
HEGSETH: They had not given up their nuclear ambitions, and they had a conventional shield of thousands of [missiles].
SMITH: Well, Operation Midnight Hammer accomplished nothing of substance. It left us in exactly the same place we were before.
HEGSETH: Their facilities were bombed and obliterated. Their ambitions continued. And they’re building a conventional shield.
RYAN ON KUWAIT CASUALTIES: Rep. Pat Ryan (D-NY) drilled down on the attack early that killed six service members working out of a makeshift office space in Kuwait’s port city of Shuaiba, and at one point accused Hegseth of suggesting survivors of the attack were lying about the lack of drone defenses.
RYAN: Internal analysis had said the site was indefensible from aerial attack and should not be used. Yet you sent our soldiers from the 103rd Sustainment Command there anyway. Is that true or false? True or false? Straightforward question.
HEGSETH: Are you going to give me a chance to answer or just play “Gotcha”?
RYAN: Did you send them there or not?
HEGSETH: I always — we have — we took proactive measures from the beginning to ensure force protection and defensive posture were maximized across the theater.
RYAN: Prior to the attack, officers on the ground knew our troops were vulnerable. In fact, they requested additional force protection. Did they receive it?
HEGSETH: Wherever humanly possible, force protection and counter-UAS was always made available.
RYAN: They did not. I’ll save you the time. They did not. … So let’s be clear: No counter-drone capabilities, no counter-rocket systems, no counter-mortar or counter-artillery, not even the basic overhead protection that you and I had 20 years ago in Iraq, and now six of our soldiers are dead.
HEGSETH: What I’m saying is before the commencement of the conflict, we put in the maximum defensive posture we could.
HEGSETH AND VETERAN DEMOCRATS CLASH OVER DEADLY IRAN ATTACK IN KUWAIT
HEGSETH CALLS QUAGMIRE TALK ‘RECKLESS PROPAGANDA’: At one point in the hearing, Rep. John Garamendi (D-CA) made a lengthy statement, which ended with the comment, “The president has got himself and America stuck in the quagmire of another war in the Middle East. He’s desperately trying to extricate himself from his own mistakes.”
Later, Hegseth had a chance to respond, and he was livid. “Congressman, you should know better. Shame on you, calling this a quagmire two months in. The effort, what they’ve undertaken, what they’ve succeeded, the success on the battlefield that creates strategic opportunities, the courage of a President to confront a nuclear Iran, and you call it a quagmire, handing propaganda to our enemies?“
“My generation served in a quagmire in Iraq and Afghanistan, years and years of nebulous missions and utopian nation-building that led us to nothing,” he said. “I hope you appreciate how reckless it is. When I said reckless, feckless, and defeatist of congressional Democrats at the beginning, that came after watching you say the same thing on CNN this morning, a quagmire.”
DEFENSE HEGSETH RIPS INTO DEMOCRAT FOR CALLING IRAN WAR A ‘QUAGMIRE’
THE RUNDOWN:
Washington Examiner: Pentagon reveals total cost of Iran war is $25 billion so far
Washington Examiner: Hegseth and Caine’s first public hearing on Iran war dominated by partisan clashes
Washington Examiner: Hegseth and veteran Democrats clash over deadly Iran attack in Kuwait
Washington Examiner: Defense Hegseth rips into Democrat for calling Iran war a ‘quagmire’
Washington Examiner: Brent crude tops $125 a barrel on Iran war worries, while world stocks retreat
Washington Examiner: Gas prices: New 2026 high set nine days after energy secretary said prices ‘likely peaked’
Washington Examiner: Nancy Mace uses her time in Hegseth hearing to accuse Cory Mills of stolen valor
Washington Examiner: National security experts urge Trump to demand that Xi release religious prisoners during China summit
Washington Examiner: House GOP advances $70 billion in ICE and CBP funding via reconciliation
Washington Examiner: Trump orders Netanyahu to take only ‘surgical’ military action in Lebanon
Washington Examiner: Iranian speaker mocks ‘junk’ Trump claim oil wells would explode after three days
Washington Examiner: Prosecutors drop reference to injured Secret Service agent in latest filing amid confusion over Trump assassination case
Washington Examiner: Cole Allen took mirror selfie with weapons before hotel shooting
Washington Examiner: Members of heretical Muslim cult arrested in UK accused of sex offenses, forced marriage, and slavery
Washington Examiner: Opinion: Trump’s National Security Strategy comes to the Philippines
Wall Street Journal: As Hormuz Traffic Stalls, U.S. Pitches New Coalition to Get Ships Moving Again
Washington Post: US Aircraft Carrier to Leave Mideast, Reducing Military Might amid Iran War
DefenseScoop: Hegseth: Autonomous Warfare Sub-Unified Command Coming Soon
Air & Space Forces Magazine: Air Force’s 5-Year Plan: $12B to Buy Nearly 28,000 Cheap Cruise Missiles
The War Zone: First USMC MQ-58 Valkyrie CCA Drones to Arrive in 2029
Air & Space Forces Magazine: Air Force Requests 1.1M Flying Hours in 2027 but Says Pilots Need More
Breaking Defense: SPACECOM’s FY27 Spending Boost Wish List? Empty.
Air & Space Forces Magazine: USSF Budget Offers First Glimpse at Plans for ‘Space Data Network’
Breaking Defense: Space Force Awards First Contracts for Satellite Threat Warning Radar Payloads
Defense One: Meet the 3-Star Insiders Say Will Be Space Force’s Next Top Leader
THE CALENDAR:
THURSDAY | APRIL 30
9:30 a.m. 2358-C Rayburn — House Appropriations Defense Subcommittee hearing: “Budget Hearing – The U.S. Air Force and Space Force,” with testimony from Air Force Secretary Troy Meink; Space Force Gen. B. Chance Saltzman, chief of space operations; and Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Kenneth Wilsbach http://appropriations.house.gov
12 p.m. — Association of the United States Army virtual discussion: “Once a Soldier, Always a Soldier: How Soldier for Life Builds Lifelong Readiness,” with Lt. Cmdr. Ray Wilson, regional director of Soldier for Life; Master Sgt. Nicholas Vargas, senior enlisted adviser for Soldiers for Life; and retired Command Sgt. Maj. Robert Abernethy, senior director of AUSA Non-Commissioned Officer and Soldier Programs https://ausa.org/events/noon-report/soldier-for-life
1 p.m. 1201 Pennsylvania Ave. NW — Hudson Institute discussion: “U.S.-Israel Technology and Security,” with Rep. Ronny Jackson (R-TX); and Joel Rayburn, senior fellow, Center for Peace and Security in the Middle East https://www.hudson.org/events/sustaining-edge-conversation
3 p.m. 1789 Massachusetts Ave. NW — American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research book discussion: Korean Messiah: Kim Il Sung and the Christian Roots of North Korea’s Personality Cult,” with author Jonathan Cheng, Wall Street Journal China bureau chief https://www.aei.org/events/korean-messiah-the-religious-and-ideological-roots-of-north-koreas
FRIDAY | MAY 1
9:30 a.m. — Center for Strategic and International Studies virtual discussion: “The Case for a Cold Peace with North Korea,” with former U.S. Ambassador to South Korea Mark Lippert, CSIS non-resident senior adviser and CSIS Korea chair; Robert Gallucci, professor, practice of diplomacy at Georgetown University; Anthony Ruggiero, senior fellow in the Brookings Institution Strobe Talbott Center for Security, Strategy and Technology; and Victor Cha, president of the CSIS Geopolitics and Foreign Policy Department and CSIS Korea chair https://www.csis.org/events/case-cold-peace-north-korea
5 p.m. Sedona, Ariz.— McCain Institute 2026 Sedona Forum: “Challenges to American Dominance” https://www.mccaininstitute.org/resources/events/the-sedona-forum-2026/
2:30 p.m. 1616 Rhode Island Ave. NW — Center for Strategic and International Studies and the Association of the U.S. Army discussion: “Strategic Landpower Dialogue,” with Maj. Gen. Lars Lervik, chair, Norwegian Army; and Tom Karako, director, CSIS Missile Defense Project and senior fellow in the CSIS Defense and Security Project https://www.csis.org/events/strategic-landpower-dialogue-conversation
3 p.m. 1201 South Joyce St. — Air & Space Forces Association event: “Salute to Space: The Legacy of General Bernard Schriever,” with Brig. Gen. Christopher Fernengel, director of plans and programs at the Space Force; retired Gen. David Thompson, former vice chief of space operations at the Space Force; retired Air Force Maj. Gen. Thomas “Tav” Taverny, chairman of the Board of the Schriever Chapter; and Master Sgt. Brett Schriever, great-grandson of Air Force Gen. Bernard Schriever
Register at https://www.afa.org/salute-to-space
Livestream at https://www.youtube.com/c/AirSpaceForcesAssociation
TUESDAY | MAY 12
1:30 p.m. — Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies Schriever Spacepower Series with Gen Stephen Whiting, commander, U.S. Space Command https://afa-org.zoom.us/webinar/register
THURSDAY | MAY 14
10 a.m. G-50 Dirksen — Senate Armed Services Committee hearing: “The posture of the U.S. Central Command and U.S. Africa Command in review of the Defense Authorization Request for FY2027 and the Future Years Defense Program,” with testimony from Adm. Brad Cooper, commander, U.S. Central Command; and Air Force Gen. Dagvin Anderson, commander, U.S. Africa Command http://www.armed-services.senate.gov
