Welcome back to Foreign Policy’s Situation Report, where we dare anyone to start a third party to disrupt the Haltiwanger-Iyengar dichotomy. (Elon Musk is trying to do exactly that to the Democrats and Republicans, which Rishi wrote about this week.)

Alright, here’s what’s on tap for the day: Trump’s growing impatience with Putin, more uncertainty over Iran talks, and an AI Rubio prank caller. 

Welcome back to Foreign Policy’s Situation Report, where we dare anyone to start a third party to disrupt the Haltiwanger-Iyengar dichotomy. (Elon Musk is trying to do exactly that to the Democrats and Republicans, which Rishi wrote about this week.)

Alright, here’s what’s on tap for the day: Trump’s growing impatience with Putin, more uncertainty over Iran talks, and an AI Rubio prank caller. 

U.S. President Donald Trump appears to have lost patience with Russian President Vladimir Putin after months of failed efforts to secure a peace deal between Moscow and Kyiv—and as Russia continues to pummel Ukraine with massive missile and drone attacks.

In a cabinet meeting on Tuesday, Trump offered one of his sharpest rebukes of the Russian leader to date, saying, “We get a lot of bullshit thrown at us by Putin, if you want to know the truth. He’s very nice all the time, but it turns out to be meaningless.” Trump, who had what he characterized as an unproductive phone call with the Russian president last week, added that he’s “not happy” with Putin “because he’s killing a lot of people.”

On Monday, Trump said that he had approved sending more defensive weapons to Ukraine—just days after the Pentagon announced a pause on some arms deliveries to the country—and he signaled on Tuesday that he’s open to supporting a Russia sanctions bill pushed by GOP Sen. Lindsey Graham.

If Trump continues in this direction, it would represent a remarkable shift in course.

Previously, Trump frequently railed against U.S. assistance to Ukraine—and infamously lambasted Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on the matter in a heated Oval Office meeting back in February. But Trump and Zelensky are now on better terms. After meeting with Zelensky at the NATO summit in The Hague in late June, Trump said his Ukrainian counterpart “couldn’t have been nicer.”

Trump for years has also faced accusations of being far too friendly with Putin, a ruthless authoritarian who is widely regarded as a major........

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