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12:30 Report — Trump’s foreign policy whiplash week

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14.02.2025
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12:30 REPORT

Happy Valentine’s Day to all my 12:30 readers! 💘 I appreciate each and every one of you. In this edition:

  • Vance scolds Europe in his big foreign policy address.
  • Hegseth complicated Trump’s Russia-Ukraine efforts.
  • White House-AP dispute escalates.
  • Sunday: SNL’s big anniversary show, HBO’s “The White Lotus”

I’m Cate Martel with a quick recap of the morning and what’s coming up. Send tips & feedback to cmartel@thehill.com. Someone forward this to you? Sign up.

 

This has been ~Foreign Policy Whiplash Week~:

Vice President Vance rounded out the Trump administration’s whirlwind of a week in foreign policy with his first major address to the Munich Security Conference in Germany.

Let’s start from the beginning: Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, whose relative inexperience with foreign policy partly complicated his confirmation process, raised eyebrows in his first weeks on the job.

What did he say?: He said Wednesday that he does *not* believe Ukraine joining NATO is “realistic” as the Trump administration tries to negotiate an end to its war with Russia. Ukraine desperately wants to join NATO, so this would signal a major win for Russia.

He then tried to walk it back: Hegseth tried to walk back some of his comments amid global blowback. He followed up Thursday to say “everything is on the table” with regards to Russia-Ukraine negotiations.

🚨 A senior Republican senator slammed Hegseth: Republican Sen. Roger Wicker (Miss.) chided Hegseth for this comment, which he painted as a “rookie mistake.” Wicker told Politico on Friday that he was “puzzled” and “disturbed” by Hegseth’s comments.

“I don’t know who wrote the speech — it is the kind of thing Tucker Carlson could have written, and Carlson is a fool,” Wicker told Politico’s Jonathan Martin on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference. 👀

And then Vance entered the chat: Vance stepped on stage in Germany, where world leaders anxiously wanted clarity on Trump’s plan for ending the Russia-Ukraine conflict. 💻 Watch Vance’s remarks

Instead: Vance

© The Hill