US Calls Ukraine Talks Productive; Trump Teases Fed Chair Pick

On today's podcast: 1) US and Ukrainian negotiators said they had productive discussions about a framework for a peace deal, but there was no final breakthrough as President Trump continues to push for a truce with Russia. “There’s more work to be done,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters in Florida after meeting for at least four hours with Ukrainian officials led by National Security and Defense Council Secretary Rustem Umerov. “This is delicate. It’s complicated.” The meeting, which took place in Hallandale Beach, Florida, with US special envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner also in attendance, was likely the last chance for Ukraine’s negotiators to sway Witkoff before he leads a US delegation for talks in Russia this week. The two sides discussed potential parameters for a ceasefire as they pored over a 19-point proposal that emerged in Geneva last week — as well as the status of the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, the biggest in Europe, according to people familiar with the discussions. 2) US authorities believe the man suspected of fatally shooting a National Guard member and seriously wounding another in Washington, DC, was radicalized while in the US, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said. Asked on NBC’s Meet the Press about the suspect’s motive, Noem said investigators are still collecting information and talking to his contacts. Federal authorities have identified the suspect as Rahmanullah Lakanwal, 29, an Afghan national who worked with US forces and the CIA in Afghanistan before arriving in the US in 2021. He was subdued and taken into custody shortly after the shooting on a street a few blocks from the White House on Wednesday. 3) President Trump said Sunday he has decided on his pick for the next Federal Reserve chair after making clear he expects his nominee to deliver interest-rate cuts. Trump has frequently excoriated current Fed chief Jerome Powell for failing to lower rates swiftly and signaled he wants a chair who will more forcefully pursue cuts. People familiar with the matter told Bloomberg News last week that White House National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett, Trump’s chief economic adviser, is seen as the likely choice to succeed Powell. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.