Trump Pushing For Summit With Putin & Zelensky Next Friday

President Trump has stated in the wake of the historic Alaska summit that he and Russian President Vladimir Putin had a productive meeting, but they were unable to reach an agreement on a ceasefire or peace deal for Ukraine. "We didn't get there" on a ceasefire, Trump described. And yet there appears to be real momentum this time, coming out of Alaska.

Ukrainian President Zelensky is meanwhile set to arrive in Washington Monday to discuss peace in the Oval Office. Of course, talks didn't go so well last time - and there's likely to be persisting tensions - given that the conflict, as explained by Putin on Friday, would never have happened if Trump had been president, something which Trump himself has long asserted.

Trump had told European leaders in a post-summit call that he's now seeking a trilateral summit with Putin and Zelensky as soon as next Friday, according to sources in Axios. "I think the meeting was a 10,” Trump said in a post-summit interview with Fox News. "In the sense, we got along great, and it’s good when two big powers get along, especially when they’re nuclear powers. We’re No. 1 and they’re No. 2 in the world."

Trump speaks by phone with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky aboard Air Force One on Saturday. Official WH photo

And yet Putin's firm conditions make such a trilateral summit unlikely at such a near date - also given the Russian president has in the recent past made clear he would only meet with Zelensky if the two were ready to sign a deal, or essentially already at the goal line.

The Kremlin has still maintained that Zelensky doesn't have legal legitimacy, given the cancelation of elections in Ukraine and extension far past his term expiration.

According to more from Axios, this is where things stand in terms of Putin's demands, based on admin sources:

• They said Putin had demanded that Ukraine cede two of the four regions to which Russia has laid claim (Donetsk and Luhansk), and freeze the front lines in the other two (Kherson and Zaporizhzhia). Russia controls nearly all of Luhansk, but only about three-quarters of Donetsk.
• Putin presented his willingness to stop pushing forward in Kherson and Zaporizhzhia as a concession, in exchange for Ukraine withdrawing from Donetsk, one source briefed on the call said. In reality, Russia hasn't made any progress in those areas for some time.
• A Ukrainian source said the U.S. side had the impression Putin was willing to negotiate over the small slivers of the Sumy and Kharkiv regions under Russian control.

If it is accurate that Putin is only demanding full political recognition for the Russian Federation over just two of the territories, this suggests Moscow is willing to make compromise - or at least have substantial top level discussions - to end the war, thought Western pundits are still calling these 'maximalist' demands. The hawks certainly don't want to entertain this.

That real negotiations involving Putin, Trump, and Zelensky are opening up based on these aggressive White House diplomatic moves is a very positive development toward final settlement - though plenty of immense hurdles remain.

For staters, with Zelensky headed back to D.C., his European backers are doing everything to ensure it is only Ukraine's maximum demands which are recognized.

Rules-Based International Order: One set of rules for me, another set of rules for you pic.twitter.com/cTwp8TzVnJ

— Glenn Diesen (@Glenn_Diesen) August 17, 2025

The popular X commentator Russian Markets points out the "Germans are in panic as Zelensky goes alone to meet Trump, so all the EU leaders together with NATO’s chief are preparing to answer the questions Trump will put to Zelensky. So, do you see who is truly at war with Russia?"

As it stands, Zelensky has repeatedly assured his population and allies that Ukraine won't cede an inch of territory, and he's still not even offered political recognition of Crimea as Russia's.

What Russia could permanently come away with if a final settlement is reached on the Kremlin's terms.

Institute for the Study of War

So a lot will be known by Monday after Zelensky's Oval Office visit - given he's going to have to bring some compromise to the table which is substantial, if there are hopes of finally ending the war. The question also remains: is Trump ready to exert the necessary pressure, and also push back against the hawks in Europe and in Congress?

Tyler Durden Sun, 08/17/2025 - 15:45

Health Care System To Pay More Than $1 Million To Settle COVID-19 Vaccine Mandate Case

Authored by Zachary Stieber via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

A health care system that operates hospitals and clinics in two states has agreed to pay more than $1 million to settle allegations it discriminated against religious employees.

A COVID-19 vaccine is administered in Illinois on Sept. 9, 2022. Scott Olson/Getty Images

Mercyhealth, which operates in Illinois and Wisconsin, reached the settlement after years of pre-litigation negotiations, following an investigation by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC).

The probe found evidence that Mercyhealth engaged in discrimination by denying employees religious exemptions to its COVID-19 vaccine mandate.

Mercyhealth also fired the workers, or lowered their wages, and discriminated against other workers by denying them a chance to even request religious accommodation, instead terminating them or withholding pay, according to the EEOC.

“At the start of my tenure as acting chair of the EEOC, I committed to focusing our agency’s resources to address the very real problem of religious discrimination, and this resolution is just the beginning,” EEOC Acting Chair Andrea Lucas said in a statement. “This is an example of what our agency can accomplish when we work with employers to ensure that the doors of our workplaces are equally open to religious employees.”

If a settlement was not reached, then Mercyhealth could have faced lawsuits alleging violations of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The law states in part that an employer cannot “fail or refuse to hire or to discharge any individual, or otherwise to discriminate against any individual with respect to his compensation, terms, conditions, or privileges of employment, because of such individual’s race, color, religion, sex, or national origin.”

The settlement features back pay and damages to the workers and former workers who were affected. Mercyhealth has also agreed to re-distribute its policies, train personnel on how to handle religious accommodation requests, and report to the EEOC about the requests and decisions on system-wide vaccination programs.

A Mercyhealth spokesperson confirmed that a settlement was reached.

“Mercyhealth respects the religious beliefs and practices of its employees,” Kara Sankey, vice president of clinical operations and chief nursing officer for Mercyhealth, told The Epoch Times in an emailed statement

Sankey said that the health system had lots of work to do during the COVID-19 pandemic, “while doing its best to protect the health and safety of its patients and employees and complying with federal rules requiring all hospital staff receive vaccinations.”

She added: “The balancing of these critical goals could not be achieved without the dedication of our doctors and staff in times of significant personal risk, and Mercyhealth appreciates the work and assistance of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in resolving these remaining disputes. The process permits Mercyhealth to demonstrate its long-held commitment to employee rights and to close another chapter in its work during the pandemic.”

Tyler Durden Sun, 08/17/2025 - 15:10

Sam Altman Quietly Taps Top Democrat Operatives To Help ChatGPT Plot For-Profit

In his quest to see ChatGPT dominate the LLM race, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman is tapping veteran Democrat operatives "who are well-connected to the Democratic establishment" to grease the gears with California politicians in his quest to restructure and eventually go public, Politico reports.

Left to right: Debbie Mesloh, Chris Lehane, Brian Brokaw, Ronnie Chatterji, Marisa Moret, Sam Altman, Ann O'Leary, Daniel Zingale, Peter Ragone, Laphonza Butler | Illustration by Claudine Hellmuth/POLITICO (source images via Francis Chung/POLITICO, Drew Altizer Photography, Linkedin, Rob Bennett/Office of Mayor de Blasio, Duke University, Georgetown University, San Francisco Bar, U.S. Senate) via Politico

The political insiders include "Bill Clinton’s former spin doctor Chris Lehane to Kamala Harris’ one-time bestie Debbie Mesloh and ex-Sen. Laphonza Butler," who OpenAI has quietly hired to effectively lobby for the company. 

It’s a notable deviation at a time when much of Silicon Valley is more focused on staffing up to chase influence in Republican-controlled Washington. And it’s among the most aggressive pushes to date from a tech company into Sacramento and other corridors of power in a state that birthed the industry, yet where firms had long been reluctant to engage directly at the levels of other major sectors.

According to the report, OpenAI sees California as vital for its global ambitions - as well as a planned corporate makeover that California's Attorney General can shut down. 

"Since the stakes are so high here for their profit, they’re willing to spend what it takes to get their way with the California attorney general," said Orson Aguilar, president of the nonprofit LatinoProsperity and prominent critic of OpenAI’s business transformation plans within the state, adding "They’re bringing in some very big guns to make their case."

At the heart of their campaign is OpenAI’s bid to change its business model, which is facing a lawsuit from Musk — the company’s co-founder turned rival — as well as an investigation by California Attorney General Rob Bonta. Central to the approach is sniffing out any potential whiff of Musk — a divisive figure to Californians and the omnipresent boogeyman in OpenAI’s righteous, dare they contend, underdog quest — when new criticisms arise, POLITICO’s reporting shows. -Politico

OpenAI was founded as a nonprofit - with the stated goal of ensuring human-like AI benefits all of humanity, while Altman and crew now believe that the only way to keep up with the industry's explosive (and profitable) growth, is to restructure - a move which requires permission from Democrat regulators. To that end, Altman's new fleet of Democrat lobbyists are messaging that the company can still be a force for good, while batting away accusations from critics who argue that OpenAI has put profit over mission. 

As leverage, OpenAI has hinted that if they don't get their way they'll simply leave the state. 

"That’s a question that folks should be thinking about because I do think that we want to be here," said OpenAI's chief global affairs officer, Chris Lehane. "So I’m hoping folks make the right decision."

Politico interviewed two dozen people who have worked with OpenAI or its new political hires, as well as those who have demanded answers from the company's controversial business moves. The outlet found that recent recruits have 'drawn on tactics from the  campaign trail and from warding off political scandals,' including raising doubts about critics, and roping in minority activists - such as Dolores Huerta, who co-founded the United Farm Workers with César Chávez. 

The Operatives

Chris Lehane

Lehane, known in Democratic circles as the “master of disaster,” built his reputation in the Clinton White House managing crises like the Monica Lewinsky scandal and later served as Al Gore’s press secretary. He went on to run billionaire Tom Steyer’s political operations before moving into tech at Airbnb in 2015.

Lehane popularized the phrase “vast right-wing conspiracy” when defending the Clintons. It referred to how the internet age has allowed fringe theories to pass up to the masses, but was often used by the politicians he represented to cast themselves as the victim of a shadowy cabal. -Politico

Now leading OpenAI’s political strategy, Lehane has modeled its global affairs team on a campaign operation, dividing staff into communications, policy, and field roles. His approach emphasizes shaping a public narrative alongside substantive policy.

Peter Ragone

Ragone has long-running ties to Gavin Newsom, stretching back to his San Francisco mayor days. An experienced Democratic Party operative, he’s spent time in the office of former New York Mayor Bill de Blasio and has informally advised Newsom as governor.

A longtime ally of Lehane from the 1990s, Ragone is a political operative with deep ties to Gavin Newsom and Bill de Blasio. He worked damage control during de Blasio’s clash with the NYPD after the 2014 officer killings, and earlier helped Newsom weather scandal over an affair. Ragone also advised billionaire Rick Caruso’s failed LA mayoral run and is close to Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis. His interest in tech policy predates his work at OpenAI, where he now applies his political relationship-mapping skills.

Marisa Moret

Moret, formerly chief of staff to San Francisco’s city attorney when Kamala Harris was DA, has long worked alongside Lehane. She served as his deputy at Airbnb and now reprises that role at OpenAI. Her legal and political background complements Lehane’s campaign-style strategy, making her a key lieutenant in navigating both regulatory and reputational challenges.

Ann O’Leary

O’Leary, Newsom’s first chief of staff and co-director of Hillary Clinton’s 2016 transition, now works as an attorney at Jenner & Block. She is central to OpenAI’s legal defense in probes led by California AG Rob Bonta and Delaware AG Kathleen Jennings. Her role involves both regulatory navigation and opposition research, including drawing comparisons between OpenAI’s critics and Elon Musk.

Brian Brokaw & Dan Newman

Brian Brokmaw

This duo of consultants, both Newsom veterans, bring campaign and PR expertise to OpenAI. They’ve advised on controversial initiatives like the California Forever tech city project, and maintain ties with political heavyweights from Bonta to San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie. They also managed fundraising for Lurie’s successful mayoral bid. At OpenAI, they shape public messaging and help manage political headwinds around AI regulation and corporate scrutiny.

Laphonza Butler

Personally appointed by Newsom to replace the late Sen. Dianne Feinstein, Butler is a seasoned labor leader and political strategist. She previously advised Kamala Harris and consulted for firms like Uber and Airbnb, overlapping with Lehane and Moret. Now advising OpenAI, Butler brings her labor background, political connections, and campaign experience into the company’s growing political operation.

Debbie Mesloh

A longtime friend and political consultant to Kamala Harris from her San Francisco DA days, Mesloh is helping OpenAI navigate critics of its restructuring plans. She has engaged civic groups and, alongside Moret, previewed restructuring panels to community leaders, working to soften opposition and build support for OpenAI’s moves.

The Plan & The Opposition

According to the report, Lehane - who made waves teaching Silicon Valley how to play politics - will have to dance around the company's nonprofit status. 

Lehane will tell you OpenAI wants to share its riches with California and grow there. Part of his mission is to lay out the stakes for the world’s fourth-largest economy if it leaves. He recently wrote directly to Newsom in a letter first reported by POLITICO, petitioning the state to change course on AI regulations or risk losing its place as the home of innovation.

OpenAI has heard pitches from state leaders across the U.S. looking to lure it away. Companies like Oracle and Musk’s Tesla, SpaceX and X Corp. have moved their headquarters to Texas while retaining a California presence. -Politico

He faces fierce opposition from none other than Elon Musk, along with respected California-based charities, a group of the company's former employees, leading academics, Nobel laureates, and others - all of whom are lining up against the restructuring - and have cited concerns that OpenAI's new corporate structure will put financial interests away from the company's charitable mission, which began in 2015 when the company was founded by a nonprofit by a group, including Musk, who believed that this was the most responsible way to deploy such powerful technology. 

OpenAI originally set out last year to convert into a for-profit organization, but changed course in May amid scrutiny from state officials. The updated plan — to turn its for-profit arm into a public benefit corporation that the nonprofit controls as a stakeholder — is turning out to be no quick feat either and still requires the blessing of the attorneys general in both California and Delaware, not to mention key investor Microsoft.

Changing the structure of its for-profit arm would also eliminate the current capped-profit model. -Politico

Meanwhile, OpenAI has until the end of the year if they want $20 billion dangled by SoftBank - which set the deadline, however California decisionmakers don't seem to be in a huge rush - with Bonta having hired outside help to go through OpenAI's financials for his investigation. Bonta's office has met with OpenAI execs, including hief Strategy Officer Jason Kwon, head of U.S. and Canada policy Chan Park, deputy general counsel Che Chang and associate general counsel Nora Puckett, Politico continues.

OpenAI claims that the meeting was unrelated to the restructuring and said nothing further. 

Listening Tour?

As part of the lobbying strategy, OpenAI has been on a 'listening tour' to give people the impression they'll still be responsible stewards of AI technology - with Lehane waxing poetic over listening to the other side.

"You can’t just be against everything," he once told the AirBnB board. "You have to be for something."

To this end, OpenAI earlier this year formed an advisory commission which includes former Newsom adviser Daniel Zingale - who has been crisscrossing California to hold meetings with different community groups to 'listen' (and gin up support). 

According to Politico, Lehane tapping Zingale (who is not an official employee) to chart a path forward for a multibillion-dollar nonprofit is just one more method to shift the public narrative in his favor. 

Read the rest here...

Tyler Durden Sun, 08/17/2025 - 14:35

Trump Says He Will Push For Release Of Pro-Democracy Hong Kong Media Tycoon Jimmy Lai

Authored by Bill Pan via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

President Donald Trump has said he would do what he can to help secure the release of Hong Kong media tycoon Jimmy Lai, who has been imprisoned since late 2020 for his role in the city’s pro-democracy protests.

A prison van believed to be carrying Jimmy Lai arrives at the West Kowloon Magistrates' Courts building, where the founder of the now-defunct pro-democracy newspaper Apple Daily is set to take the witness stand for the first time in his national security collusion trial, in Hong Kong on Nov. 20, 2024. Tyrone Siu/Reuters

Speaking on Aug. 14 on Fox News Radio’s “The Brian Kilmeade Show,” Trump said he had urged China to free Lai during his previous administration and is willing to raise the issue again, should he meet with Chinese leader Xi Jinping in the future.

“I’m going to be bringing it up—I’ve already brought it up—and I’m going to do everything I can to save him,” Trump said, calling the self-made millionaire a “respected guy” and a “good guy.”

Lai, 77, was arrested in August 2020 in the aftermath of mass protests against Hong Kong’s national security law, widely seen as the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP’s) attempt to clamp down on dissent and erode the city’s autonomy.

Lai is the founder of Apple Daily, a now-defunct tabloid newspaper long known for sensational headlines and paparazzi photographs. Yet during the height of Hong Kong’s pro-democracy protests, when many legacy outlets in Hong Kong amplified the CCP’s narrative, Apple Daily stood out as a rare voice openly critical of Beijing’s agenda and outspoken in its solidarity with the protesters. The company was forced to shut down in June 2021, after the authorities raided its headquarters, froze its assets, and arrested its senior editors.

Since his arrest, Lai has been charged with multiple offenses under the national security law, including conspiracy to “collude with foreign forces,” which could land him in prison for life. He also faces a charge under a colonial-era statute for conspiracy to publish “seditious material,” stemming from numerous Apple Daily op-eds carrying his byline.

Lai has pleaded not guilty to all charges.

Lai’s trial on alleged national security offences has been repeatedly delayed. It was set to resume in Hong Kong later this month, but was postponed again because of his health condition.

On Aug. 14, a panel of three Hong Kong judges adjourned the proceedings to allow time for prison authorities to outfit Lai with a heart monitor and provide medication. This came after his lawyer reported he had suffered heart palpitations.

Trump, whose July 2020 order ended the United States’ historical policy of treating Hong Kong as a separate entity from China, acknowledged that the topic would be sensitive for Xi.

“You could also understand [Chinese leader] Xi would not be exactly thrilled by doing it,” he said on “The Brian Kilmeade Show.”

“It was a very nasty period of time in the history of China. I mean, it was a really nasty period of time with all of that being said.

“We'll see what we can do ... we’re going to do everything we can.”

Liu Pengyu, spokesperson for the Chinese Embassy in Washington, accused Lai of having been “a key orchestrator and participant in anti-China, destabilizing activities in Hong Kong.”

Lai has long rejected accusations of advocating separatism.

The British rule of Hong Kong, lasting from 1841 to 1997, holds a unique place in the so-called century of humiliation narrative the CCP forged to justify its authority. After the handover, the city retained significant autonomy and freedoms, but over the decades, Beijing has steadily encroached on those rights, portraying dissenters as separatists allegedly backed by “foreign forces.”

Tyler Durden Sun, 08/17/2025 - 14:00