Live updates: Trump pledges weapons for Ukraine and threatens secondary tariffs on Russia

Updated July 14, 2025, 8:50 AM PDT

By NBC News
What to know today

• UKRAINE MISSILES: President Donald Trump announced during a meeting with NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte that the U.S. will send Patriot missiles to Ukraine to help it defend itself against Russian attacks. He also threatened to impose severe secondary tariffs on Russia if the two sides fail to reach an agreement to end the war.
• E.U. TARIFFS: The European Union's trade commissioner said the bloc is considering retaliatory tariffs in response to Trump's warning of a 30% duty on goods from Europe starting next month if the nations don't come to a trade agreement with the United States.
• WHITE HOUSE DEFENDS DOJ: The White House said in a statement that top Justice Department officials are working "in lockstep" following reports that Attorney General Pam Bondi and Deputy FBI Director Dan Bongino clashed over the department's handling of files related to Jeffrey Epstein.

Trump says Putin talks are 'pleasant' but meaningless

Megan Lebowitz
Trump told reporters at the White House that he has had friendly conversations with Russian President Vladimir Putin but has become frustrated that Russia continued to attack Ukraine.
"I speak to him a lot about getting this thing done, and I always hang up say, 'Well, that was a nice phone call,'" Trump said. "And then missiles launched into Kyiv or some other city, and I said, 'strange.'"
"And after that happens three or four times, you say, 'The talk doesn't mean anything,'" Trump added, going on to note that his conversations with Putin are "always very pleasant."

Fed chair asks inspector general to review costs associated with HQ renovation

Steve Kopack
Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell has asked the independent inspector general who oversees the central bank to review the costs of the Fed's ongoing Washington, D.C., headquarters renovation project and any other related matters that the inspector general deems appropriate, a person familiar with the matter tells NBC News.
In recent days, Trump and his top officials have seized on the long-running renovation as an example of what they say is Powell's "mismanagement of the Federal Reserve System."
Even as it appears that the administration could be laying the groundwork to fire Powell "for cause," Trump has said he does not plan to fire the Fed chief. Nonetheless, the administration's attacks against Powell continued through the weekend.

Trump says he's 'not sure' U.S. needs Russia sanctions bill, though 'it could be very useful'

Trump addressed a bill being considered in Congress that, if passed, could lead to steeper sanctions on Russia.
"I'm not sure we need it, but it's good that they're doing it," he said. He added a moment later that he didn't want to say lawmakers "don't need it, because I don't want them to waste their time."
"It could be very useful, we'll have to see," Trump said.
The president added that Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., "is coming over later on to talk."
The Senate isn’t expected to vote on the sanctions until next week.

White House praises DOJ, FBI leadership amid Epstein furor

Kelly O'Donnell and Dareh Gregorian
The White House issued a public statement of support today for the Justice Department and FBI leadership that has been ripped over its handling of the "Epstein files."
“President Trump has assembled an incredible team of Law and Order patriots," the statement by spokesperson Harrison Fields said, name checking Attorney General Pam Bondi, FBI Director Kash Patel, Deputy Director Dan Bongino "and the countless other heroes of our law enforcement community" who are "dedicated to executing President Trump’s agenda of protecting civil rights, safeguarding communities, holding criminals accountable, and defending victims."
"This work will continue in lockstep and with unprecedented success,” the statement said.

Trump says he's sending weapons to Ukraine through NATO and threatens secondary tariffs on Russia if no ceasefire deal

Megan Lebowitz
Trump said the U.S. will send weapons to Ukraine through NATO, which will pay for and distribute them, and threatened secondary tariffs targeting Russia if a ceasefire deal isn't reached.
"We're going to be doing secondary tariffs if we don't have a deal in 50 days," Trump said. "It's very simple, and they'll be at 100%."
Secondary tariffs are on countries that do business with the targeted country.01:37

European leaders call U.S. tariff threat 'unacceptable'

Steve Kopack and Megan Lebowitz
The foreign minister of Denmark said that member states found Trump's threat to hit European imports with 30% sanctions "absolutely unacceptable and unjustified."
"The E.U. remains ready to react, and that includes robust and proportionate countermeasures if required," Lars Rasmussen said, adding later that Europe does "not want a trade war" with the U.S.
“The clear impression was that we were very, very close in agreement in principle," he said. "Unfortunately, it wasn’t possible due to this presidential letter, but it is still our major vision that we should reach an agreement, but we also want to send it here signal that it must be a fair deal for everybody.”
Maros Šefčovič, European Commission trade chief, also called the 30% rate "absolutely unacceptable," arguing that the level "is absolutely prohibitive to any trade."
Šefčovič said that the European Council would share a list of potential retaliatory tariffs with members.

The Democratic Party’s fight over generational change flares in Arizona

Alexandra Marquez and Alex Tabet
It’s hot election summer — at least according to young Democrats who are organizing behind youthful and progressive candidates in a series of off-year, summertime primaries.
First was Zohran Mamdani, the 33-year-old state legislator who won New York’s Democratic mayoral primary over former Gov. Andrew Cuomo. Now, a special election for a vacant congressional seat in southern Arizona is grabbing attention in part because of a young Democrat’s campaign.

Tucker Carlson leads MAGA’s worried warriors in questioning Trump

Allan Smith
As Trump weighed U.S. involvement in the conflict between Israel and Iran last month, some influential members of his online MAGA army began to question what he was doing.
But few were prominent enough to face a direct response from the president.
“Somebody please explain to kooky Tucker Carlson that, ‘IRAN CAN NOT HAVE A NUCLEAR WEAPON!’” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.
“I don’t know what Tucker Carlson is saying,” Trump said in response to a reporter’s question at the Group of Seven summit the same day. “Let him go get a television network and say it so that people listen.”
In the course of a few weeks, Trump has faced a surprising level of pushback from prominent supporters as he moved to strike nuclear facilities in Iran, floated a new policy to allow undocumented farmworkers to remain in the United States and castigated allies for demanding more information related to the late financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Even in that environment, Carlson, regarded as a MAGA standard-bearer, stood out.

Immigrants in overcapacity ICE detention say they’re hungry, raise food quality concerns

Didi Martinez, Julia Ainsley and Laura Strickler
Immigrants being held in Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention centers in at least seven states are complaining of hunger, food shortages and spoiled food, detainees and immigration advocates say. They say some detainees have gotten sick; others say they have lost weight. In one facility, an incident involving detainees reportedly broke out in part because of food.
The food problems come amid overcrowding at ICE facilities tied to the Trump administration’s push to quickly ramp up immigration arrests. While capacity data isn’t publicly available for every ICE detention facility, nationwide figures on the availability of beds show a system beyond its overall capacity. As of mid-June, ICE was detaining nearly 60,000 people, almost 45% above the capacity provided for by Congress.

Potential 2028 contender Rahm Emanuel says 'I got one office left in me'

Megan Lebowitz
Former Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, a Democrat, is continuing to express openness to exploring a 2028 bid, telling journalist Chuck Todd, "I got one office left in me."
"When I got nervous about running for Congress or mayor, I'd think back at things my dad and mom had said. You never want to look back and say, 'I woulda, coulda, shoulda,'" he said.
Emanuel added that he feels he has "something to offer that others don't."
Emanuel previously told NBC News that if he decides to run, "the only interest group I would focus on is the middle class and their American dream, and their children’s shot at it."

Zelenskyy says he had a 'productive conversation' with U.S. special envoy for Ukraine

Megan Lebowitz
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he had a "productive conversation" with retired Lt. Gen. Keith Kellogg, who serves as the U.S. special envoy for Ukraine and Russia.

Zelenskyy holds ‘productive’ meeting U.S. special envoy for Ukraine
Trump said last night that the U.S. would be sending Patriot missiles to Ukraine to aid in its defense and has teased a "major statement" on Russia today.