Zelenskyy in Washington as Trump claims quick end to war: Unbiased Updates, Aug. 18, 2025

Today, a critical White House meeting

President Trump claims Zelensky can end the war almost immediately. The Truth Social post that could set the tone

Plus, Texas Democrats heading home. The walkout is over, but the redistricting battle is getting even hotter

And flight attendants defy a back-to-work order. This morning, hundreds of Air Canada flights canceled

The stories that matter, clear and credible. from across the country to around the world

These are your unbiased updates from Straight Arrow News. Good morning, I'm Craig DeGrelli

We begin this morning with a critical meeting in Washington just hours away

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky is set to arrive at the White House

but he won't be alone. He'll have plenty of European backup in his talks with President Trump

He'll walk into the East Room at 3 o'clock Eastern with French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Friedrich Mertz

Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer, and several others who will be coming with him

The message? Europe is united and wants a peace deal that does not carve up Ukraine

The high-stakes meeting comes just days after President Trump's summit with Russian leader Vladimir Putin in Alaska

On Fox News Friday, Trump said he and Putin agreed on a lot of key aspects

But now it's on Zelensky to close the deal when it comes to peace and not just a ceasefire

Now it's really up to President Zelensky to get it done. And I would also say the European nations, they have to get involved a little bit

But it's up to President Zelensky. I think we are. And if they'd like, I'll be at that next meeting

They're going to set up a meeting now between President Zelensky and President Putin

And myself, I guess, you know, I didn't even I didn't ask you about it. Not that I want to be there, but I want to make sure it gets done

On top of that interview, Donald Trump took to Truth Social late last night, putting the burden of ending the war directly on Zelensky

writing he can end the war with Russia almost immediately if he wants to or he can continue to fight Trump added that Ukraine must give up any bid to join NATO and accept Russia hold on Crimea demands that echo Putin That comment fueling concerns that Zelensky could be strong into concessions

But Secretary of State Marco Rubio insists this trip is not about that

and pushed back against the suggestion that Zelensky may be bullied by Trump

But you said that they're coming here tomorrow to keep Zelensky from being bullied. They're not coming here tomorrow

Oh, this is such a stupid media narrative that they're coming here tomorrow because Trump is going to bully Zelensky into a bad deal

We've been working with these people for weeks, for weeks on this stuff. They're coming here tomorrow because they chose to come here tomorrow

We invited them to come. We invited them to come. The president invited them to come

You might remember the last time Zelensky met with President Trump in the Oval Office

Remember this? Back in February of this year, it was awkward, argumentative, contentious

And yes, it aired on live TV. Today's important talks will test not just Ukraine's future, but the unity of NATO itself

Putin is pushing for territorial gains. European leaders insist Ukraine's security and sovereignty cannot be sold off

And this morning, the world is watching what happens behind those closed doors

Texas Democrats who fled the state to block a redistricting vote are now starting to come back

More than 50 lawmakers left for blue states like Illinois and New York earlier this month

denying Republicans a quorum. But according to multiple reports, some Democrats have begun returning

now that the Texas House has wrapped up its first special session

The timing matters because a new special session is set to begin today

And the Democratic caucus is trying to figure out if enough members are back

that would give Republicans the numbers they need. Governor Greg Abbott has already issued

civil arrest warrants for lawmakers who do not return. And the FBI says it will help track them down

this morning air canada flights remain grounded as flight attendants defy a government order to

return to work 10 000 flight attendants walked off the job over the weekend and were immediately

locked out by the airline the sticking point ground pay what crews earn when they on duty but the planes are not in the air air Canada which runs about 700 flights a day including to 50 U airports offered binding arbitration but the union said no

The country's labor board ordered attendance back by 2 p.m. Sunday, but union leaders pushed back

saying, quote, our members are not going back to work. Air Canada now says it will start flying

again tonight, but at this point that's far from certain. The State Department is freezing all

visitor visas for people from Gaza, even children seeking life-saving medical treatment

In a post on X, the State Department said all visitor visas for individuals from Gaza

are on hold, while officials review how a small number of humanitarian medical visas

were issued in recent days. Under current policy, foreign nationals can enter the United States for

treatment using B-1 or B-2 visas. So far this year, about 3,800 Gazans with travel documents

issued by the Palestinian Authority have been granted those visas. Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reiterated Sunday

that any ceasefire deal must include Israel retaining security control over Gaza

This morning, Hurricane Aaron is growing stronger and bigger, a dangerous Category 4 storm that's already pounding parts of the Caribbean

Aaron is packing 130-mile-an-hour winds, its outer bands lashing the southeast Bahamas

as well as Turks and Caicos. The storm stretches more than 200 miles wide

meaning coastal communities will feel it even without a direct landfall. Dare County, North Carolina, has declared an emergency, ordering evacuations on Hatteras

Island. The fear days of surf and wind could wash out Highway 12, the only road in and out

Aaron already cut power to nearly 150,000 customers in Puerto Rico and forced the

cancellation of dozens of flights over the weekend. Forecasters say the storm could stay a major

hurricane through midweek, kicking up dangerous surf and rip currents up and down the East Coast

Finally this morning, what if your new best friend was a chatbot? Get this

our lifestyle correspondent Kennedy Felton spent two weeks texting calling even venting to chat GPT like a real person Why Because more and more people are actually doing just that

While the AI turned out to be surprisingly supportive and sometimes even entertaining

it did not always nail the human touch, if you will, like being seemingly unaware

on all of the drama on Kennedy's favorite reality show. She started with, here's the scoop, and then proceeded to tell me things

that happened forever ago. When I called her out for being outdated

she tried to make up for it, but still didn't give me anything on what was actually going down

No mention of fans calling out Shelly and Andreina for hanging out with Ciara, who was removed from the show for using a slur

and not a word about Jhene and Kenny's split. Forgot that this is literally just a robot

I'm talking about. You can watch Kennedy's full report from heartfelt chats to hilarious fails

right now on our website and app. And I will say this, I am really fearing the future

with all this AI and chat GPT. I can barely get the two remotes

for our new smart TV to work. Sometimes the screen just buffers and buffers

or it goes blank. And that's when I yelled to my wife, honey, can you help me with this

Not really a great plan, right? Oh, well, we'll see what the future brings

All right, before we head out, here's what we're tracking today. In Sacramento, California, lawmakers returned from summer recess

immediately taking up redistricting plans ahead of the 2026 midterms. Also today, the U.S. and South Korea launched their annual joint military exercises

an 11-day massive show of force aimed at sending a message to North Korea

At 3 o'clock, President Trump hosts Ukraine's President Zelensky and European leaders for that high-stakes meeting at the White House

And tonight, a prayer service for victims of the Pennsylvania steel plant explosion

Coffee for your brain, news for your day. Sign up for our newsletter straight to your inbox every weekday morning

Go to san.com slash newsletters. Those are your unbiased updates for this Monday

We'll see you back here tomorrow. For all of us here at Straight Arrow News, I'm Craig DeGrelli

Have a great day