A pause on U.S. military aid to Ukraine
President Trump suspended the delivery of military aid to Ukraine yesterday, according to senior U.S. officials, who said the pause would stay in effect until Trump determined that Ukraine had demonstrated a good-faith commitment to peace talks with Russia.
The order was to take effect immediately, affecting more than $1 billion in arms and ammunition in the pipeline and on order.
Earlier in the day, President Volodymyr Zelensky returned to Ukraine after a whirlwind diplomatic mission that included both humiliation, by Trump in a confrontational Oval Office meeting, and a warm embrace, from European leaders. Zelensky vowed to use all diplomatic avenues to pursue an end to the war, but he said there was “a long way to go.”
Russia has given no indication that it will accept any terms but Ukrainian capitulation and permanent conquest of a large swath of Ukraine — and Trump appears set on standing with Moscow. Ukrainians say they will not lay down their arms unless they receive security guarantees, supported by the U.S., that would prevent another Russian attack.
Support: Britain and France have promised that a “coalition of the willing” will secure a truce. But how many countries will step up, and does that even matter, given Russia’s rejection of such a coalition as part of any settlement? (Read about what the cost of defending Ukraine may mean for investors in Europe.)
Warfare: Drones now do most of the killing in the war, causing about 70 percent of deaths and injuries, commanders say.
Trump is set to impose sweeping tariffs
President Trump’s threats to impose stiff tariffs on goods imported from Canada, Mexico and China are expected to become a reality today. Trump said yesterday that there was no chance for a last-minute deal to avert them, and company executives and foreign officials scrambled to prepare.
The tariffs will add a 25 percent fee on all Mexican and Canadian exports coming across those borders and an additional 10 percent for Chinese goods. Canada was poised to retaliate, potentially setting off a trade war, and Mexico’s president, Claudia Sheinbaum, said: “Whatever the decision is, we will also make our decisions.”
Trump has described the tariffs as an effort to pressure those countries to stop the flows of migrants and deadly drugs. But speaking yesterday, he appeared to change the terms, saying Canada and Mexico needed to relocate auto factories and other manufacturing to the U.S. Canada and Mexico are both deeply dependent on exports to the U.S.
Effects: The announcement sent stock markets tumbling, with the S&P 500 falling 1.8 percent, its worst one-day drop so far this year.
Automobiles: The tariffs are likely to raise prices for new cars and trucks. Nissan and Stellantis could be hit the hardest.
Division: What’s behind Trump’s love-hate relationship with Canada, one of the largest trading partners of the U.S.?
Israel and Hamas plan for a possible return to war
As cease-fire discussions continue between Israel and Hamas, the two sides are preparing for those efforts to fail and for the conflict to resume.
Hamas is collecting unexploded bombs to make improvised explosive devices, recruiting new members and replacing commanders, according to a member of Hamas’s military wing. Israel has prepared extensively for a new, more intense campaign in Gaza, Israeli officials said.
In the Gaza Strip, Palestinians are feeling the effects of Israel’s halt on the entry of all goods and humanitarian assistance, as the prices of food and other essential goods climb.
For over a decade, Barry Joule served as friend, drinking partner and helper to the artist Francis Bacon. Ten days before Bacon died, Joule says, he gave him a trove of papers and artworks.
Some in the art world believe these works are genuine. Others, including Bacon’s own estate, aren’t so sure. Is Joule a keeper of Bacon’s secrets? Or is he, at best, misguided — or, at worst, a fantasist and a trickster?
Lives lived: Khalil Fong, a Hong Kong singer-songwriter who infused a soul and R&B sensibility into Chinese pop songs, died at 41.
Don’t abandon the movies
The writer-director Sean Baker was the biggest victor at the Academy Awards on Sunday night.
For my colleague Manohla Dargis, the chief film critic at The New York Times, his success was gratifying: His movie “Anora,” she writes in this appraisal, “is the kind of scrappy, low-budget, independent movie that has been making the Oscars more interesting for, well, decades.”
On accepting his best director award, Baker made a plea that seemed to aim at a culture where great movies get watched on phones. “This is my battle cry,” he said. “Filmmakers, keep making films for the big screen.”
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