Evening Wire: Russia-Ukraine Talks Stall & France Recognizes Palestinian State | 7.25.25

President Trump calls out President Clinton over his alleged ties to Epstein.

Russia and Ukraine make little to no progress toward a ceasefire.

And U.S.

volleyball changes its gender policy to align with the president's executive order.

I'm Georgia Howe with Daily Wire executive editor John Bickley.

It's Friday, July 25th, and this is Evening Wire.

President Trump appeared to stun reporters today by telling them who they should be focusing on when it comes to Epstein.

You should focus on Clinton.

You should focus on the president of Harvard, the former president of Harvard.

You should focus on some of the hedge fund guys.

I'll give you a list.

These guys lived with Jeffrey Epstein.

I sure as hell didn't.

This comes after Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche met for a second day with convicted Epstein accomplice Ghelane Maxwell in Florida.

Trump said he hasn't considered pardoning her and called Blanche a professional who won't be misled.

Public interest in the case has surged again amid pressure on Trump's DOJ and conflicting statements about the existence of a client list.

President Donald Trump is heading to Scotland today to talk trade with UK officials.

Following the U.S.-UK deal last month to slash tariffs on cars and aircraft parts, Trump will meet with the UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Scottish First Minister John Swinney.

While trade is said to be a top agenda item, the trip will also include some golf as well.

The president is scheduled to stop at his golf resorts in Turnbury and Aberdeen.

Trump will also pay tribute to his Scottish roots with a visit to his mother's memorial garden.

Trump is set to visit the UK in September for a rare second state visit to meet King Charles III.

Former Biden White House Chief of Staff Ron Klain spoke to House Oversight Committee staff on Wednesday as part of the investigation into the former president's mental health during his time in office.

In the closed-door interview, Klain reportedly described the president as, quote, less energetic and, quote, more forgetful, but said he believed he was still fit to serve.

Klain also apparently shared that former National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton had raised concerns about Biden's presidential campaign.

A representative of Sullivan denied that such a conversation took place before the debate, and a spokesman for the Clinton camp stated that the concern was about the campaign's handling of the age issue.

Russia and Ukraine continued to trade blows after very brief peace talks in Istanbul.

Daily Wire deputy managing editor Tim Rice says the latest.

civilians and destroying a historic market.

Ukrainian President Zelensky slammed the senseless strikes and repeated calls for air defense aid.

Meanwhile, Trump's 50-day ceasefire deadline looms, but Moscow shows no sign of backing down.

A passenger plane crashed in eastern Russia on Thursday, killing all 48 people aboard.

The Soviet-era turboprop disappeared from air traffic control radar during a second landing attempt at Tinda Airport near the Chinese border.

The crash is under investigation, though adverse weather conditions were reportedly present.

Aviation incidents have been frequent in Russia.

The Wall Street Journal notes that international sanctions have restricted access to aircraft-related imports.

Regional Governor Vasily Orlov has declared three days of mourning for the victims of the crash.

France says it will formally recognize a Palestinian state in the coming months.

Daily Wire reporter Cassie Akiva has the details.

French President Emmanuel Macron announced Thursday that he would make the announcement during the United Nations General Assembly in September, while framing the move as part of a broader push for a, quote, just and lasting peace in the Middle East.

Macron outlined five priorities: ending the war in Gaza, freeing hostages, delivering humanitarian aid, and demilitarizing Hamas, and rebuilding Gaza.

The announcement drew swift condemnation from Israeli officials who argued that recognition forwards Hamas after the October 7th attacks.

U.S.

Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee slammed the move, calling it inappropriate in the midst of this war.

October 7th changed a lot of things.

If France is really so determined to see a Palestinian state, I've got a suggestion for them.

Carve out a piece of the French Riviera and create a Palestinian state.

They're welcome to do that, but they're not welcome to impose that kind of

pressure on a sovereign nation.

And I find it revolting that they think that they have the right to do such a thing.

Louisville has abandoned its sanctuary city policy after warnings from the Trump administration.

The Louisville Metro Department of Corrections will now honor immigration detainers filed by Immigrations and Customs Enforcement.

These detainers will allow ICE to take custody of illegal immigrants.

The Justice Department warned Louisville that it was violating federal law.

Other sanctuary cities have been hit with legal action and freezes on federal funding.

Attorney General Pam Bondi called Louisville's decision a, quote, major victory, while the city's mayor said they caved to avoid the deployment of the National Guard.

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Authorities have arrested a man accused of throwing rocks at federal vehicles.

El Pedio Reyna had been placed on the FBI's most wanted list after throwing rocks and glass bottles at federal vehicles.

He even injured one officer.

Reyna fled to Mexico, where he was later located by Mexican police.

The police turned him over to Border Patrol.

Reyna is charged with assault on a federal officer.

U.S.

Attorney Bill Asale said the arrest proves the United States can find and charge anyone who violates federal law.

Anyone thinks that this guy or any other thug out there is going to stop us from doing our job, they got to think again.

Major hospitals in Connecticut say they're winding down transgender medical procedures for minors.

Daily Wire reporter Mareta Lordy has more.

Connecticut Children's Medical Center and Yale New Haven Health both put out statements this week citing legal uncertainty and recent federal actions, including President Trump's January executive order banning funding over these types of procedures.

Connecticut Children's CEO called the decision difficult but necessary.

Adding care will continue on a case-by-case basis.

Yale's statement said its program did not include surgeries and pledged mental health support during the transition.

USA volleyball is putting an end to men competing against women.

The policy change bans transgender athletes from competing outside their birth-assigned gender in an effort to align with the new Trump administration order.

The policy shift comes on the heels of the U.S.

Olympic and Para-Olympic committees making similar changes.

Effective immediately, USAV says all athletes must compete according to the gender listed on their birth certificate.

While critics call it discriminatory, the White House says the new policy ensures fairness for female athletes.

In a video obtained exclusively by the Daily Wire, G.L.

Black, the Dean of Students at Vanderbilt University, says the school is still pursuing DEI policies.

I mean, I think it's,

I would say, thoughtful around DEI work and like how to focus on,

I mean, by the name of our areas and things you can see like focusing on belonging and building communities and sustaining communities and access and resources and all the things that are sort of I would say like components of DEI work are part of like what we do

even if we don't always label everything as DEI work

this is in direct violation of the Trump administration's executive crackdown and the university said they're looking into claims made by black

a New York Democrat and housing expert is sounding the alarm over Zoran Zoran Momdani's plan to freeze rent, saying it will be the nail in the coffin in the city's housing stock.

Momdani has promised to immediately freeze the rent for all stabilized tenants should he become mayor.

But former Democratic Assembly member Kenny Burgos, now the CEO of the New York Apartment Association, says that proposal would bankrupt some 40% of the housing stock in the city.

200,000 of the units have already been deemed functionally bankrupt.

Rather than achieving affordability, he said the Democrat mayoral candidates plan would only achieve insolvency.

Both Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern have said they're in talks over a merger that could very well create the largest rail operator in the U.S.

Meanwhile, the companies have also said there weren't any guarantees that the discussions would result in a deal.

If the deal does go through, they would create a massive rail network that spans from coast to coast, which no single railroad operator's network currently does.

A deal would also face scrutiny from the DOJ, investors, Amtrak, and labor unions, as the last railroad merge took nearly two years to secure approval.

The Surface Transportation Board says it hasn't received any application yet for a new railway operator merger.

And Joy Behar, co-host of The View, accidentally let slip that the show will be taking a hiatus just one day after the Trump administration called for the show's cancellation.

And before we go on hiatus, we only have one more show after this.

I'm allowed to say that, right?

Too late now.

The White House had issued a statement calling Behar an irrelevant loser after she suggested that President Trump is jealous of Barack Obama, which many people speculated is the reason the show is taking a break.

But at the end of Thursday's episode, Whoopi Goldberg said the show would return in September.

Those are your drive-home updates this evening.

To learn more about these stories, go to dailywire.com.

And in case you missed it this morning, we covered some major stories, including Trump's visit to the Federal Reserve, the continued fallout from the Russiagate revelations, and Colombia's settlement with with the Trump administration.

Thanks for tuning in.

We'll be back tomorrow morning with another full edition of Morningwire.