LAUREN FRAYER, HOST:
Yesterday, both President Trump and President Biden attended the funeral for Pope Francis. Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was also here, and he huddled with Trump at the Vatican just before the service. We have a report out of Ukraine in just a minute. But first, let's turn to NPR White House correspondent Asma Khalid. Good morning, Asma.
ASMA KHALID, BYLINE: Good morning, Lauren.
FRAYER: It was such a striking image, Trump and Zelenskyy literally huddling face to face in two chairs inside St. Peter's Basilica. What do we know about what they said to each other?
KHALID: Well, it certainly was a striking image. We saw this. The president posted about it on his social media site, but the White House, you know, frankly, thus far, Lauren, has offered few details about what these two leaders actually discussed. White House communications director Steven Cheung told reporters that Trump and Zelenskyy met privately and had a, quote, "very productive discussion." Zelenskyy, Ukraine's leader, also spoke positively about the meeting.
But, you know, Lauren, the reason this photo garnered so much attention is that President Trump has been eager to end the now three-year war in Ukraine. And so the Trump administration has been pushing a deal that seems to favor Russia. But on social media, yesterday, the president, in addition to posting that photo, had a post in which he criticized his Russian counterpart, saying there was no reason for Putin to be shooting missiles into civilian areas. President Trump also questioned whether Putin was indeed really serious about wanting to end the war and suggested maybe he ought to put sanctions on Russia.
FRAYER: You mentioned a deal or a plan to end this war. Where do the negotiations stand on that?
KHALID: On Friday, the president's envoy, Steve Witkoff, was in Russia. He met with Russian leader Vladimir Putin. And Trump, you know, has said that the negotiations are coming along, but he's also described them as very fragile. You know, broadly, I will say, when Trump came back into the White House, he changed course from what the Biden administration was doing. He ended this three-year effort by the United States to isolate Putin, and Trump decided that he would engage directly with him. And so throughout these negotiations, at times, he has certainly seemed to side with Russia.
In an interview with Time magazine that published just on Friday, he made it clear that in his view, Crimea will stay with Russia. And Crimea, just to remind folks - that is the region that Russia annexed from Ukraine back in 2014. You know, I think what's so striking is that his latest comments over the weekend seem to criticize Putin, not Zelenskyy, and that really does seem to be a change in course from what we've heard from him.
FRAYER: And speaking of negotiations, are there any actual negotiations happening with China over trade and tariffs?
KHALID: I mean, Lauren, that is so hard to parse. I will say, it doesn't appear that there are really substantive negotiations over trade at a high level. And the reason I say this all is that it's hard to parse, is that Trump has said that they are talking. But the Chinese have been very clear that they are not talking. And so every time Trump is asked for details on whether or not he's speaking or how many times he's spoken to China's leader, Xi Jinping, he's been somewhat, I think, noncommittal and somewhat deflective in terms of actually answering the sort of details of that question.
You know, just to remind folks where we are with this trade war with China, the Trump administration put 145% tariff rate on Chinese good coming into the U.S. China, then, in response, slapped 125% tariff on U.S. goods. You know, the president has told reporters that that rate will come down, but really the question is, how? And the president told reporters on his flight over to Rome on Friday that he does not intend to drop tariff rates on China unless the Chinese give the U.S. something substantial. The question, of course, is, what does that mean? What is substantial?
FRAYER: Asma, let's end on a step back. It's about a hundred days since President Trump took office for the second time. What's your read on that milestone?
KHALID: Well, I will say two things stand out to me. And the first is that this term feels fundamentally different than the president's first term. He has been acting more swiftly, more boldly, some would say more aggressively than his first term, to enact sweeping change. I mean, you look at shrinking government, dismantling agencies, you know, even, frankly, trying to change the economic system with his tariff rates. This is all bigger than what he did the first go around.
But the other thing that I think is also very important is that when you talk about this massive change, it is important to note that at this moment in time, the president's approval rating, as he's reaching his hundred-day milestone, is falling, and it is looking lower than most other presidents at this point, including, frankly, President Trump himself in his first term. And so I will be keen to keep an eye on what the next hundred days look like and how he tries to navigate change as he moves from this era of trying to have unilateral action to working with Congress more.
FRAYER: That's NPR's Asma Khalid. Thanks so much.
KHALID: Great to speak with you. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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