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President Donald Trump meets with Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC on Tuesday, June 20, 2017.Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post via Getty Images

Donald Trump asked if US troops were in Ukraine in 2017 at a meeting with then-President Poroshenko.

The revelation was made in a new book by former US ambassador Marie Yovanovitch.

"It was disconcerting that he did not seem to know where we had our troops deployed," she wrote.

President Donald Trump asked whether US troops were in Ukraine during an Oval Office meeting with then Ukrainian president Petro Poroshenko in 2017, according to a new book by former US ambassador Marie Yovanovitch, seen by The Guardian.

At the meeting, Trump asked his national security adviser HR McMaster if US troops were in Donbas, a territory in Ukraine claimed by Russian-backed separatists.

"An affirmative answer to that question would have meant that the United States was in a shooting war with Russia," Yovanovitch wrote in the book, according to The Guardian.

"It was disconcerting that he did not seem to know where we had our troops his troops deployed. I could only imagine what the Ukrainians were thinking."

In the same meeting, Trump also told Poroshenko that Ukraine "was a corrupt country, which he knew because a Ukrainian friend at Mar-a-Lago had told him," Yovanovitch wrote in the book, according to The Guardian.

She also claims Trump said, "Crimea was Russian, as the locals spoke Russian."

Russia invaded and annexed the Ukrainian peninsula Crimea in 2014 in a move widely condemned by the international community.

Yovanovitch said that others in the meeting "kept a poker face on" as then-President Trump made the cringe-worthy comments.

The former ambassador describes the meeting in her upcoming book, "Lessons from the Edge: A Memoir."

She served as US ambassador to Ukraine until she was removed from her post by Trump in 2019, amid his attempts to pressure Ukraine to investigate his political rival Joe Biden by withholding military aid. The scandal ultimately led to Trump's first impeachment.

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Yovanovitch writes in the book that she had the impression that "Trump had come into the meeting viewing Ukraine as a 'loser' country, smaller and weaker than Russia."

She added that "Trump's obsequiousness toward [Russian President Vladimir] Putin was a frequent and continuing cause for concern."

However, she wrote that Trump was surprised by Poroshenko, who was "as physically imposing as Trump" and "a billionaire businessman."

The revelations from Yovanovitch's book come weeks after Russian President Vladimir Putin launched a military invasion of Ukraine.

In recent weeks, Trump has continued to praise Putin for being "smart" and described his justification for invading Ukraine as "savvy" and "genius."

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Former President Donald Trump hasn't yet posted on Truth Social, the social-media app he launched late February after being barred by Twitter and other platforms, Axios reported.

The social-media app came out on February 20 but is currently only available for US iPhone users. Its launch was plagued with technical hiccups: Many people who downloaded the app say they were unable to create accounts or were placed on waitlists.

As of Wednesday, Trump hadn't posted at all since the platform launched, according to Axios. Popular Information's Judd Legum also said late Thursday that Trump had not added any posts.

Insider was unable to verify these claims because Truth Social is still restricting access to the app.

Axios pointed out that Trump discussed Russia's invasion with Ukraine with multiple news outlets, but has yet to post his thoughts on Truth Social, where they would have garnered more interest in the app.

The only post on Trump's account is from its beta trial in mid-February, when he told users: "Get Ready! Your favorite President will see you soon!"

Trump's account on the app had fewer than80,000 followers as of Wednesday, Axios reported. Trump had close to 90 million Twitter followers before his account was suspended.

Trump announced he was creating his own social-media app in October 2021 after he was banned from several social-media platforms including Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube in the aftermath of the January 6 Capitol siege. Trump has repeatedly criticized the platforms for removing his accounts, accusing them of censoring free speech.

Insider's Rosie Bradbury downloaded Truth Social the day after its launch, but was only able to create an account on her fifth attempt and has been on a wait list ever since. Truth Social said that "overwhelming demand" meant that that it had to limit how many people could create accounts.

"We have resolved the performance bottlenecks with new user registration and validation, and are working through the new user waitlist at an accelerated rate," Truth Social said in a status update Wednesday.

The app's user interface looks a lot like Twitter, with the ability to "follow" other users, three tabs on each user's page to view their posts, posts and replies, and shared media, and a cover photo and circular profile picture for each account.

Truth Social's logo is also remarkably similar to that of British company Trailar, which fixes solar panels on trucks. An executive at the company told Insider in late February that it was considering legal action against Truth Social because of the similarity of the two logos.

As of Friday morning, Truth Social sits at the No. 11 spot on the Apple App Store's social-media rankings. It has a 4.2-star rating based on 36,300 reviews.

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Trump yet to post on Truth Social since launch 2 weeks ago: reports - Business Insider

Trump made the construction of the US-Mexico border wall a plank of his administration.

The massive wall that straddles the border between the United States and Mexico has been breached thousands of times recently, according to Washington Post. The newspaper obtained unpublished records from documents from US Customs and Border Protection (CBP), which showed that the wall was breached 3,272 times in the past three years.

The records were obtained under the Freedom of Information Act, the Post said. The breaches were a result of Mexican smuggling gangs sawing through new segments of the border wall, the document showed.

The records further showed that the US government spent a whopping $2.6 million to repair the breaches during the 2019 to 2021 fiscal years.

According to CBP records, the damage has been more widespread than previously known, pointing to the structure's limitations as an impediment to illegal crossings, said the Post.

Former US President Donald Trump constructed over 800 kilometres of border wall from 2019, which he called "big and beautiful" and "Rolls Royce of barriers". But the smugglers used inexpensive tools such as angle grinders and demolition saws to cut the barrier.

"No structure is impenetrable, so we will continue to work to focus resources on modern, effective border management measures to improve safety and security," CBP spokesman Luis Miranda said in a statement.

The smugglers severed the bollards near the ground, which caused them to swing open with a push, allowing people and narcotics to pass through.

The Washington Post said that a 40-kilometre stretch of wall had 71 bollards with visible repairs and welds.

The report is yet another embarrassment for Trump. In August last year, portions of the wall washed away by floods that ripped through Arizona.

The photos of the damage to the structure were widely shared on the social media.

Trump famously made the construction of a wall along the US-Mexico border a plank of his administration, though much of the 452 miles (727 kilometres) he managed to build over his four-year term was replacing existing barriers.

The work was halted when Biden took office in January this year.

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Trump's "Rolls Royce of Barriers" Breached Thousands Of Times: Report - NDTV

Progressive Democrats notched victories in two of Texass congressional primary races on Tuesday while Ken Paxton, one of the most prominent Republicans in the state and Donald Trump ally, suffered a major blow.

In the most closely watched congressional primary, Jessica Cisneros, a progressive Democrat, forced a runoff against Henry Cuellar, a nine-term congressman who is one of the most conservative Democrats in the US House. (Texas races go to a runoff if no candidate receives more than 50% of the vote.)

Forcing a runoff is a major win for Cisneros, who narrowly lost to Cuellar two years ago. Cuellar has been dogged by corruption allegations after an FBI raid of his home and office earlier this year. Cisneros has been endorsed by the progressive group Justice Democrats, plus Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren.

Joshua Blank, the research director of the Texas Politics Project at Austin, said it was difficult to predict whether Cuellar would ultimately prevail.

Handicapping his chances is difficult, because on the one hand, he likely has significant organization in the district, but on the other, an incumbent in a strong position shouldnt find himself in so much trouble, he said.

The focus has been on Cisneros progressivism and whether she can win in the general, but Cuellar is one of the most conservative Democrats in Congress and somewhat idiosyncratic within the party, so how this will turn out is anyones guess.

Progressives also scored another victory in a new congressional district that stretches from Austin to San Antonio. Greg Casar, a progressive favorite who led efforts to reduce the police budget on the Austin city council, easily won his partys nomination. He is expected to easily win in the general election in November.

In the Dallas area, Jasmine Crockett, described as one of the most liberal members of the Texas house of representatives, is headed to a runoff election against Jane Hope Hamilton.

Paxton, the attorney general, was forced into a runoff with George P Bush, the Texas land commissioner and the face of a new generation of one of Americas most prominent political dynasties (his uncle is George W Bush). Paxton, who was endorsed by the former president, is one of the most outspoken conservative attorneys general in the country, and has been at the forefront of attacks on voting, abortion access, immigration and transgender Americans. He also led an unsuccessful lawsuit asking the US supreme court to overturn the 2020 election.

But the fact that he is being forced into a runoff underscores how politically vulnerable he may be. He has been under indictment since 2015 for securities fraud and faces whistleblower allegations that he misused his office for personal gain.

Paxton will likely have an easier time with Bush, whose name and legacy in Texas carry a mixed set of baggage, said Blank.

Trump nonetheless tried to frame Tuesdays results in Texas as a mark of his political strength. He noted that the dozens of Republican candidates he endorsed in the race either won or were headed to a runoff. But virtually all of the candidates Trump endorsed were running in non-competitive primaries and were expected to win.

Trump also notably did not endorse Van Taylor, a Republican seeking re-election to Congress in the Dallas suburbs. Taylor voted in favor of a bipartisan 6 January commission, which drew ire from Republicans and several challengers. Taylor will now face a runoff against Keith Self, a former Collin county judge, who told the Texas Tribune that the congressmans vote for a commission was a huge issue.

Taylors district is one of several in Texas that was redrawn last year to become solidly more Republican. In 2020, his district was highly competitive Trump narrowly carried it by 1 percentage point. Trump would have carried the district by 14 points under the new lines, according to Planscore. Its a trend that illustrates how lawmakers are redrawing districts to make them less competitive, a move that benefits extreme candidates in the primary.

Looming over the primary were sweeping new voting restrictions in Texas, in effect for the first time after Republicans in the state legislature passed them last year.

Texas already limits mail-in voting to those aged 65 or older, or who have a qualifying excuse. For weeks, local election officials have been raising alarms that new identification requirements for mail-in ballots are causing them to reject tens of thousands of them. Lisa Wise, the election administrator in El Paso county, said earlier this week her office had flagged 27% of the 3,855 ballots it received so far for rejection. In Harris county, the most populous in the state, officials had flagged 10,876 ballots, 29% of those returned, for potential rejections.

Leah Shah, a county spokeswoman, said the office was working to contact voters and get them to come in person to the election office to correct issues on their ballots. Voters have until Monday to come to the election office and fix defects in person.

The current numbers are unprecedented, far outpacing previous rejection rates. This outcome could have been avoidable if federal protections were in place, said Mimi Marzani, the president of the Texas Civil Rights Project.

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Success for progressives in Texas while Trump ally suffers major blow - The Guardian

When we see the tanks roll into Ukraine, it's easy to feel it's a world away.

Yet, as we saw with the Jan. 6 insurrection in our nation's capital, the Trump-Putin style of authoritarianism got traction because we were unable to hold bullies accountable inAtlantic City, Trenton, Washington or Moscow.

Let's call it TrumPutin, an invasive predator weed that thrives in a compost of fear, greed and corruption always a blend in ample supply in the Garden State.

We have an ambivalent affection for bullies, the killer weed's colorful flower. Chris Christie and Donald Trump can be entertaining. And then they go too far, and it's a lot harder to reclaim the ground you have ceded to them.

Yet thanks to the bravery of the Ukrainian people standing up to Vladimir Putin's onslaught, the era of the bully may be waning. There's a new "united we stand" cohesion across our nation and around the world. After years of building up Putin, even Donald Trump had to scramble to express support for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.Christie took to Twitter to thump Trump. "How can anyone with any understanding of the world call Putin's decision to invade Ukraine 'genius' and 'very savvy' as we watch him unite the rest of the world against Russia in nearly an instant?" the former New Jersey governor and the first member of the GOP establishment to back Trump for president tweeted.

RELATED:Lt. Col. Alex Vindman: How Trump's coup attempt encouraged Putin's Ukraine invasion

While there's much to criticize about transnational corporations, such as their ability to evade taxes, when they act ethically, as the energy giants have done in pulling out of Russia, they can sometimes have a greater impact than diplomats.

For some reason, a broad swath of Americans can see totalitarianism on the march in the Ukraine, but an insufficient number yet grasp how intertwined operationally the white supremacist anti-immigrant Trump movement is with Putin's push to restore the Soviet Union.

It's important not to forget that theTrump juntaactually tried a geopolitical squeeze play directed at Ukraine. The Trump White House delayed a $400 million weapons shipment that Zelensky's struggling democracy was counting on to fend off Russia in hopes of forcing his government to launch an investigation into Hunter Biden's business dealings.

Trump was impeached for that criminal act, but the vast majority of Republicans in the U.S. Senate protected the TrumPutin axis by voting against conviction. Similarly, here in New Jersey, we went through a show-trial prosecution in the Bridgegate scandal, in which the list of powerful players involved remained concealed despite the news media's best legal efforts to have that list unsealed.

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To this day, Christie, the man whose bullying style paved the way stylistically and tactically for TrumPutin, has managed to reinvent himself after successfully using the levers of power to deflect a deeper dive into his brand of transactional politics.

There's a continuum, starting with the use of the Port Authority Police on the George Washington Bridge for Bridgegate, through the events of Jan. 6, 2021, to the tanks that rolled into Ukraine. It's not merely the authoritarian ethic of "I can do this because Iam above the law." It's even the same cast of characters, spawned in the swamp of our state, where we have long struggled to hold the powerful accountable.

Just as New Jersey casino regulators rolled over for Trump decades ago in Atlantic City, the world looked the other way when it failed to hold Putin accountable for invading Crimea in 2014 or for his 2008 incursion into Georgia. New Jersey's power elite saw Trump's economic "success" in Atlantic City as their own. Up until this latest move into Ukraine,the world's wealthiest nations didn't want to hold Putin accountable and risk disrupting their relationship with a powerful nation they relied on for energy.

TrumPutins thrive in a realm where cash is king and everybody has their price, and where politics is reduced to a series of economic transactions, with self-interest the only imperative. It was American fecklessness during Trump's tenure that benefited not only Putin, but Brazil's Jair Bolsonaro and Hungary's Viktor Orbn.

Even now, in places like London where Putin's oligarch posse owns so much real estate, there's a reluctance to seize their properties for fear of worrying the rogues of the world whose investment of ill-gotten gains is the foundation for luxury property markets.

Our flinching from deep-pocketed bullies has real consequences: When accountability evaporates so does the societal cohesion that comes from subscribing to a common set of values. This societal fiber is further weakened when we permit the wealthy to break the law with impunity, but throw the book at the poor for "quality of life" offenses.

This crisis in legitimacy that comes from everyone knowing that the fix is in undermines our ability to respond to major global challenges, like climate change or a once-in-a-century mass death event that's killed close to a million Americans. We felt it even here in blue New Jersey, with our population's fractured response to the COVID public health challenge, which resulted in one of the highest per capita death rates on the planet.

Every public health measure put in place to combat COVID became subject to a near-call to arms because societal trust had so thoroughly eroded. Decades of letting Big Pharma settle corruption cases as civil matters, in which they admitted no guilt but paid huge fines, didn't give confidence to millions of Americans who doubted that the same sector of the economy that had cut so many corners would save the day with a COVID vaccine.

This fracturing of the public trust was well underway before Donald Trump exploited it to rise to power. He harnessed the kinetic power of this unraveling, which was born of the great selfishness behind the widespread ethical failures of just about every foundational institution, including the media, the church and our corporate boardrooms.

As a result, the United States faced COVID fractured along its red-blue fault lines, drawn in Sharpie by Trump as he described blue states as overrun by undocumented immigrants, who he claimed were violent criminals preying on the native-born. Using fear and hatred as his fuel, he sent the signal that America was under attack from within and only he could "fix it" by restoring order.

Amid this mass death event an unprecedented number of Americans came out to vote in 2020 and elected Joe Biden president. Yetjusta week later, then-New Jersey GOP chairman Doug Steinhardt convened a broadcast conference call headlined by Bill Stepien, the former Christie operative who was Trump's 2020 campaign manager. They rallied the troops to raise funds around the "Stop the Steal" cause that highlighted "various instances of alleged voter fraud, none of which have panned out," according toInsiderNJreporter Fred Snowflack.

Stepienhad also been a key member of Chris Christie's Bridgegate brigade. This year he faced a subpoenafrom the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.

"As manager of the Trump 2020 re-election campaign, you oversaw all aspects of the campaign," wrote committee chair Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., in aletter to Stepien. "You then supervised the conversion of the Trump presidential campaign to an effort focused on 'Stop the Steal' messaging and related fundraising. That message included the promotion of certain false claims related to voting machines despite an internal campaign memo in which campaign staff determined that such claims were false."

As Thompson's letter further noted, that "Stop the Steal" messaging was embraced and echoed by thosewho attacked the Capitol "in an attempt to interfere with the peaceful and orderly transfer of power." In addition, the Trump campaign "reportedly urged state and party officials to affect the outcome of the November 2020 election by, among other things, asking states to delay or deny certification of electoral votes and by sending slates of electoral votes to the United States Congress."

While the eyes of the world may be on Ukraine, those of us from New Jersey also need to take a deep look into our own garden to find and pull out the rootstock of the TrumPutin killer weed. We owe it to democracy, America and the planet.

Read more on the aftermath of Jan. 6, 2021:

Link:
The Trump-Putin killer weed has deep roots in New Jersey's swamp of corruption - Salon