friendship dates back to the revolutionary war. since the beginning of the united states. and whenever we've needed to, we've been able to come together and be on the right side. we have been able to be united to defend peace and sovereignty, namely, in the two world wars that marked the 20th century. from lafayette to pershing and to the many americans who landed on omaha beach. and we spoke earlier before, and you mentioned that one of those gentlemen was able to visit you here, one of the veterans. this is part of history which puts us in the world that we are in today. and as the president just said, there are many challenges in this world. and over the past few days. we have one main

objective, which is the geopolitical situation. mr. president, i really wish to thank you for making changes to your schedule to meet with us so quickly. i think we've made very substantive steps forward during our discussions, and this is a major step in what we're experiencing today. we had a video conference with all of the g-7 leaders, which was an opportunity for us to discuss this matter. three days after the russian war in ukraine and to express our support for president zelenskyy to the ukrainian people, but also to speak and share about our desire for a lasting peace. this is what we have spoken about. very forcibly over the past few weeks. we thought that. this war

was only going to last a few weeks. when it broke out in 2022. we admire greatly the courage of the ukrainian people. and mr. president, i wish to thank you for this. azoria you mentioned that there are responsibilities on europe's side and indeed we have invested 128 billion in aid to ukraine and the ukrainians. ukraine has been able to hold the front of our collective security. it's fought over these past few years for its independence and for its sovereignty, but also for our collective security, because i think that no one in this room wants to live in a world where it's the law of the strongest and international borders can be violated from one day to the next by anyone. over the past few hours. and as you mentioned this, mr. president, we've been able to see a few things take shape. first of all, allow me to

commend you on your decision to work with president zelenskyy and to conclude this agreement that's so important for the u.s. and ukraine on rare earths, critical minerals, but also having substantive conversations with president zelenskyy during this key phase of achieving this deal, which is a major commitment to ukraine's sovereignty. and i think that's very commendable. we also have a shared desire to build peace. we will have this. responsibility. this is ten years after the war started in crimea. and then we saw the events in donbas and the donbas region, and along the northern part of the country. we want to save lives. we want to bring prisoners back and bring back families and children, because there is also humanitarian tragedy affecting the ukrainian people. we had

lengthy discussions with the president, and we spoke about our desire to bring an end to conflicts, to have a truce that is measurable, verifiable and that enables negotiation of a lasting peace, where we will discuss not only ukraine's reconstruction of its territories, but also the security guarantees, meaning maintaining peace over the long term. as i said to the president, we have experienced peace accords that were only ceasefires without ensuring security guarantees. minsk one and two. and we want to make sure this doesn't happen again. and i know that the president has expressed the desire to be a player for peace in the region. i've spoken with some 30 european leaders and allies in recent days. we want to bring together these allies, allies, rather, and share the same

vision. this peace must not mean a surrender of ukraine. it must not mean a ceasefire without guarantees. this peace must allow for ukrainian sovereignty and allow ukraine to negotiate with other stakeholders regarding the issues it affects. that affects it rather. but it is also a country in which we need to shoulder our responsibilities so that we ensure security and stability for ukraine and for the entire region and for us europeans. this is an existential your issue. we also spoke about these issues at length with the president. we've worked with president zelenskyy and gotten to some of the details of the various phases of the negotiation, and we've also been able to speak about some of this work with our british partners to. talk about deployments of

peace forces on ukrainian soil, which are part of these security guarantees. other countries are ready to join in this effort. solidarity and support from the u.s. will be crucial to this. and i thank you, mr. president, for beginning to work with us on this issue and the agreement that you are preparing to sign with your ukraine and with all of the discussions we've had, are very solid guarantees that we are understood and that we have the same wish peace as soon as possible, lasting, solid peace for everyone. and the renewal of an international situation where we are all able to shoulder our responsibilities. europeans shouldering their responsibilities alongside their american allies who will shoulder their own responsibilities. i also wanted to be very clear, mr. president, about europe's commitment. we have committed to building a lasting peace. as europeans, we

have committed to being stakeholders in in these security guarantees. and we are also well aware that europeans need to do more. for security in europe, for defense in europe, and to more fairly share the security board and burden that your country has been carrying for so many years. mr. president, you know how much friendship i show towards you and i have towards you since your first term? europe is very clear eyed about this. we know what we need to do as europeans, given the threats surrounding us and the responsibilities that we must shoulder. we spoke about the versailles agenda, which allowed the europeans to take a historic step and increase their investments. europeans are ready to do even more and to go even further. and several leaders

said that to me before i came here to meet you, mr. president. dear donald, you spoke about this peace through strength. we fully share that because we must recognize the sacrifices made by the ukrainian people and what we owe to them. the president and i also spoke about economic matters and our desire to see more prosperity in the united states and in europe. we had discussions which will be carried on by our teams, our ministers and secretaries, to flesh out some of those ideas. but the idea is to have fair competition and no bias within competition between our industries. now, the american and european economies are extremely intertwined. some 1.5 billion in trade, a trillion

rather. in goods and services. and i know you've spoken about wanting to look at the balance of payments. we also have a trade deficit. deficit. and i know that we need to look not only at goods, but also digital items and goods, which you export. and we want to make a sincere commitment towards fair competition where we have smooth trade and more investments. you already invest a great deal in france, and france is the fifth most the fifth largest investor in the united states. and i would like to recognize here all of the american investors who announced investments. some $120 billion that were announced at the summit. this is our wish. we

want to have more prosperity on both sides of the atlantic. we have a shared agenda in that regard. we also spoke about the middle east, among other subjects. and here again, we have the same desire. we don't want to see iran obtain nuclear weapons. we don't want. or rather, we want an approach with partners in the region that we can trust. given iran's nuclear activities. we want to limit its ballistic capabilities and avoid any type of regional destabilization with respect to syria and iraq, we also share the same desire. we don't want to see islamic terrorist groups resume any of their activities, because for some time our armies have very bravely been engaged in the gulf. as you have led and contributions have been significant and helped stability in the region. and i say this

with great sincerity. france was affected by a terrorist attack in 2015, which was linked to the terrorist activity in syria, and we are in that region at your side to work for more security. ladies and gentlemen, we had extremely productive discussions this morning during the conference, and we spoke with our ministers and counselors and advisors. and i wish to say, after speaking with president trump, i am fully believe that there is a path forward. we share the same beliefs. we know what work needs to be done, and in the weeks to come, we will work on that. our teams will come together in various formats to make sure that we have this solid, lasting peace with great strength. mr. president, thank you so much for welcoming me here today. thank you so much for these productive discussions

and for your commitment. thank you. dear donald. >> thank you america. thank you. >> very much. thank you. thank you. thank you. >> okay. thank you very much. brian, would you like to ask a question? go ahead. >> welcome. >> president trump. i just want to touch upon real quickly the harvard poll that came out that had, thank you very much, the harvard poll that came out had you up nine plus points and all of your agenda that you ran on. you're accomplishing that. you've got the support of the american people, including stopping the war in ukraine. if you can comment on the latest harvard poll, i appreciate that. >> well, i was honored by it. it was a big poll, and it's a usually a poll that leans on the other side of things, the other side of the world, so to speak. but the harvard poll is a respected poll, and it has us not only leading, but leading by a lot and leading on every single issue that we've we've talked about. and as i said, we've become the party of common sense. and i think that's a very important element

in our common sense, because what's happening in the world and even in this country, some of the things that took place, many of them are now canceled and the rest are being canceled as we speak. but we've moved very rapidly and i think very effectively. so i was honored by that poll. thank you very much. appreciate it. mr. president. go ahead. please go ahead. >> mr. president, you said before that you would like to see russia. >> yes. go ahead. >> conditions that you want to meet before the media and arabia with your meeting in saudi arabia with president putin, will that happen regardless of any progress on the ukrainian file? >> yeah. i think the meeting in saudi arabia was a fantastic one. we met with the crown prince, who was a fantastic young guy. he's young, but with great imagination and

tremendously respected all over the world. and he goes right to the king. and the king is incredible. gotten to be friends with both of them very much, and they want to see this ended, and they're going all out to make sure that it is ended. i think russia likewise, i've spoken to president putin and my people are dealing with him constantly, and his people in particular, and they want to do something. i mean, that's what i do. i do deals my whole life is deals. that's all i know is deals. and i know when somebody wants to make and when somebody doesn't. i will say this before i came here, there was no communication with russia whatsoever. and russia wasn't answering calls. they were not talking to anybody. they wouldn't talk to anybody. and people. sort of accepted that as being that they want to go forward and just keep going without stop. but when i got here, one of the first calls i made was to president putin, and we were treated with great respect. and they want to they

want to end this war. so that's a big thing, because i didn't know if i could say that, but it's a big thing. they want to do it. and the group in the front row that i introduced, they're very all very active in it. and we're working on deals right now. transactions right now. and in particular the big one is to get the the war stopped, whether it's ceasefire or direct to an agreement. and i'd like to go directly to an agreement. but ceasefire will always happen a little bit quicker. and every day you're saving thousands or at least hundreds, but thousands in some cases lives. so we want to see if we can get that done very quickly. uh, yes. for the president, please. yes. >> thank you. i may be correspondent based in paris. question for both of you. actually, mr. macron, you were one of the last western leaders to speak to putin before ukraine's invasion. what advice? what recommendation could you

make to president trump to make sure that this time, um, you can get strong enough? guarantees? sorry, from putin to get a peace deal that lasts this time? and mr.. president trump, um, what makes you think you can trust putin in those negotiations? thank you. >> look, i will never give any advice to president trump. we have friendly and trustful discussions. but my experience with president putin is the following. number one, i always think it's good to have discussion with other leaders, and especially when when when you disagree. i stopped my discussion with president putin after bucha and the war crimes, because i considered that, i mean, we had nothing to get from him in that time. now, this is a chance. there is a big chance because there is a new u.s. administration. so this is a new context. so there is good reason

for president trump to reengage with president putin. but my experience is the following. and i shared it with president trump and the team in 2014. our predecessors negotiated peace with president putin. but because of the lack of guarantees and especially security guarantees, president putin violated his peace. and i had several discussions, especially beginning of 2022, s president putin. 15 days before. launching of the the attack. it denied everything, but we didn't have security guarantees. so this is why being strong and having deterrence capacities is the only way to be sure it will be respected. and i insisted on that. and this is why i believe that the u.s. has the capacity to do so. and this

is why i think we should never say i will never send boots on the ground, because you give a blank check to violate any type of. commitment. so i think it's good to have discussion. i think it's useful to have negotiation. i think it's super important to go to the peace, but my strong point was to say, let's try to get something first, which is which can be assessed, checked and verified. and let's be sure that we build sufficient guarantees in the short run. and this is where we are ready to be engaged. as for france, a lot of my european colleagues are ready to be engaged, but we do need this american backup because this is part of the credibility of the security guarantees. and this is our collective deterrence capacity. and i have the feeling that the president has this capacity. >> i think it's very much to

the benefit of russia to make a deal. and i feel that we will do that. it is what it is. again, it's a war that should have never been started. it's a war that would not have been started if i were president. but it did start, and it's at a terrible level where cities are are burned down and shot down to the ground. it looks like demolition sites, a whole big pile of demolition sites, and we got to get it stopped. too many people, too much agony. the whole culture is destroyed when you rip down some of those ancient, really ancient or near ancient buildings. it's it's so sad to see, but i think it's very much to the benefit of this tremendous distrust on both sides. that's why it's good that i'm coming in now, but i think it's to the very much benefit of russia to make a deal and to go on with, uh, go on with leading russia in a very positive way. that's that's what

you have to do. but i really believe that he wants to make a deal. may be wrong, but i believe he wants to make a deal. yeah. go ahead. please. >> mr. president, by next week, there's a key deadline for your canada and mexico tariff. >> for the. >> believe those countries have done enough on the border to stop those from taking effect. and for president macron, i'm wondering if you believe that this critical minerals deal with ukraine represents a de facto security guarantee by the united states, since the u.s. would have an interest in protecting those reserves in ukraine. thank you. >> we're on time with the tariffs, and it seems like that's moving along very rapidly. we've been mistreated very badly by many countries, not just canada and mexico. we've been taken advantage of. we were led by, in some cases, fools because anybody that would sign documents like they signed when they were able to take advantage of the american people, like has happened over the last long period of time,

except for a little four year period that took place four years ago. uh, but anybody that would agree to allow this to happen to our country, uh, should be ashamed of themselves. no, the tariffs are going forward on time, on schedule. this is an abuse that took place for many, many years. and i'm not even blaming the other countries that did this. i blame our leadership for allowing it to happen. i mean, you know, who can blame them if they made these great deals with the united states, took advantage of the united states on, uh, on manufacturing, on just about everything, every aspect that you can imagine they took advantage of. i look at some of these agreements. i read them at night and i'd say, who would ever sign a thing like this? so the tariffs will go forward. yes. and we're going to make up a lot of territory. we're going to all we want is reciprocal. we want reciprocity. we want to have, uh, the same. so if somebody charges us we charge

them. it's very simple. but it will be very good for our country. our country will be extremely. uh, liquid and rich again. plus, we're doing other things, as you know, we're finding tremendous waste, fraud and abuse at levels that nobody thought possible. you're seeing what's going on. and that was also part of the harvard poll. do you agree with what president trump is doing with elon and others that are looking for the waste, fraud and abuse? and, uh, the numbers were staggering. it was like 70% to 2%. everybody wants to find out they don't like it. and, you know, the radical left or whoever it may be starts screaming about the constitution, but it has nothing to do with the constitution. it has to do with fairness to this country. it has to do with being ripped off. and when you read the things that all of these billions and i mean many billions, hundreds of billions of dollars have been spent on, that's all you have to do is stand up here and read them. i could stand up all day and read the kind of things where we're

spending all of this money. the good news is that when you think of how rich a nation we can be when we get rid of this, you know, sometimes you buy a company and you'll see it was really well run. they accounted for every penny. well, not much you can do there. you got yourself a bad deal. this one is the exact opposite. tremendous fraud. tremendous waste. and and when you think of what it is, you know, elon uses an expression caring. if we had people that cared, just cared a little bit when they did contracts, when they negotiated with outside vendors for on behalf of the united states, that's what i'm doing now. i'm negotiating for the people of the united states, and we're doing a great job of it. i will say we found it will be hundreds of billions of dollars of of waste and fraud and abuse. thank you. please. >> look, i think this discussion is a very important one. first, because it's important for the u.s. and it will be a good occasion for our first very

important meeting between president trump and president zelenskyy. second, i think it's there is a lot of economic upside on both sides. and third, de facto, there is a recognition of ukrainian sovereignty, a recognition of the ukrainian interests. and and this is the day facto a very important alignment of interests. now, the security guarantees will be negotiated in due time in a full fledged package of a peace security. but this peace, as it is now written and negotiated, and as this meeting is scheduled, is an important step forward, full fledged peace agreement. >> okay, please go ahead. >> thank you. >> the. president. >> mr.. president trump. >> president trump, president macron. >> to make a deal with putin. >> so when you do. >> a deal. >> it's a win-win deal. what are you giving to him. >> and what is he going.

>> to give you. >> to america. and i was impressed. >> by the way you referred. >> to notre. >> dame, and that you were impressed by the reconstruction of notre dame. a lot of americans have sent money to paris to participate to the reconstruction of notre dame. as the president of the united states, are you going to contribute to the reconstruction of ukraine? mr.. president macron. >> president macron, what for you is the main area of progress in your meeting with president trump? can you confirm that there is an agreement to send european peacekeeping troops? will france participate in that? how many troops? what would they be doing? would this represent a great danger to send french and european troops to ukraine? >> well, i guess it's a little strange question, because you ask whether or not we're going to, on behalf of the united states, contribute to ukraine. i mean, we're in there for about $350 billion. i think that's a

pretty big contribution. uh, i do appreciate the first part of your question, however, because i think they've done an incredible job with the cathedral of notre dame. uh, i think the president has done i know he headed it up, and i know how hard he worked. and it took a period of time, but really not a long period of time, considering what that was so delicate, so beautiful. and i was there and i saw the work and i'm very good at construction. i know good construction. i know bad construction. they did a beautiful job. and this man has to be given a lot of credit for that. it's an incredible cathedral. most people thought it couldn't be saved, and if it was, it would have to be built in a different form. and we didn't want to see a different form. we wanted to see the same form that you built. so i just want to congratulate you. that was an amazing job. i don't think you've gotten enough credit for it. some day you will, some day you will. >> thank you. donald. merci beaucoup. >> and thank you very much. to go back to your question, today's discussion showed

several areas of progress. first. we have been working a great deal with president zelenskyy to have a proposal that's acceptable to ukraine. president trump has confirmed that he will be meeting with president zelenskyy very soon to finalize the agreement on critical minerals and rare earths, and to speak together about that matter. that's a very important step forward. the second thing is that during our discussions, we were able to go into some of the details about the proposal that we have just made. to have a truce, a peace, and be able to measure that and then structure our discussions on that basis. france and several other european countries, along with ukraine, are hard at work to build this lasting peace with very specific points, including security

guarantees. the territories that belong to ukraine. the issue of reconstruction, the economy and critical minerals. we've been able to go into the details of those proposals. the third area of progress, which. really mark a turning point, is the fact that we were able to talk about the details of the security guarantees and the president has shown this over the past few days, and he said so a moment ago. we want peace. he wants peace, we want peace, peace swiftly, but we don't want an agreement that is weak. the fact that there are europeans that are ready to engage, to provide for these security guarantees. and now there's a clear american message that the u.s., as an ally, is ready to provide that solidarity for that approach. that's a turning point, in my view, and that is one of the great areas of progress that we've made during this trip and during this

discussion. when it comes to troops in the past, a year ago, specifically, we saw a reason to talk about sending troops to for strategic regions. today, when we talk about troops, we're talking about sending them in after we've negotiated a lasting peace. and once we have that solid, lasting peace that's part of an agreement signed by ukraine, signed by russia, and for which we will provide the guarantees. then at that point, and recently, france has worked with the uk to provide its contributions. we've worked on plans, we've worked with our militaries not to go to the front lines, not to go into occupied territories, but as a show of support to show that we have a negotiated peace signed by both sides, and that is a peace we will preserve. so these

would be peaceful deployments of troops, not for combat. these would be deployments of an assurance force. they would be limited, but they show solidarity. i have also spoken with all of our allies, and they are european and non-european allies who are ready and willing to take part in that effort. countries have helped ukraine maintain its military capabilities in terms of the number of soldiers that has equipment, whereas others have provided logistical support on the ground. the question is whether or in what form the u.s. will contribute, and during our discussions and during the discussions with russia, we've understood that this would be acceptable to russia. and that's a very important area of progress. and that means that in this context, the europeans will shoulder their part of the burden, their share of the

burden. we have a strong alliance that we've built over the decades. we have our solidarity and we have deterrence capacities. what does it mean? would it be dangerous? if there is an agreement signed by ukraine and russia, thanks to the efforts of president trump? and if we provide the guarantees and russia violates the agreement, then it would be in conflict with everyone who is engaged in the peace process. and that is a change. that was something we did not see in the past. that's not what we saw in 2014. so that is the real change that we're marking. we have this deterrence capacity on the american side. we have the capacity for engagement on the european side. and that's something we're going to continue working on together. it's not dangerous, but it's credible. it's less dangerous than things that could happen in the long term. and i think this

is what we need to do to ensure security. and i say this very clearly. we're also talking about security for europeans. i've been saying this for weeks now. if we do not guarantee the security of this territory within europe, then how can we guarantee our own security for one and all? we live just 1500km from ukraine and the germans and polish are even closer. so our collective security is important. we need to answer this call for europeans to be more engaged, and americans will be there still in solidarity. europeans are working for their collective security. but i really think this was a turning point today in our discussions. >> emmanuel, thank you very much. great job, and it's been wonderful being with you. say hello to your beautiful wife and we will see you again soon. we'll be speaking often. we'll get this thing worked out. we're

going to get it done. so important and great job. >> thank you. >> and you all have been watching a press conference with president donald trump and the french president, emmanuel macron, where they took a number of questions on a whole host of different fronts, but mainly in regards to security around ukraine and potential negotiations and prospects of what any negotiations for a lasting peace would look like. we've got a team of experts in correspondence with us as well. we've got nick paton walsh melissa bell in paris. kim dozier is a cnn global affairs analyst. she is here with us, colonel cedric leighton as well, along with alex marquardt. uh, so let's just start in the room. kim, i'll start with you. um, we heard a lot of potential ideas floated, but i think the one thing that stood out to me was, came from the french president, emmanuel macron, that any deal that is made here would need to come with. then security assurances, because they want a deal that could potentially

last. i wonder how that struck you. >> security assurances, specifically from the united states, which is repeating what the british prime minister said, what president zelenskyy in ukraine has said, basically sending the message to donald trump, we need the u.s. to join us, too, in teeing up some sort of guarantees. and at this point, the rare earth minerals agreement that the u.s. is trying to get ukraine to sign doesn't seem to have any mention of future pledges of help with security. and that's why i think the french president then brought up the idea of so we have to send in peacekeeping forces on the ground, because that's one major way to keep russia from invading again, because the two minsk agreements certainly didn't do it. >> he's trying to appeal to. trump. macron is this idea of peace through strength, right. uh, saying to him, he was asked,

what advice would you give to him? i will never give advice to trump. you know, he's very deferential. he's very friendly with him. but he sort of gave a warning, cedric, and it was really interesting, he said. in 2014, our predecessors negotiated peace with putin, but because of lack of security guarantees, he violated the peace. it's almost in a way he's saying you might be setting the stage for russia to do this again. and that's something that really trump certainly does not want to be known for. >> absolutely, brianna. and. >> you know, it's very interesting. because when you look at the intelligence reports on what russia might do next, when it comes to a. >> peace agreement of this. >> type or a ceasefire. >> agreement of this type. >> it's very clear that the russian intention is to continue their efforts to. subvert ukraine. in essence, what they want to do is okay, we'll possible scenario here is that they will stop the fighting if there is an agreement that is

reached, but then prepare for their next efforts to subvert the ukrainian regime, that could mean moving in troops like they tried to do in, you know, three years ago. or it could mean something more subtle, you know, where they take over the government through other means. those are the kinds of things that could happen here. and they have to be anybody who signs on to a peace agreement or a ceasefire agreement of this type has to understand that the russians goal, russia's goal, has not changed. they still want to subvert ukraine. they still want to take it over as either part of their country, like belarus, you know, almost like belarus, or have it. adjunct, uh, semi ally semi-satellite state. so that's that's kind of what we're looking at here. and uh, you know, those who walk into this, uh, effort need to really understand that the russian intentions have not changed. >> and i want to bring in nick paton walsh, who i believe is with us from kyiv as well. and, nick, you know, one of the things we heard over the course

of this was this floating of potential peacekeepers on the ground. at some point, macron even saying that that that any danger at this point would pale in comparison to danger that could potentially come later on. i wonder what stood out to you as far as the realities of what? sure. a bilateral of two leaders standing together may project a lot of optimism, but the realities of what we have heard from all parties in regards to some of what was floated over the course of this press conference. >> yeah. look, i mean, i think it's important to. >> just to look at the hard. truths of what we've heard here and recognize. >> that they don't enormously deviate from. >> what we knew. >> was likely to be the case prior to the press conference. what we have seen is an exceptional moment of bonhomie between the french and american presidents, and i think that's what's been lacking the sense of, frankly, fear and animosity from european leaders about trump's intentions. here. we have, you know, in that earlier moment, trump reached towards macron's hands and sort of grabbed it, saying he's a smart

customer. clearly a bit of ability for both men to get along and heal that relationship. yes, we've heard some details potentially about the french being willing to step forward. uh, trump emphasizing how this sort of any future peacekeeping arrangement would be borne principally by europe in terms of costs and application. that's something the europeans have indeed been floating for a number of months now. the possibility of tens of thousands of european peacekeepers not there to fight, as macron was keen to stress, but not dangerous. but credible was the phrase that he used. he also sort of tried to bring the u.s. partially into this, without necessarily saying that they would be militarily involved in security guarantees, suggesting that they would be there in solidarity, and that message would be important. and i think what he's trying to do in this is twist the tables from suggesting that the united states is somehow no longer interested in restraining russia or backing up european security against it, and to, in fact, use the fact that the united states

is now potentially in his interpretation. and from the smiles we saw in this meeting, willing to back up the macron represented europe that we're potentially seeing that that sense of leverage back at the negotiating table with moscow. but there's an awful lot still that could potentially go wrong. just remind everybody. two weeks ago, trump said then he would meet with zelenskyy in the coming days, it looks much more likely to happen here. that rare earth minerals deal looks like it's on track, but our understanding from ukrainian sources here is that puts a lot of difficult stuff further down the road. so a remarkable reversal here in terms of the mood and the tone, but the actual practical details of what we're seeing seem to be pretty similar to what we already knew, although there may have more of a chance of being implemented now. >> all right, nick, thank you. let's go to kaitlan collins, who is there in the room during this press conference. what stood out to you, caitlin? well, what you're watching is a delicate dance happening between

these two world leaders who have starkly different views of the power dynamic at play here, and also how this should play out. i mean, you could hear that in the questions that were being asked to both of these world leaders, but also in how president macron was answering his thoughts on what this looks like going forward and how this conflict could be resolved. and, of course, about the past statements by president trump when it comes to security guarantees, because, yes, president trump has made clear he believes that it's ultimately going to be the responsibility of europe. and president macron acknowledged that, saying that they are the ones who are most directly at threat by being by proximity, of course, to ukraine. and so in that conversation, though, president macron also harkened back to 2014 and said that if there are not security guarantees in a deal, then the deal can essentially be not worth very much and that putin will essentially tear through that if there are not those deals in place. he was very delicately trying to to kind of lay that policy out as he was standing next to president trump, who was when he was asked by a french reporter if the united states would pay to to help build

ukraine. he talked about essentially, he argued, the united states has done enough. and disagreeing in that view of what that next step looks like going forward. and so that is really the question here, because essentially, president macron is trying to message that any deal that does not have those firm, airtight guarantees is not going to be worth a deal, he said. they all want one, but a weak deal is not going to beget a lasting peace. and so that's really the question going forward here. and you can just see how different these two leaders are approaching the situation with president macron also in the oval office, making sure to point out that russia has been the aggressor here and that russia bears the ultimate responsibility for what has happened in the last three years since this invasion happened. that is all messaging done to president trump. and he's a world leader who knows him well. they have disagreed and agreed on many things. and you could kind of see that in his answers. as for president trump making clear that he does believe that they could potentially be on the cusp of getting a deal here. and certainly with that minerals deal as well, that his treasury secretary, who was in the room inside the oval office also

earlier was talking about the necessary agreement there. there's still a question of what that looks like. and if they come to that agreement, though, of course, and ultimately what the overall agreement here looks like and whether these two world leaders are on the same page with whatever the terms of that deal are. >> a lot of overview over the course of this press conference, but a lot of details still to be worked out. caitlin, really appreciate it. i also want to bring in melissa bell, who is in paris, because, look, the french president, emmanuel macron, he he of course, is the one standing next to president trump. but really the beginning or i would say he represented in some ways a lot of europe and saying that europe is going to be alongside the united states, and the united states needs to be alongside europe. and i wonder just there in france, what you have heard from the french over whether he was actually effective in making that case for europe and what it will take to convince, i think, what is fair to say, a skeptical president trump to commit in the way that that macron and other

leaders would like him to. >> well. >> certainly, you have to remember that this meeting happened in the context of all that happened last week, that blindsiding of europeans by those talks, by the tone of the american administration going into them, by the abandonment of somewhat. europeans had considered the key concessions that the west might try to seek from russia. as these peace talks began. notably the abandoning of the idea of the potential membership of nato of. ukraine in nato, and then what appeared to be president trump's determination to get to a peace deal quickly. this visit by emmanuel. >> macron was really about reclaiming the narrative, wooing donald trump, making clear to the world and specifically to vladimir putin, that the west still stands completely together on these issues. and i think the most interesting part of the meeting was not so much what we heard in the press conference, but what we heard before the two men spoke during those comments in the oval office. at one point, president trump, speaking of the fact that president zelenskyy would be coming to the

united states, coming to washington to see him, that that rare minerals deal, a rare earth minerals deal was nearly there, that they'd made progress, that that he believed it would come through and that once it had been signed, peace could be restored to ukraine. president macron then responded in french, picking up where president trump had left off, saying what the president means is that all of this is very important and this a re-engagement of washington within the european side in favor of ukraine is an important signal to moscow that lends uncertainty to all that is happening, and that is crucial. to which president trump replied, the french was a beautiful language. fundamentally, what emmanuel macron has managed to do is come here and both in the comments before and the comments we just heard there, restate the american position, not simply reframing, as he's done consistently over the last two weeks, the actual facts of how this war began, that this was a russian led invasion, that russia was the aggressor, that ukraine was the victim. but

reframing the american position itself, even as he stood next to president trump. and i think that was quite deftly done. of course, the british prime minister arrives later this week, and europeans will continue to try and maintain that image of the west being on side and the peace negotiations happening in a coherent, cohesive way and on the side of ukraine. >> very interesting. and alex marquardt, you know, he was asked and he sort of sidestepped it. what makes you think you can trust putin? which i have to say is such an excellent short question. and so to the point. and he didn't answer it directly, but he basically sort of said what? putin wants to make a deal. i just wonder what you thought of that moment. >> trump has repeatedly said that he trusts that that putin wants peace. and i think one thing is clear here. the trump administration is very impatient about getting to a peace between ukraine and russia, and they might be the only ones, i think the other ones, the other

parties, russia, ukraine, the europeans definitely want want to take more time. and in fact, the russians may not want a peace deal at all. this is why we've already seen them coming out saying we will not accept not just ukraine and nato, but we will not accept any nato troops inside ukraine. so that could just be a complete deal breaker for them. and that's exactly what macron just spent the last hour or the last few hours talking about, is the prospect of european troops inside ukraine as as peacemakers. i think this is what was very clear today is this is the beginning of a longer process. you heard nick paton walsh there talking about, yes, we could see a minerals deal soon, but all the complicated details are going to have to come down the line. this meeting today with the french is the beginning of a full court press by the europeans. for during the rest of the week, with the brits and others engaging with american officials, at the end of which the europeans hope that the americans will come around to this question of security guarantees. but you didn't hear any real agreement there. what

you heard was very deft flattery from president macron. keep talking, kept talking about his friend donald. dear donald, how many references did we hear about that notre dame ceremony where trump was was the guest of honor? you didn't hear trump agreeing to these security guarantees that the americans would back up. so this is the beginning of a longer process. and one thing that really shows us how far apart the americans and the europeans are, is this vote at the united nations today, where the u.s. voted alongside russia on a resolution that they voted against this resolution that condemned russia and demanded the withdrawal of russian forces from ukraine. the u.s. could not condemn russia. the u.s. could not demand these russian forces withdraw. it's just a really stark position for the u.s. to take. >> just really quickly is, um, is trump's patience with russia on this? if russia doesn't want to make a deal and trump's kind

of stuck his neck out here saying that he believes they do, is it finite? >> for all of the criticism of the trump administration about concessions and appeasing russia, he could have a short fuze with them as well. and he has talked about flooding ukraine with more weapons. they have talked about ratcheting up the sanctions against russia if they don't play ball. so we've seen a lot of carrots with regards to to russia, but the sticks have been have been dangled out there as well. so it's a real possibility. >> all right. thank you all. kim dozier cedric leighton, alex marquardt nick paton walsh kaitlan collins elizabeth, did i get everyone? uh, thanks for the insight and time. really appreciate it, everyone. we'll be right back. >> on twitter. breaking the bird march 9th on cnn. >> consumer cellular ranked number one in network coverage and customer satisfaction. >> hi. >> my friend linda has you guys. it gets way better coverage than i do. >> sounds like. >> linda has you beat. >> only in coverage. >> and plans start at $20. >> okay. price to. >> call or. >> visit consumer cellular. >> to switch today.

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>> welcome back. president trump is now defending the ultimatum from elon musk that has really thrown the federal workforce into chaos. federal employees have until midnight tonight to submit a list of five things they accomplished in the last week, or potentially lose their jobs. that's according to an email they got. now, despite the president's approval, a number of his agency heads are telling their staffers just don't respond to the email. joining us now is max alonso, the secretary treasurer for the national federation of federal employees. you represent a lot of federal employees, so i guess i'll just start there. i mean, what what advice is your union giving to the more than 100,000 workers you represent? what are you hearing from them? >> um, you know, there's a lot of confusion. um, you know, we're not necessarily telling people what to do. um, you know, i would say that answering the email, uh, you know, the good part of it would be to actually let these people know what we

do, what federal employees do. i was a federal employee myself at one point. so, um, i think that, you know, if you feel like answering it answered, you know, answer the email. um, i will say that, uh, there's nothing that says that you have to answer the email. um, but that's not necessarily advice i want to give right now, because there are laws in place to protect these federal employees. but we've seen that these laws really aren't being followed. um, and i, i worry that some damage would be done before we go through all these lawsuits. um, yeah. so so that that is that is the advice. i wouldn't say advice, but those are some choices that federal employees can make on their own. i will say that if you're in a union, your union will be representing you. um, if you're not a union member, uh, i worry that you don't necessarily have a as many people, uh, that have your

back. >> and so i guess my question is, you talked about, you know, you're not necessarily giving employees advice at this point, but as as a union, if you're if you're representing certain members, at what point does it become a problem union wise for you all where you say, okay, now it actually is something that we have to go and deal with. >> well, it is a problem, um, because some people will make the choice to not answer this email. i know a lot of people have been told by their supervisors not to answer the email by agencies, not to answer the email. so there's a lot of confusion, like i said. so where when is it that somebody doesn't answer the email and they are reprimanded or or let go or terminated, that that poses a problem? um, we definitely have their backs and we will be will be representing them and making sure that they are they're made whole, uh, because that is an illegal action. >> how do you see this chaos and

confusion ending? i mean, where does this go? >> um, well, i don't know. um, i don't i don't know what the administration's plan is right now. um, bottom line, musk doesn't have a background in federal government and how it's run. uh, he's used to running private corporations. um, so, you know, and i don't think a lot of those corporations necessarily. value their employees. um, and that's that's their own prerogative. they're private companies. uh, what? he, you know, he owns these companies. um, what he doesn't own is the federal government, and he's never going to own the federal government. uh, you know, our federal workers work for taxpayers of this country. uh, you know, the administration and elon musk, uh, they're trying to run it like a business. um, you know, this isn't a business. the american people pay taxes for the services that these federal

employees are giving them. and if we're firing them, well, they're not going to be getting the services. i mean, this is this is money that that taxpayers are spending for services that, that they're expecting. >> yeah. so, um. max, uh, i, i'm sorry, we don't have much more time left in the show, but i really i really appreciate you being here. thanks for even just a quick time perspective. it's really appreciated. >> thanks. thanks for having us on. >> of course. all right, everyone, we'll be right back. >> the lead with jake tapper today at 4:00 on cnn. >> still congested? >> nope. >> uh oh. mucinex 2 in 1. saline nasal spray spray. >> goodbye. >> mucinex 2 in 1. saline nasal spray with a gentle mist and innovative power jet spray. goodbye to congestion. its comeback season. >> at drive time, we make it easy to get the car you want, get approved and you can control your real payments on any car. >> so if i like. >> this car but i love this

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