TODAY’S INTErnATIONAL story

Trump, Putin set summit as Zelenskyy lands in DC

What happened
President Donald Trump said yesterday that he and Russian President Vladimir Putin had agreed during a “very productive” phone conversation to meet in Budapest “within two weeks or so” to discuss ending the war in Ukraine. The Kremlin said Russia had requested the two-hour call, which took place as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was en route to Washington, D.C., for a meeting with Trump today.

Who said what
Trump said on social media that he and Putin made “great progress” during their call and would meet in Hungary’s capital “to see if we can bring this ‘inglorious’ War between Russia and Ukraine to an end.” Trump “has long courted Putin” but is becoming “increasingly critical” of the Russian leader as he flouts Trump’s Ukraine peace efforts, The Washington Post said. Yesterday’s call was an “opportunity for Putin to regain the initiative and promote Russian narratives” before Zelenskyy arrived and tried to persuade Trump to arm Ukraine with long-range Tomahawk cruise missiles.

“Moscow is rushing to resume dialogue as soon as it hears about Tomahawks,” Zelenskyy said on social media after arriving in D.C. Putin’s call “appeared to dim prospects” that Trump would approve the long-range missiles for Kyiv, as seemed likely earlier this week, The Wall Street Journal said. Moscow’s “long-range curveball” fits an increasingly “familiar pattern,” the BBC said: “Every time Trump grows increasingly frustrated with Putin’s intransigence over Ukraine,” the Russian leader calls and Trump “backs off his threats to apply tougher sanctions or supply more destructive weapons.”

What next?
Trump said Secretary of State Marco Rubio would meet with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov as soon as next week to lay the groundwork for the Budapest summit.

TODAY’S LEGAL Story

DOJ indicts John Bolton over classified files

What happened
Federal prosecutors in Maryland yesterday charged John Bolton, the longtime Republican national security official who worked for and then became a critic of President Donald Trump, with mishandling classified information. The 18-count indictment alleges that Bolton emailed more than 1,000 pages of “diary-like entries” to his wife and daughter while working as Trump’s national security adviser in 2018 and 2019.

Who said what
The prosecution of Bolton, the third Trump “adversary” charged in the last month, will “unfold against the backdrop of concerns that the Justice Department is pursuing the president’s political enemies while at the same time sparing his allies from scrutiny,” The Associated Press said. But this indictment is “significantly more detailed in its allegations than earlier cases against former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James.”

Bolton “insists on his innocence,” The Washington Post said in an editorial. But “even if the case was as strong as the 26-page indictment suggests,” Trump’s conduct “inevitably casts a cloud over the charges.” There is “little doubt that the underlying motivation for this prosecution is retribution,” The Wall Street Journal said in an editorial. If Bolton had “praised” Trump, “it’s safe to say he wouldn’t have been indicted.”

What next?
Bolton was expected to make an initial court appearance today. Meanwhile, Trump’s “unprecedented effort to pressure the Justice Department into prosecuting his perceived enemies” continues apace, the Post said, with prosecutors “pursuing investigations into a sitting U.S. senator, former top leaders of the FBI and CIA and the Georgia prosecutor who charged Trump in a massive 2020 election conspiracy case.”

It’s not all bad

Christophe Waggoner spends all year searching for Halloween costumes at thrift shops in Texas so that come October, he can give them away to kids in the Austin area. He launched his October’s Child giveaway in 2017 with 100 items, and this year he gathered more than 2,000 costumes and accessories, washing all of them and repairing those in need. “He gives his heart and soul,” October’s Child volunteer Keri Stern told The Washington Post.

Under the radar

Western Alaska reels in storm aftermath

Historic storms lashed Alaska’s Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta last weekend, leaving devastation across the southwestern part of the state and prompting mass evacuations from the remote region. At least one death was directly attributed to the remnants of Typhoon Halong, and more than 1,500 people have been displaced by destruction from the hurricane-force winds and high surf. Indigenous coastal communities are particularly affected.

The “hardest-hit communities” are Kipnuk and Kwigillingok, where high winds and rain “damaged every single home,” The Guardian said. In the days immediately following the storm, hundreds of residents of both villages were left sleeping in local schools, some “without functioning toilets,” Alaska Public Radio said.

The “remoteness and the scale of the destruction” along the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta have “created challenges for getting resources in place,” said The Associated Press. Rescuers have begun to switch from “initial search-and-rescue operations” to trying to “stabilize or restore basic services.” Given the sparsity of the affected communities, authorities have also begun one of the “most significant airlifts in Alaska history” to evacuate “hundreds” to safety.

It’s been “known for years” that Native communities and “Kipnuk in particular” are at “increasing risk for storm surge damage,” Yale Climate Connections said. A 2022 report by the Alaska Institute for Justice indicated that the “frequency and severity” of flooding in the “low-lying region” had increased, CBC said. The report labeled the “relocation of the community” an “urgent need.” Rising global temperatures have heated the permafrost underneath Kipnuk and other nearby communities, increasing the danger.

On this day

October 17, 2005

“The Colbert Report,” Stephen Colbert’s satirical take on a political cable news program, premiered on Comedy Central. It aired for nine seasons before Colbert left to host “The Late Show” on CBS. The network announced in July that it will end Colbert’s top-rated run, and the entire 33-year-old franchise, in May 2026.

TODAY’S newspaperS

‘Venezuela girds for US fight’

“Helicopters, B-52s expand U.S. activity near Venezuela,” says The Washington Post on Friday’s front page. “Venezuela girds for U.S. fight, but its defenses are vulnerable,” The Wall Street Journal says. Marco Rubio “has Trump’s ear, wins over isolationists,” in “path to pursue Maduro,” the Los Angeles Times says. “Venezuelan leaders offered U.S. a path to stay in power without Maduro,” the Miami Herald said. “Federal appeals court unanimously upholds block” on Trump’s Illinois National Guard deployment, ruling “political opposition is not rebellion,” the Chicago Sun-Times says. “Insurance costs pummel seniors,” The Minnesota Star Tribune says. “Less FEMA aid flows to areas hit by disaster,” says The New York Times.

► See the newspaper front pages

Tall tale

Inhale mail

France’s postal service is issuing a special stamp to celebrate one of the country’s national treasures: the croissant. Le Poste issued 600,000 of the scented stamps, which smell like “butter and flaky crust,” said France 24. This isn’t the first time La Poste has immortalized a French bakery item, either — in honor of the 2024 Olympic Summer Games in Paris, it created a stamp that smelled like a baguette.

Morning Report was written and edited by Nadia Croes, Catherine Garcia, Scott Hocker, Anya Jaremko-Greenwold, Justin Klawans, Rafi Schwartz, Peter Weber and Kari Wilkin, with illustrations by Stephen Kelly and Julia Wytrazek.