Trump admin updates: Vance meets with Zelenskyy in Rome

The vice president is to meet later with Italian and EU prime ministers.

Last Updated: May 18, 2025, 4:11 PM EDT

Vice President JD Vance met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Rome on Sunday before a later meeting with the Italian and European Union prime ministers.

President Donald Trump announced he will speak with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday before speaking with Zelenskyy on the war in Ukraine next week. Representatives from Ukraine and Russia held discussions on Friday.

The conversation follows Trump's first foreign trip of his second administration, visiting Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates throughout the week.

Latest headlines:

Here's how the news is developing.
May 16, 2025, 9:18 AM EDT

Trump says Iran wants to trade with US

In a new clip released by Fox News on Friday, President Donald Trump said Iran is interested in trading with the United States. While emphasizing that he is open to that, he also noted that he's using trade "to settle scores."

The United States has imposed various sanctions on Iran, and trade is still significantly restricted.

"Iran wants to trade with us. Okay, if you can believe that," Trump told FOX News' Bret Baier. "And I'm okay with it. I'm using trade to settle scores and to make peace. But I've told Iran we'll make a deal. You're going to be really you're going to be very happy."

Trump continued to convey a sense of urgency in nuclear negotiations, stating that there is not much time left before Iran potentially obtains a nuclear weapon.

President Donald Trump attends a business forum in Abu Dhabi, May 16, 2025.
Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images

"Well, they're not going to have a nuclear weapon, and eventually they'll have a nuclear weapon. And then the discussion becomes a much different one," Trump said.

--ABC News' Kelsey Walsh

May 16, 2025, 8:36 AM EDT

Trump tours Abrahamic Family House in Abu Dhabi

At his final stop before departing the UAE, President Donald Trump visited the Abrahamic Family House, an interfaith complex that includes a church, mosque, and temple, linking the three Abrahamic religions of Christianity, Islam and Judaism.

"It's amazing," he said inside the synagogue. Trump once again took off his shoes when he went into the mosque just as he did yesterday when he visited the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque.

After signing a welcome book, Trump was asked for his message to the people of Abu Dhabi and the UAE.

"Well it's just a message of unity. When you look at what we've just seen, great unity, great faith, they're incredible people with a tremendous leader who's a friend of mine."

President Donald Trump speaks to members of the media accompanying him aboard Airforce One, after leaving Abu Dhabi at the end of his Middle East tour on May 16, 2025.
Win Mcnamee/Getty Images

--ABC News' Justin Gomez

May 16, 2025, 8:33 AM EDT

Trump says release of Hur tapes is up to Bondi

Asked about the possible release of the recordings of President Joe Biden's interview with Special Counsel Robert Hur, President Donald Trump said "that's up to [Attorney General] Pam [Bondi] and the group."

"That's up to Pam and the group. I haven't really looked into it. Look, everybody understands the condition of him. I know people that are 89, 90, 92, 93 years old and are literally perfect. But Joe was not one of them, and they did a lot of hiding."

President Donald Trump speaks to members of the media accompanying him aboard Airforce One, after leaving Abu Dhabi at the end of his Middle East tour on May 16, 2025.
Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images

--ABC News' Benjamin Siegel

May 16, 2025, 5:04 AM EDT

Trump wants to meet with Putin on Ukraine 'as soon as we can set it up'

President Trump on Friday said he wants to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin "as soon as we can set it up" to negotiate an end to the war in Ukraine.

"We're going to do it. I actually think it's time for us to do it," he said.

Trump said he would meet Putin "as soon as we can set it up."

"I would actually leave here and go. I do want to see my beautiful grandson, and we'll be doing that," Trump said, referencing the birth of his daughter Tiffany's son on Thursday.

He suggested that "in two or three weeks" the world could be "a much, much safer place."

"I will tell you that the world is a much safer place right now, and I think in two or three weeks we could have it be a much, much safer place," Trump said. "We're going to handle a couple of situations that you have here with some very serious situations. and we're looking at Gaza, and we've got to get that taken care of. A lot of people are starving. A lot of people. There's a lot of bad things going on."

"We're going to get it done," he said of Ukraine negotiations. "5,000 young people are being killed every single week on average, and we're going to get it done."

-ABC News' Justin Gomez and Benjamin Siegel

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