Mastodawn

After Bloomberg leaked the transcript of a phone call wherein U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff coached his Russian counterpart on selling a Ukraine peace deal to President Trump, neither country is denying its veracity. While Trump is defending Witkoff as a skilled dealmaker, some in his party are bristling at his approach. “Would a Russian paid agent do less than [Witkoff]? He should be fired,” Rep. Don Bacon (R- Neb.) said on social media. Read more from @[email protected]
https://flip.it/Vl_dDD
#Leak #Bloomberg #Witkoff #SteveWitcoff #Russia #Ukraine #Trump #US

Steve Witkoff coached a Putin aide on how Russian leader should pitch Trump on Ukraine peace plan, report reveals

Trump envoy Steve Witkoff, according to a transcript of the Oct. 14 call published by the news service, advised Putin’s foreign policy adviser Yuri Ushakov that Putin should call Trump to congratulate him for the Gaza peace deal, say Russia had supported it and that he respects the president as a man of peace.

PBS News

bsmall2 Jul 4, 2025

> On June 1, 32 Palestinians were killed and more than 250 wounded near the Rafah aid station, in what became known as the “Witkoff Massacre,” after Trump’s Mideast envoy Steve Witkoff.
> On June 3, at least 27 Palestinians were killed and 184 were injured by an Israeli airstrike on the road leading to the Rafah distribution center.

https://www.counterpunch.org/2025/07/04/when-the-helping-hand-holds-a-machine/
#JeffreyStClair on #WitcoffMassacre #SteveWitcoff #TrumpIsrael #uspol #Israel #Palestine #GazaGenocide

When the Helping Hand Holds a Machine

These killings weren’t accidents. They weren’t provoked. They didn’t come about as an attempt to quell riots. The people killed were not collateral damage in attempts to kill Hamas fighters. The shootings were not in retaliation for any violence from the Palestinians. Israeli troops were ordered to fire on Palestinians coming to get scraps of food handed out by the Christian fundamentalists and mercenaries who run the food distribution sites set up by Trump and Netanyahu. Let’s repeat that: Israeli troops were ordered to kill starving, unarmed civilians who were trying to get food for their families.

CounterPunch.org