Is there a direct link between what US President Donald Trump says and what Russian President Vladimir Putin does? Certainly, the harsh words and bitter violence of recent days in Ukraine suggest the answer is maybe.

Trump’s decision to help Ukraine fight an onslaught of Russian attacks reverses a Pentagon decision to withhold defensive weapons.

President Donald Trump said on Tuesday he had approved sending U.S. defensive weapons to Ukraine and was considering additional sanctions on Moscow, underscoring his frustration with Russian President Vladimir Putin over the growing death toll in Russia's war with Ukraine.

President Donald Trump announced Wednesday he planned to hit Brazil with a 50% tariff, in part due to the treatment of its former president and his political ally, Jair Bolsonaro.

Trump announced a 50 percent tariff on all Brazilian goods, escalating a feud over Brazil’s prosecution of former president Jair Bolsonaro. Brazil vowed to retaliate.

"Any measure to unilaterally raise tariffs will be responded to in accordance with Brazil's Economic Reciprocity Law," Lula's office said in a statement. (Reporting by Ricardo Brito; Writing by Isabel Teles;

U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday met for a second time in two days with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to discuss Gaza as Trump's Middle East envoy said Israel and Hamas were closing their differences on a ceasefire deal.

During their meeting, Netanyahu gave Trump a letter that the Israeli prime minister said he had used to nominate the U.S. president for the Nobel Peace Prize. Trump, appearing pleased by the gesture,