Beltway Insider: Trump, Ukraine Peace Plan, IDF Filmed Murdering Prisoners, Hong Kong Fire
- Details
- Category: Haute This Issue
- Published on Saturday, 29 November 2025 18:20
- Written by Janet Walker
President Donald Trump, in what appears to be retaliation for the targeted attacks on two National Guardsmen, posted in his annual Thanksgiving message including inflammatory anti-Somali messages, and personal attacks on Minnesota Governor Tim Walz.
The President's job approval rating, according to Gallup featured in The New York Times for the period ending November 30, 2025, of those polled who approve of his effectiveness as President decreased by 4% to 36% and those who disapprove of his effectiveness as president increased by 2% to 60%. A slight 3% of the population polled have no opinion. Ratings are calculated weekly.
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Ukraine Peace Plan Fall Out
With the success of the Israeli-Palestine ceasefire tentatively holding, the Trump administration has attempted to bring an end to the Ukraine-Russian war, presenting a pointed peace plan that surrenders a majority of the nation to its adversary.
Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky, while not unschooled in the ways of political persuasion, has something career politicians lack, a deep, unwavering devotion to his country, all of it, and is unwilling to carve it up to be used as chips in a larger game.
Especially in the wake of a corruption scandal and allegations of the initial peace plan was simply a translated version from the Kremlin. The overarching allegations are that U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin, have made side deals to split the profits of the mining and agricultural rights that will come out of any deal that sacrifice Ukraine territory.
With the Trump Chief negotiator Steve Witkoff, on the hook for coaching the top Russian negotiator, last month, and Zelensky's chief negotiator, Andriy Yermak, resigning after his home was raided by the Anti-Corruption unit, Zelensky needs to sit at the table and explain in no uncertain terms that he will not be bullied into relinquishing any territories.
"According to the Telegraph, U.S. President Donald Trump has dispatched his peace envoy Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner to Moscow to present the proposal directly to Russian President Vladimir Putin—a move that would mark a sharp break with decades of U.S. policy. The plan would effectively legitimize Russia's annexation of Crimea, Donetsk and Luhansk and comes despite unease among European partners," Newsweek reported.
With the Trump Administration strongarming him, explaining that the U.S. will withhold military aid, Zelensky needs to explain clearly that he will buy air support from the French, Germans, and EU, before he surrenders one acre land to the Russian.
President Trump's Peace Plan, which is eerily similar to the framework of the Israeli-Palestine ceasefire agreement, presents Ukraine, as a subnation, not one that is wholly supported by the European Union, NATO, and the European leaders, as well as U.S. Allies.
Ukraine is a founding member of the United Nations, one of the original charter members, it is not begging to be admitted to the party. It is wholly invited. The shocking cessions show the Trump Administration as an ally of Russia, and attempting to subdue, the determination of the Ukraine to maintain its territorial sovereignty.
Trump's Peace plan, "severely limits Ukraine's sovereignty by capping the size of its armed forces to 600,000, and by forcing it to abandon NATO aspirations and enshrine neutrality in its constitution (Ukraine was constitutionally a neutral country before Russia's invasion of Crimea in 2014)," reported Time Magazine.
The Peace Plan also calls for amnesty for all, including the bombing of the maternity ward during the siege of Mariupol at the beginning of the war, the mass casualty events throughout the country, the slaughter of entire villages, and the rapes of thousands of women before they were murdered, and thrown into mass graves.
As Ukraine is a member nation of the United Nations, it does not need the permission or approval of the United States to build a military as every nation as the right to defend itself against bad actors, and more importantly demanding the Ukraine give up its NATO pursuits, reads like it is assisting Putin in his long range goals of the reunification of the Soviet Union.
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Rare Earth Elements
While the need for peace in Ukraine is critical, the importance of good faith negotiations is also critical. Asking Ukraine to concede to Russia control of the Donetsk and Lubansk regions gives control of Ukraine rich rare earth element deposits to Russia.
Requiring Ukraine to surrender these regions creates critical shortages in Ukraine's global trade, as Rare Earth Elements, (RRE) are highly valuable and necessary for any electronic with a computer screen, including defense, aeronautics, transportation, shipping, alternative energy manufacturing, as well as the communications and the manufacture of every handheld device in the world, an industry that grows daily.
Ukraine is not the only nation with large deposits of REE, however, across the whole of the European continent Rare Earth Elements are imported from China to meet the manufacturing needs. Surrendering these territories to Russia puts Putin in the position to usurp China's import market. It also paves the way for U.S., at least under this presidency, to again become a trading partner with Russia.
Putin Appears Ready for Peace
Russian President Vladimir Putin's "Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov warned on Wednesday against jumping to conclusions regarding an end to the war, which Russia launched when it invaded Ukraine in Feb. 2022. "Wait. It's too early to say that," Peskov told reporters, state news agency TASS reported, when asked whether this was the closest Russia and Ukraine had ever been to concluding a peace agreement," NBC.com reported.
Even as Putin has announced he is more serious about the current proposal, fighting continues with both sides maintaining an offensive effort. Recent news reports stated Ukraine has sank two of Russia's Shadow Tank ships in the Black sea, using underwater drones, and Russia has bombarded civilian cities and towns with air drone strikes.
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IDF Forces Kills Two Brothers
Israeli Defense Forces killed two brothers, 8 and 11, in Gaza after they allegedly crossed the "Yellow Line," a border established after the peace plan was enacted. Since the establishment of this unofficial demarcation line that has no warning markers, signs, or flashing lights to warns Gazans of the impending peril, upwards of 40 Palestinians have been murdered.
Since the October 10, ceasefire peace plan began more than 350 Gazans who survived the brutalities of more than two years of war, enduring famine, surviving bombing raids, only to be murdered after the ground war ended. Palestinian officials have repeatedly stated that the Yellow Line continues to be moved and has refused to construct any type of warning signs. Israel denies moving the line and states it only targets individuals who pose an immediate threat to its forces.
The lengthy military response, which many believed represented more than the expected retaliatory action to the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack, which killed more than 1200 Israeli citizens, and burned homes, and destroyed communities near the Gaza border, ended killing more than 70,000 Palestinians, including upwards of 15,000 children, and a sprinkling of Hamas' leadership.
For Israeli's war has become part of their every day lives. Reports in the West Bank, which is the other part of the nation of Palestine, where Israeli soldiers were filmed executing Palestinian civilians.
"Israeli security forces shot dead two Palestinians in the West Bank on Thursday after they appeared to surrender, according to videos released by an international news agency and two Arab television networks. [. . .]The shooting came amid days of extensive Israeli military operations and raids in the Israeli-occupied northern West Bank. It prompted fresh accusations from Palestinian officials that Israel was using excessive force there," The New York Times reported.
Now, with a thinly, but largely holding, ceasefire, Israel's main objective to dismantle Hamas has not been met, which leaves one to wonder, what is next for the people of Gaza who were forced to pay the price for actions of the few.
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Hamas Hierarchy Remains
The Hamas terror organization has been significantly damaged but not destroyed. With the killing of top Hamas leaders, Israel has managed to weaken the structure of the organization but has not fully met its own voiced goals of dismantling the Iranian backed terror organization.
With many terror networks, assassinating the leadership may weaken the organization momentarily but loyalist to these causes are reinvigorated after these attacks, and these organization are similar to other leadership structures, when one person is removed, others are promoted.
The 2024 Lebanese Cell Phone and Pager attack, which Israel's intelligence agency Mossad was responsible was a brilliant wartime attack, and ended killing 42 Hezbollah members, and injuring many others. It did not however, radically change the Hamas hierarchy, the attack simply incensed another of Israel's enemies.
Attacks in Syria
In Syria reports of Israeli soldiers murdering scores of citizens, households including children as the family was suspected of providing material support to aid terrorist attacks in Israel.
"Israel's military said in statements that several of its soldiers were injured, three of them seriously, during what it described as an "exchange of fire" in Beit Jinn. It also said Israeli forces arrested three individuals affiliated with Jamaa Islamiya, a Lebanon-based militant group. It accused the individuals of planning attacks on Israel. "Additional terrorists" were hit, the military said, adding that it provided "aerial assistance" to Israeli troops," reported The Washington Post.
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Coronavirus Total
At the order of the President of the United States, the U.S. no longer recognizes the value of The World Health Organization. The CDC has recommended every person from age six months, including senior citizens should receive at least one shot of an updated COVID-19 vaccine, annually. The death toll from Covid-19 has dramatically decreased, as has transmission of the virus. Even as confirmed new cases continue each week, fewer are dying from the newer variants.
For the seven days ending November 30, 2025, the total number of confirmed coronavirus cases reported by the World Health Organization increased by 22,608 to 778,922,585. The total worldwide death toll increased by 88 to 7,103,341 deaths. The United States has stopped providing Covid data to the World Health Organization. (Data updated November 9, 2025, from the World Health Organization).
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Hong Kong Inferno Kills Hundreds
A raging fire quickly engulfed a high rise apartment building in Hong Kong's residential district, which was scaffolded with highly flammable bamboo, and instantly spread to seven adjoining structures, killing 128, with hundreds still missing.
"The death toll on Friday rose sharply above 100 after firefighters were finally able to enter the remains of the seven charred buildings at the Wang Fuk Court complex. Hundreds of shocked and tired residents have piled into shelters. Families are still looking for some 200 missing loved ones. Bodies need to be identified," The New York Times reported.
The fire, which was first reported during the afternoon hours, spread rapidly and minutes after the first call, the fire had reached the roof of building one. The complex of seven residential buildings, only eight miles from Mainland China, housed 1984 apartments and 4,600 residents, and were in phases of construction, scaffolded with bamboo which could be heard snapping and crackling the minute the blaze consumed it.
The buildings were a tinder box, and as the bamboo served as additional fuel, the fire remained unabated, gaining strength by consuming other combustibles, many of which were used to cut corners during the construction phase.
Politics played a central reason, why the five alarm fire largely burned uncontrolled for hours, as Hong Kong's Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu refused help from China's President Xi-Jinping, even as a battalion of fire trucks sat at the border of Hong Kong and China, only eight miles from where the buildings were engulfed in an uncontrollable blaze.
Even as the fire burned into the night, as fire hoses were unable to reach the top floors, to accept the assistance from Beijing would give, Xi-Jinping and the people of Hong Kong, the impression that the leader was weak.
"The moment underscored the delicate political challenge for the city's Beijing-backed chief executive, John Lee. Mr. Lee needs to demonstrate that his government, under tighter control by Beijing after a sweeping political overhaul, can manage a crisis of this magnitude on its own. If mainland emergency crews had crossed into Hong Kong, it risked being seen as undermining the city's promise of running its own affairs," The New York Times reported.
A three-day mourning period has been announced, as officials have made responsibility their main priority. Arrests have already begun, although no cause yet has been determined as to what started the inferno.
Citizens of Hong Kong reacted much like citizens the world over respond when a tragedy occurs, by mobilizing and reaching beyond what separates to help others. Scores of citizens donated clothing, goods, housewares, food, and water, responding to the need, and putting politics and differences aside.
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For more information on President Donald Trump: Whitehouse.gov.
Sources: Various © Articles covered by Copyright protection.
Janet Walker is the publisher, founder, and sole owner of Haute-Lifestyle.com. A graduate of New York University, she has been covering international news through the Beltway Insider, a weekly review of the nation's top stories, for more than a decade. A general beat writer/reporter and entertainment/film critic, she is also an accomplished news/investigative news/crime reporter and submitted for Pulitzer Prize consideration "Cops Conspire to Deep Six Sex Assaults" in the Breaking News Category and was persuaded to withdraw the submission. Ms. Walker has completed five screenplays "The Six Sides of Truth," "The Assassins of Fifth Avenue," "The Wednesday Killer," "The Manhattan Project," and the sci-fi thriller "Project 13: The Last Day." She has also published "Unholy Alliances: A True Crime Story," and "Days, Times, Seasons, and Events: A Collection of Poetry & Prose," which can be purchased here. She is a member of the Los Angeles Press Club, the National Writers Union, and a member of the International Federation of Journalists.
