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The Situation Room

Impact of Trump Trade War?; Mike Waltz Expected to Leave Trump Administration; Ukraine Minerals Deal Signed; White House Anxious Over Lack of Trade Deals?. Aired 11-11:30a ET

Aired May 01, 2025 - 11:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

[11:00:51]

PAMELA BROWN, CNN HOST: Happening now: Oval Office anxieties, White House advisers growing more and more anxious about slow progress toward any solid trade deals. And CNN's reporting indicates President Trump is also growing impatient.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: We want to welcome our viewers here in the United States and around the world. I'm Wolf Blitzer with Pamela Brown, and you're in THE SITUATION ROOM.

And we begin this hour with presidential pressure, sources now telling CNN that there is a growing anxiety within the Trump administration to score a win, and to score it now. Sources telling CNN there is intense pressure to produce deals or announcements, especially when it comes to new trade agreements.

BROWN: CNN chief national affairs correspondent Jeff Zeleny joins us now in THE SITUATION ROOM.

And, Jeff, it's interesting. Trump's advisers have come out publicly, including on this show, and they have thrown around different numbers for potential deals and countries reaching out, but nothing solid. And that's causing some anxiety at the White House.

JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: There's no question about it.

I mean, look at the economic metrics, the numbers, not just the stock market of course, but also just the growth in the domestic product, the contracting economy. But we are told that the president is eager to have some type of a deal, not necessarily fixated on the exact specifics.

So that's why the officials, the Cabinet officials, when they come on and talk to you and others, are making it look -- and there is activity going on behind the scenes, but they really want it to look like there are negotiations, and the president wants something on the board fairly soon.

He's growing frustrated, not with his belief in tariffs. This is a longstanding belief of his. He does believe it's the way to revive American manufacturing, but, yesterday, we saw such an interesting sort of contradiction.

He's talking about the tariffs as a way to essentially lower prices. However, along the way, they could be higher. So that's one of his messaging issues here, but they do want to get some type of a deal. But the economy is a big worry and frustration for them.

That, of course, is why he's trying to say, look, I need more time, and it's Biden's economy now. But we all know that that is not true.

BROWN: Right. And we just had on one of Trump's top economic advisers, Stephen Miran, and he was saying that 20 countries have reached out with written deals and so forth.

Do we know, though, if the administration is actually getting any closer to a concrete deal that it can announce?

ZELENY: That is a great question, and it's about as elusive as the conversations we have been having if the U.S. president and the president of China, President Xi Jinping, have been talking. It's unclear.

So, look, these deals often take a long time, but we do think some are close. India is probably the closest. But the bottom line is, the fine print on these will have to be inspected. Just wanting a deal and actually getting a deal is a very different thing.

But the president, he claims his flexibility is an asset, so we shall see on this, but he is certainly frustrated by the economy, which I think he knows it's his economy, even though he would like to punt it to Joe Biden.

BROWN: All right, Jeff Zeleny, thank you.

ZELENY: Sure.

BROWN: Wolf.

BLITZER: Officials are telling me, by the way, Jeff, that they seem to be getting closer to a deal with Israel as well when it comes to tariffs.

ZELENY: Right.

BLITZER: We will see if that happens.

ZELENY: Sure, a key ally.

BLITZER: Meanwhile, the U.S. and Ukraine are agreeing to terms for a rare earth minerals deal, the agreement also establishing an investment fund for Ukraine's reconstruction, as well as the potential for security assistance.

And it's another major step for the relationship between Washington and Kyiv following February's rather disastrous meeting at the White House between President Trump and President Zelenskyy. But just hours after the deal was announced, Ukrainian officials say Russia launched a new drone attack on the key port city of Odesa. At least two people were reportedly killed.

For more on all of this, we're joined now by CNN's Nick Paton Walsh. He's joining us from London monitoring these developments.

How did this deal come together, apparently relatively quickly, after months and months of contentious negotiations?

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Yes, I mean, they really reached a point of fissure that either there was going to be another big seismic rupture between Kyiv and Washington or they would get this deal on track.

[11:05:07]

Now, the agreement that we have seen a copy of, this shows a yearslong strategic partnership designed, it seems, to build up a fund that can be partially used to rebuild Ukraine after peace breaks out there and also give money to the United States as well.

It doesn't frame this as repaying debt. And, importantly, there's two elements in there which I think will make those proponents of a strong U.S.-Ukraine relationship take comfort. There is within there recognition unambiguously that the full-scale destruction of Ukraine occurred after Russia's full invasion of it.

That's very unambiguous, very direct, laying the blame on the hostilities at Moscow's feet, something that occasionally Trump officials have shied away from when they have been talking about the conflict. It also talks about the possibility that if in the future the United States sells weaponry, arms to Ukraine, part of this fund can be used to pay the U.S. for that, essentially establishing a payment mechanism.

Now, we have never heard really from the Trump administration that they are intent on continuing arms supply to Ukraine. It's something they have kind of let the Biden administration's tail ends continue to do for now, the grants that they gave.

But there is a mechanism now spelt out in black and white. I should point out it's unlikely that suddenly overnight this deal is going to yield billions going to U.S. coffers. It's more about a longer partnership in the event of peace, about rebuilding, about infrastructure.

But it shows, at a very perilous time, after that meeting in the Vatican between President Trump and Zelenskyy, they were engaged in an intense 15-minute conversation, so different from the scenes in the Oval Office over a month ago now, that notorious bust-up, that Kyiv and Washington have a functional relationship.

It's back on track. It's getting the Trump administration the things that it needs. And contrast that with what's happening with their relationship with Moscow, well, really on the rocks, limited progress there at all, frankly, much promise, but maximalist demands from Russian President Vladimir Putin now, and also a rejection of the offer from the United States and Ukraine of an unconditional 30 day cease-fire.

It's about 50 days since that was offered. It's not being taken up. So, look, to put this simply, Ukraine had no choice but to get into this deal. It's not going to change or bring money home for the U.S. overnight, but it shows a strategic partnership that is increasingly distant from what we're seeing with the bonhomie attempts they have had with the Kremlin.

BLITZER: An important point.

How is the Trump administration, Nick, framing this deal as a big win?

WALSH: Yes, I mean, they're basically saying this is how we're going to pay back all the money that was given to Ukraine by the Biden administration.

Trump incorrectly quotes $320 billion. It's closer to 110, 120 or so. This won't pay that back. But money will come to the United States from the natural resources of Ukraine. So you can talk about that as paying off debt or however you want to necessarily phrase it going forwards.

But you have to bear in mind, Wolf, this is a success, certainly, because the U.S. have pushed Zelenskyy's administration to sign this. But, remember, Zelenskyy offered this to the Biden administration, and then Trump seized upon it, and we had this uncomfortable haggling.

When this really comes into effect, when there's peace, when there's rebuilding, when there's investment in Ukraine's infrastructure, there will probably be different governments in both Kyiv and Washington, and so they will have a very different interpretation possibly or implementation of this deal, Wolf.

BLITZER: All right, Nick Paton Walsh reporting for us.

Nick, thank you very much -- Pamela.

BROWN: We have some major breaking news just into THE SITUATION ROOM.

Embattled National Security Adviser Mike Waltz is expected to depart the administration, according to our Kaitlan Collins, who spoke to two sources confirming this.

CNN's Jeff Zeleny is following this. Of course, Jeff, Waltz has been embattled ever since that Signal chat talking about military plans, where he inadvertently added a reporter to the chat. Why now?

ZELENY: He has, Pamela.

And, look, this is something that has been in the works. His influence has been waning inside the West Wing ever since that Signal chat conversation broke out. And for those who don't remember, this is -- it was Mike Waltz who effectively started this, a communication with a variety of officials on that weekend of the military strikes in Yemen.

And we're told that he has never recovered inside the West Wing. But it's also something more than that. Mike Waltz, his foreign policy views are not in complete alignment with the views of the MAGA movement, if you will. He's been much more of a hawk. He's been much more supportive of Ukraine funding, et cetera. So he wasn't always a perfect fit.

And so some people have had him in their sights. Laura Loomer, of course, who's one of the president's outside advisers, some would argue a conspiracy theorist as well, she has been after him, and others have as well. So this is an indication of how he has lost his standing in the White House because of the Signalgate, but not necessarily entirely leading up to that.

[11:10:03]

But this is a major shift in the White House. The president, we're told, our Kaitlan Collins is reporting, as well as the rest of our White House team, that this is something that will be happening likely soon, perhaps today, in the coming days, and other advisers as well.

So we're told one potential replacement is Steve Witkoff. He, of course, is a top adviser to the president. He's emerged as a major envoy. He's met with Vladimir Putin, I think, four times or so. We shall see. But he's one of the names that is being discussed.

But inside the West Wing, Wolf, as you well know covering many White Houses, the national security adviser, his office is just steps away from the Oval Office. So he is a central adviser to this president. But, clearly, the president has lost faith in him, and so not necessarily surprising.

But one indication earlier this week, one more thing here, he was riding on Marine One, as the president was traveling to Michigan on Tuesday, and he did not board Air Force One. He walked away from Air Force One and did not go on with the president. So, that was viewed as sort of odd at the time, but now it seems that he will be taking his leave, one of the first high-profile departures of this administration.

BLITZER: We didn't hear much from him at the Trump Cabinet meeting yesterday. He was sitting there with other members of the Cabinet, but he was pretty, pretty quiet.

And he was responsible for accidentally bringing in Jeffrey Goldberg, the editor of "The Atlantic" magazine, into that Signal chat, where all that sensitive, very highly sensitive information was being discussed about war plans involving the Houthis in Yemen.

ZELENY: He was. He's the one that convened the chat, if you will.

And even though the defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, is the one who apparently dropped some highly sensitive, if not classified information into the chat, it was Mike Waltz who convened this. And for the president, that was perhaps the original sin.

BLITZER: Yes, I'm sure it was. All right, stand by for a second.

I want to bring in a CNN's -- CNN anchor and chief White House correspondent Kaitlan Collins.

You're doing a lot of reporting on this. Kaitlan, tell our viewers what else you're learning.

KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Wolf, we are hearing from sources that Mike Waltz is going to depart the administration.

He's been the national security adviser only for just over 100 days, of course, as we all know, as the president just marked that moment in office. And the reason this stands out, Wolf, is, to just give you some backstory here, obviously, Jeff is right. Mike Waltz job has been on shaky ground ever since Signalgate happened and he inadvertently added a reporter to a group chat where they talked about sensitive military strikes.

But, also, this week in particular has been a real focus for Mike Waltz's job and the standing of his position inside the West Wing. I was told that it was communicated to Mike Waltz earlier this week that his time as a national security adviser under President Trump had come to an end. He has been fighting that and attempting to stay all week.

Just yesterday, he was inside the Cabinet meeting with President Trump. When he went around the table, they stopped at Mike Waltz, as he gave an update from the National Security Council. He was on FOX News this morning as well and was even inside the West Wing this morning.

But we are told that he is expected to depart. He was not being ousted immediately. He was given some time essentially before he was going to be ousted. As Jeff noted there, they do not have a replacement yet.

But it really speaks to just what has happened with Mike Waltz ever since that story first broke. He had been on shaky ground and had never really recovered his standing inside not just the view of the president, but also other top aides inside the West Wing, who did not feel that he was the right fit for that job.

And so now the question is who they will replace him with, who will take over, because it is a sensitive time, as they are working to negotiate a cease-fire between Russia and Ukraine, a permanent one, not just one that is a few days, and also navigating many other foreign policy issues that are on the horizon right now, Wolf.

And so it is a real question of who is going to replace him. And I should note that his deputy is also expected to depart. So, essentially, the top leadership of the National Security Council will be leaving.

Wolf, I would also be remiss if I did not mention the meeting that happened at the White House a few weeks ago with Laura Loomer, who is a far right activist, who came and had a one-on-one audience with President Trump. Mike Waltz was actually partially in the room for some of that meeting.

She attacked many of the staffers on the National Security Council and told President Trump they were not serving him well and they were not carrying out his agenda. That also played a huge role in how the president himself was viewing the National Security Council.

And so now a major shakeup under way at the National Security Council and also, Wolf, the first one of Trump's second term. This is his first major departure since he took office.

BLITZER: All right, Kaitlan Collins reporting for us.

Excellent reporting as usual, Kaitlan. Of course, you're going to have a lot more on all of these stories coming up later tonight 9:00 p.m. Eastern on your program, "THE SOURCE." We will all be watching, as we do every night. Kaitlan, thanks very much -- Pamela.

BROWN: There's a big question obviously on what the impact could be here on Ukraine. We know that the minerals deal was just signed between the U.S. and Ukraine.

[11:15:03]

Nick Paton Walsh, I want to bring you in on this. What's your take?

WALSH: Yes, I mean, look, obviously, what's key to successful negotiations is the consistency of people at the table. And certainly, in the key meetings between the United States and Russia that took place in Saudi Arabia, Waltz was there at the table.

He was known in the past prior to taking that NSA job to have been more of an advocate of Ukraine's positions, more critical of Russia, much more traditional in his Republican outlook. And so, certainly, I think this will leave many in Moscow wondering who his replacement will be and whether that -- indeed that replacement may be more sympathetic to their point of view.

Many of the senior officials that we have seen around Trump in the past have indeed been that. So the Russians, perhaps, while they will look at this as a change in personnel, and it may well delay any potential outcome here. We have seen Moscow itself changing venues, formats, agendas at times to prolong their diplomatic relationship and the potential for an outcome with Washington, and now the Trump administration changing a key figure.

It shows a lack of consistency potentially in what they're thinking. And that's something I think that may be exploited indeed by Vladimir Putin at this exceptionally key time, where the U.S. and Ukraine, after, indeed, a meeting that Waltz was part of, offered a 30-day unconditional cease-fire to Moscow. It's not been accepted for nearly 50 days now.

It's increasingly a tension point between Washington and Moscow. And I think now, with this rare earth minerals deal here, there's an impetus to see some kind of progress, but I think, potentially, the train on that track somewhat delayed or derailed even by the departure of one of the key figures in all of these negotiations and discussions.

Remember, Waltz himself one of the first people to discuss quite how a rare earth minerals deal might indeed work. He's now out of the picture, and the big question, who steps in and how do they feel about the Moscow-Washington relationship, Pam?

BLITZER: Yes, good points. Thanks very much, Nick Paton Walsh.

I want to bring in our chief national security correspondent, Alex Marquardt. He's here with us in THE SITUATION ROOM right now.

So what are you seeing, what are you hearing about the impact that this departure from the National Security Council will mean on U.S. foreign policy?

ALEX MARQUARDT, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Well, I think, just picking up from where -- what Nick was talking about, Ukraine is obviously front and center right now.

And if indeed the replacement for Mike Waltz will be someone coming a bit more from the MAGA space who's a bit more aligned to Trump, rather than the more traditionalists, then certainly that is probably going to frighten the Ukrainians a fair bit and play into the Russian hands, if you will.

I agree with Nick that Waltz has been a key player at many of these top-level meetings with both the Ukrainians and the Russian sides. But we have seen an evolution over the past few weeks, in that he has receded a little bit in terms of his involvement, while others like Marco Rubio, Steve Witkoff have really taken the lead, Keith Kellogg, the Ukraine envoy.

And so Kellogg -- or Waltz has not been as involved on that portfolio. You look at the other major portfolios, he has been, Waltz has been a proponent of these strikes against the Houthis. And that has not gone very well. They have trumpeted what they have been doing against the Houthis, but, frankly, they have not been able to take out the top- level leadership that they have been going after.

The Houthi strikes still continue against American and other vessels with ballistic and cruise missiles and drones. Just this week, we saw a fighter jet fall off of an aircraft carrier.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:28:15]

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOHN KING, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The afternoon rush in full swing, pallets of produce whizzing by, tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, squash, and more. Farm to table has a pit stop, this one in the Arizona desert.

Feeding America is complicated, more so right now. Everything here is from Mexico, but Donald Trump is back in the White House threatening tariffs.

MATT MANDEL, ARIZONA VOTER: It's a brave new world. KING: Matt Mandel helps run SunFed, this warehouse just a few miles

from the border.

(on camera): One hundred days into the Trump presidency, your business has been impacted how?

MANDEL: The biggest problem that we have up to now is uncertainty. We have talk about tariffs, and then the tariffs are off. We have tariffs that came into play for three days and they were canceled. But the constant threat of what if makes it very hard for us to plan.

KING (voice-over): The border crossing at Nogales is almost always humming, commerce both ways caught up in 100 days of Trump trade turmoil.

MANDEL: Food does not make sense at all. All you're going to do is raise those costs to consumers. People have become accustomed to having all their fruits and vegetables on a year-round basis. And that is entirely due to imports. Putting tariffs on imports is only going to limit supply, raise prices, or both.

KING: Small businesses at the border are grumbling too. They complain of a double whammy, tariff threats and tough immigration talk.

Yes, illegal crossings in Nogales and across Arizona are down. That's a big Trump campaign promise. But business owners say legal crossings are down too, dropping sales as much as 40 percent these past 100 days.

Tucson is an hour north, reliably blue, but Trump did run a bit stronger here last year, as he won Arizona and all the battlegrounds.

(on camera): What's all this going to do?

(END VIDEOTAPE)