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President Donald Trump on Monday directed a “pause” to U.S. assistance to Ukraine as he seeks to pressure Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to engage in negotiations to end the war with Russia.The move comes just days after a disastrous Oval Office meeting in which Trump and Vice President JD Vance tore into Zelenskyy for what they perceived as insufficient gratitude for the more than $180 billion U.S. has appropriated for military aid and other assistance to Kyiv since the start of Russia’s invasion on February 24, 2022.A White House official said Trump is focused on reaching a peace deal and wants Zelenskyy “committed” to that goal. The official added that the U.S. was “pausing and reviewing” its aid to “ensure that it is contributing to a solution.” The official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the assistance.The order will remain in effect until Trump determines that Ukraine has demonstrated a commitment to peace negotiations with Russia, the official said.The halting of military aid comes some five years after Trump held up congressionally authorized assistance to Ukraine as he sought to pressure Zelenskyy to launch an investigation into Joe Biden, then a Democratic presidential candidate. The moment led to Trump’s first impeachment.In the lead-up to the 2024 election, Trump vowed a quick end to the war in Ukraine, even once boasting that he could bring a halt to the fighting in one day. He has shown increasing frustration with Zelenskyy over the war while simultaneously expressing confidence that Russian President Vladimir Putin, whom he has long admired, can be trusted to keep the peace if a truce is reached.Trump earlier on Monday slammed Zelenskyy for suggesting that the end of the war likely “is still very, very far away.” Zelenskyy had suggested it would take time to come to an agreement to end the war as he tried to offer a positive take on the U.S.-Ukraine relationship in the aftermath of last week’s White House meeting.“This is the worst statement that could have been made by Zelenskyy, and America will not put up with it for much longer!” Trump said in a post on his Truth Social platform, responding to comments Zelenskyy made late Sunday to reporters.Trump, at a White House event later Monday, referred to Zelenskyy’s reported comments and asserted the Ukrainian leader “better not be right about that.”Zelenskyy later took to social media in an effort to further explain his thinking. He did not directly refer to Trump’s comments, but underscored that it “is very important that we try to make our diplomacy really substantive to end this war the soonest possible.”“We need real peace and Ukrainians want it most because the war ruins our cities and towns,” Zelenskyy added. “We lose our people. We need to stop the war and to guarantee security.”Trump administration and Ukrainian officials had been expected to sign off on a deal during Zelenskyy’s visit last week that would have given the U.S. access to Ukraine’s critical minerals in part to pay back the U.S. for aid it has sent Kyiv since the start of the war. The White House had billed such a pact as a way to tighten U.S.-Ukrainian relations in the long term.Vance, in an interview with Fox News’s Sean Hannity that aired Monday evening, said European allies were doing Ukraine a disservice by not pressing Zelenskyy to find an endgame to the war.“A lot of our European friends puff him up,” Vance said. “They say, you know, you’re a freedom fighter. You need to keep fighting forever. Well, fighting forever with what? With whose money, with whose ammunition and with whose lives?”Democrats said the pausing of aid to Ukraine was dangerous and ill-advised.Democratic Rep. Brendan Boyle of Pennsylvania, who is cochair of the Congressional EU Caucus, said the decision “is reckless, indefensible, and a direct threat to our national security.”The Biden administration provided Kyiv with more than $66.5 billion in military aid and weapons since the war began. It had left unspent about $3.85 billion in congressionally authorized funding to send more weapons to Ukraine from existing U.S. stockpilesa sum that had not been affected by the foreign aid freeze that Trump put in place when he first took office.“This aid was approved by Congress on a bipartisan basisRepublicans and Democrats alike recognized that standing with Ukraine is standing for democracy and against Putin’s aggression,” Boyle said in a statement. “Yet, Trump, who has repeatedly praised Putin and undermined our allies, is now playing political games with critical military assistance.”Democratic Rep. Dan Goldman, who served as counsel to House Democrats in the first impeachment inquiry against Trump, said the pausing of aid was “another extortion” of Zelenskyy.“This is the exact opposite of peace through strength,” Goldman said. “Instead, what it is is it’s another extortion of President Zelenskyy, illegally withholding aid in order to get President Zelenskyy to agree to a minerals deal.”Trump’s national security adviser said Zelenskyy’s posture during Friday’s Oval Office talks “put up in the air” whether he’s someone the U.S. administration will be able to deal with going forward.“Is he ready, personally, politically, to move his country towards an end to the fighting?” Mike Waltz said Monday on Fox News’ “America’s Newsroom.” “And can he and will he make the compromises necessary?”Waltz added another layer of doubt about U.S. support as other high-profile Trump allies, including House Speaker Mike Johnson and Sen. Lindsey Graham, have suggested that the relationship between Trump and Zelenskyy is becoming untenable.Angela Stent, a former national intelligence officer for Russia and Eurasia at the National Intelligence Council, said Putin is likely in no rush to end the war amid the fissures between Trump and Zelenskyy and between Europe and the U.S. about the way ahead.“He thinks Russia is winning. . . . And he thinks that as time goes on, the West will be more fractured,” said Stent, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution in Washington.Trump on Monday suggested he hasn’t given up on the economic pact, calling it “a great deal.” He added that he expected to speak about the deal during his Tuesday address before a joint session of Congress.Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, a Pennsylvania Republican who cochairs the Congressional Ukraine Caucus, spoke with Zelenskyy’s chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, earlier Monday about getting the mineral rights deal back on track.Key GOP senators also indicated before the announcement of paused aid that they see a path to put U.S.-Ukraine relations back on track.“We got to lower the temperature,” said Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., “and get to a deal that’s economically beneficial and takes care of our interests as well as the interests of the Ukrainian people.”Sen. Markwayne Mullin, an Oklahoma Republican who is a close ally of Trump, said he believes the president and Zelenskyy can “move past it.”“Getting the minerals deal done is a first step,” Mullin said. After that, he said, Zelenskyy needs to be “realistic on what a peac deal looks like.” Associated Press writers Tracy Brown, Lolita C. Baldor and Marc Levy contributed to this report. Aamer Madhani, Zeke Miller and Lisa Mascaro, Associated Press
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Want more housing market stories from Lance Lamberts ResiClub in your inbox? Subscribe to the ResiClub newsletter. Like clockwork, every year, the U.S. housing market experiences a seasonal swing. It happens in both good years and bad. And while the seasonal trend may vary slightly by market (for example, snowbird markets), it remains fairly consistent across most housing markets. Here are three core components of the U.S. housing markets seasonal effectand what it means for buyers and sellers. 1. Existing home sales begin to rise heading into spring Seasonally speaking, U.S. existing home sales typically bottom out in January, then begin to rise month-over-month until peaking around June. Thats true even in an affordability constrained housing market, such as the current market. This trend is partly driven by families with children who prefer to buy in the spring so they can move and settle in before the next school year begins. Another factor is that some buyers wait for their tax refunds in early spring, using them to help with down payments and closing costs. In Northern and Mountain West markets, the rise in sales is also boosted by the fact that people waited for warmer weather before moving. Additionally, many home sellers are aware of the seasonal trend and choose to list their homes in spring to attract the largest pool of buyers, which boosts inventory, increases choices, and drives up transaction volume. (More on that below.) 2. New listings rise in the spring Knowing that many homebuyers begin their home searches in early spring, its also when many existing home sellers enter the market. On a seasonal level, new U.S. house listings typically bottom out in December, then begin to rise month-over-month until peaking around May. The annual upswing for new U.S. listings usually begins one month before the annual upswing in U.S. existing home sales. 3. U.S. home prices see the most upward pressure in the spring U.S. home prices experience the most upward seasonal pressure between March and July and the most downward pressure between September and January. As shown in the chart above, even during the home price crash from late 2006 to early 2012, U.S. home prices remained fairly steady during the spring monthsonly to resume plunging later in the year once the housing market moved into the seasonally soft fall window. In appreciating housing markets (like most of the Midwest and Northeast right now), homebuyers typically face higher prices if they wait later into the spring season. In contrast, in correcting housing markets (like pockets of Southwest Florida right now), buyers are often rewarded for waiting until the seasonal slowdown later in the year (when prices dip further) to make their purchase.
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After a year of development and months of testing, Sweetgreens ripple fries land in the salad chains roughly 250 locations today. This is a way to show that you can come to Sweetgreen, eat a salad, and have a little bit of a permissible indulgence around fries, says CEO Jonathan Neman during an interview at the chains Los Angeles HQ. Better known for its healthy salads than starchy sides, Sweetgreens embrace of the traditional fast-food staple is also bound to raise eyebrows, coming from a company that has long coveted the ubiquity of McDonalds but long struggled with turning a profit from its higher priced healthy fare. (The company narrowed its net losses by 20% in 2024 to $90 million.) I think itll spark some conversation, Neman adds, smiling. And, of course, this being Sweetgreen, theres a health-conscious twist: These fries arent fried at all, at least in the traditional sense. A DIFFERENT KIND OF FRY Where most fast-food french fries are dunked in deep vats of canola oil, the ripple fries, a name that Sweetgreens chief concept officer Nicolas Jammet says they plan to trademark, achieve their crisp exterior via another route. Theyre tossed in avocado oil and potato starch, then air fried, or roasted at high heat inside an industrial convection oven. Each order comes with a choice of dipping sauces: a garlic aioli, which was recommended by a group of Sweetgreen customers, and a pickle ketchup, created in house. We dont think were really a ketchup brand, says Sweetgreen head of culinary Chad Brauze. But after some experimentingadding fistfuls of fresh dill and a little maple syrup to a batch of Sir Kensingtons ketchup, the team fell in love with it. Brauze, who previously worked in corporate kitchens at Burger King and Chipotle before joining Sweetgreen in 2023, has spent weeks training kitchen workers to make the fries. [Photo: Sweetgreen] Employees push each russet potato through a machine calibrated to slice them to a particular thickness, a process that takes about 25 minutes for 120 potatoes. Getting the right cut requires some practice, feeding one potato into the machine at a time under constant pressure. Brauze concedes that the cutting is a huge variable that, done incorrectly, could doom an entire batch. But its easy enough to master: During my time in Sweetgreens Los Angeles test kitchen, Nemans 4-year-old son came for a visit and fed a few potatoes through the machine with reasonably minimal assistance. Theyre cooked in batches every 30 minutes or so, and finished with salt and dried herbs. Jammet calls the end result craveable, a term common with fast-food execs describing menu items they hope will hook customers. This new side is no exception. And indeed, they taste similar to any other high-end french fry: a salty, crispy outside with a light and fluffy interior, but without the greasy aftereffect. (I absentmindedly finished a full container as we walked through the test kitchen and didnt need to wipe my hands on a napkin afterward.) It’s a standard taste for fries, but an unusual taste for Sweetgreen, which traditionally gets all of its crunch from romaine greens, croutons, and the occasional tortilla chip. MORE THAN JUST A SALAD PLACE Ripple fries are a splashy addition from Sweetgreen, which has been trying to push beyond salad for years, introducing dinner-friendly protein plates in late 2023, and permanently adding steak to its menu last year. Its all an effort to expand reach. The idea is making sure that we can define Sweetgreen around the approach to food and the belief in the food system that we want to change, says Jammet. Not just like, Thats a salad place. Sweetgreen has long touted its position as a kind of fast-food disruptor, offering high-quality food, made from scratch, sourced from ethical producers and free from additives like preservatives and food dyes. And its long appealed to the health-food set. In 2023, Neman announced Sweetgreen would work to reduce the amount of seed oil it used in its restaurants, and in January, it started promoting a limited-time, seed oil-free menu, which was received by some customersincorrectly, Neman saysas a political move. President Trumps controversial Cabinet pick to lead Health and Human Services, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr, has said Americans are being poisoned by seed oils. (Evidence suggests otherwise.) And during the early days of President Trumps first presidency, Sweetgreen made green hats bearing the slogan, Make America healthy again. The catchphrase has since been adopted by Kennedy as a kind of rallying call to supporters that include online wellness influencers. A few weeks before Trump’s second inauguration, Neman posted a photo of himself in the hat on X, writing that he was “glad the long overdue discussion on food and health has gone mainstream.” Despite the fact that social media discussions of seed oil have reached a fever pitch, Neman believes people on both sides of the aisle are responding to Sweetgreens effort to reduce its use of the ingredient. The seed oil move “has nothing to do with politics, he says. Actually, at the time [of the announcement], we were hearing about it from customers on the other side of the political spectrum. Were just listening to our guests. [Photo: Sweetgreen] A RIPPLE EFFECT Sweetgreen has spent months testing the fries in some of its 25 Los Angeles-area stores, but customer behavior has been unpredictable since Januarys devastatig fires. During the companys most recent earnings call, chief financial officer Mitch Reback said that the fires significantly disrupted operations in Los Angeles, where stores make up nearly 15% of Sweetgreens revenue. We know that people will attach it to their meal. The question is, will people come in more because of it? Neman says. Will it drive actual core transactions for us, or will it just drive ticket? Ideally, the fries do both, encouraging existing customers to add onto their orders and drawing more people into Sweetgreen stores. While in-store traffic was up slightly in 2024, 2% for the year, Sweetgreens same-store sales growth of 6% is mainly attributable to price increases. A craveable menu item could be a good way to boost same-store sales and encourage repeat visits. In the meantime, the company is working on delivering more efficiencies for its customers and investors. Sweetgreen plans to open 40 new restaurants in the next year; half will be robot-assisted Infinite Kitchens, which can dispense fresh ingredients into bowls at a rate of up to 500 per hour, enabling restaurants to service online orders and walk-in customers more quickly. It will also retrofit a couple of existing restaurants with the automated tech, prioritizing the busiest locations. Sweetgreen is planning to enter new markets, opening locations in Sacramento, Calif., Phoenix, Ariz., and Cincinnati, Ohio. As his chain moves into new places and more mealtimes, Neman sees the fries as becoming something of a calling cardperhaps as iconic as the salads that started it all. Its the first time we have a truly signature side, says Neman. The other sides were fine, but now we have this staple. And theyre really addictive.
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