Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis announced that the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conversation Commission and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement have reached immigration enforcement agreements with the federal government, and President Donald Trump trades barbs with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy as Trump works to reach an agreement with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

DeSantis announces immigration enforcement agreements with the federal government

Gov. Ron DeSantis held his latest news conference focused on state efforts to crack down on illegal immigration.

According to the governor, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and Florida Department of Law Enforcement have each reached agreements with the federal government to cooperate on enforcement efforts.

Those deals, DeSantis said, are similar to one already in place with the Florida Highway Patrol.

“It allows us to be able to work seamlessly across our state agencies, with federal immigration authorities," DeSantis said. "You are going to see more effective interior enforcement when you have the state, and the local and the federal government on the same page."

Trump and Zelenskyy trade barbs as U.S.-Ukraine relations sour over the war with Russia

Relations between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and U.S. President Donald Trump deteriorated rapidly Wednesday as Zelenskyy said Trump was living in a Russian-made "disinformation space" and Trump called Zelenskyy "a dictator without elections" in comments that were sure to complicate efforts to end the war.

Zelenskyy also said he would like Trump's team "to be more truthful" as he offered his first response to a series of striking claims that Trump made a day earlier, including falsely suggesting that Kyiv was to blame for the war, which enters its fourth year next week.

The comments from Trump and Zelenskyy were a staggering back-and-forth between leaders of two countries that have been staunch allies in recent years under Trump's predecessor. While former President Joe Biden was in the White House, the U.S. provided crucial military equipment to Kyiv to fend off the invasion and used its political weight to defend Ukraine and isolate Russia on the world stage.

The Trump administration has started charting a new course, reaching out to Russia and pushing for a peace deal. Senior officials from both countries held talks Tuesday to discuss improving ties, negotiating an end to the war and potentially preparing a meeting between Trump and Putin after years of frosty relations.

Trump lashed out at Zelenskyy in a social media post, calling him "a modestly successful comedian" who "talked the United States of America into spending $350 Billion Dollars, to go into a War that couldn't be won, that never had to start, but a War that he, without the U.S. and 'TRUMP,' will never be able to settle."

Trump went on to say that the only thing Zelenskyy "was good at was playing Biden 'like a fiddle.'" He advised Zelenskyy to "move fast or he is not going to have a Country left."

Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin said he would like to meet with Trump.

Russia's army crossed the border on Feb. 24, 2022, in an all-out invasion that Putin sought to justify by saying it was needed to protect civilians in eastern Ukraine and prevent the country from joining NATO. Ukraine and its allies denounced it as an unprovoked act of aggression.

"I would like to have a meeting, but it needs to be prepared so that it brings results," Putin said Wednesday in televised remarks. He added that he would be "pleased" to meet Trump but noted that Trump has acknowledged that a Ukrainian settlement could take longer than he initially hoped.

The Russian leader hailed Tuesday's talks between Russian and U.S. senior officials in the Saudi capital of Riyadh as "very positive." He said officials who took part in the talks described the U.S. delegation to him as "completely different people who were open to the negotiation process without any bias, without any condemnation of what was done in the past," and determined to work together with Moscow.

Trump backs House plan to pass his agenda as Senate was set to move forward with its own

President Donald Trump on Wednesday threw his weight behind the House’s approach to passing his legislative agenda over the Senate’s plan, which is set for a vote in the next few days, potentially bringing to a head a debate between the two GOP-controlled chambers of Congress that has been escalating for weeks. 

“The House and Senate are doing a SPECTACULAR job of working together as one unified, and unbeatable, TEAM, however, unlike the Lindsey Graham version of the very important Legislation currently being discussed, the House Resolution implements my FULL America First Agenda, EVERYTHING, not just parts of it!” Trump wrote in a post on his social media site Truth Social. 

He went on to urge both chambers of Congress to pass the House approach that looks to move on his border, energy and tax priorities in “‘ONE BIG BEAUTIFUL BILL.’” 

House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., promptly responded to the statement in a post on X, writing Trump is “right” and noting his conference is working to pass the president’s “FULL agenda - not just a small part of it.” 

Trump’s nod to the House approach came less than 24 hours after Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., declared in a post on X that it was “time to act,” announcing that his chamber will move forward with a vote on a plan crafted by Senate Budget Committee Chair Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., to provide funding for the border, energy and the Pentagon now while saving addressing the president’s tax-cut goals later. The move would put the Senate out in front of the House in a process typically kicked off in the lower chamber. 

“Securing the border, rebuilding our defense, and unleashing American energy,” Thune wrote. “That starts this week with passing Chairman @LindseyGrahamSC’s budget.” 

The two Republican-controlled chambers of Congress have been bogged down in a debate since Trump retook the White House last month about whether to move his energy, border and tax priorities in one bill or two. House leadership has pushed for the single-bill approach as Johnson navigates a tricky conference and incredibly tight margin while the Senate has favored the two-thronged approach.

Trump has indicated he preferred one bill but had declined to concretely take a side in the matter until Wednesday.