President Trump told White House dinner guests Wednesday that he’s “made some good progress” on ending Russia’s war in Ukraine since halting the Israel-Hamas conflict. 

"Interestingly, [we’ve] made a lot of progress today because of what took place in Middle East," Trump reveald. 

“Only the keep thinking business people would understand that, of which we have a lot of them,” he added. “We have a lot of legends in the room tonight.” 

US-led negotiations to end the war in Ukraine stalled soon after Trump met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska in mid-August.

Trump will host Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who is looking to get Tomahawk missiles from the US, at the White House on Friday.

Earlier this week, Trump traveled to Egypt to take part in the signing of the first phase of peace agreement, which resulted in Hamas releasing hostages being held in Gaza and Israel pulling back troops from some parts of the war-torn strip. 

The president has been praised by dozens of world leaders for his role in settling the conflict. 

President Trump showed donors the progress that’s been made on the $200 million ballroom being erected on the White House grounds. 

“We’ve started the process … it’s actually starting right behind us,” the president said Wednesday of the new 90,000-square-foot state ballroom, at a dinner for donors backing the privately funded project. 

“This is actually a knockout panel,” Trump said as he pulled open curtains revealing the construction site. “We don’t really want you to walk out there, but you can take a look if you want. 

“We're going to build a room that's going to be able to hold, literally, the inauguration if we want. All of the glass on the sides is bulletproof. It's ... 999 people it can hold.” 

The president thanked donors for their “generous” contributions of “very substantial money,” noting that financing for the ballroom is now “fully taken care of.”   

“In fact, we'll have money left over, and we'll use that for something. We'll use that probably, maybe, for the arch,” he said. 

Trump hopes to build the massive triumphal arch just across the Potomac River from the Lincoln Memorial, resembling the Arc de Triomphe in Paris.

He showed guests renderings of the arch, as well as three different models of proposed sizes for the stone arch. 

“I happen to think the large looks best. Why are you shocked to hear that?” Trump quipped.

President Trump pointed to a Post cover of his mug shot while arguing that his Justice Department is not going too far in prosecuting his political enemies.

"They indicted me like five times. I took a mug shot — who would have thought it turned out to my favor, because it was a good shot? — but I had to take a mug shot. It's right out there on the door, New York Post, front page of every paper in the world," Trump said.

"If anything, I think this Justice Department has been so respectful of the law."

Trump added that "real scum" in the Biden administration targeted him with criminal charges.

"What they did to go after [then-President] Joe Biden's political opponent is legendary — worse than any Third World country [or] banana republic," Trump said.

"And what we are doing is nothing — are you kidding? — nothing."

President Trump said that he's satisfied with the pace of Hamas returning the remains of Israeli hostages who died in captivity — an issue that has cast doubt on the future of his Gaza peace agreement.

Asked by a reporter if he was happy with the tempo of the returns, Trump said, "Absolutely, they are looking."

"It's a gruesome process. I almost hate to talk about it. But they're digging. They're actually digging. There are areas where they're digging and they're finding a lot of bodies," the president added in the Oval Office.

"Then they have to separate the bodies... and some of those bodies have been in there a long time. And some of them are under rubble... Some are in tunnels — that died in tunnels — that are way down under the earth."

Trump made the remarks after Israeli officials blasted Hamas for returning too few bodies and in at least one instance allegedly returning an incorrect set of remains.

President Trump says he may personally attend the Supreme Court's Nov. 5 oral arguments over the legality of his "reciprocal" tariffs.

"I think I'm going to go to the Supreme Court to watch it," he told reporters, saying victory in the case is essential for the American economy.

The White House is arguing for the presidential right to impose tariffs via an emergency economic declaration, rather than imposing tariffs through Congress.

President Trump claimed Wednesday that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has committed to stop importing Russian oil.

"He's assured me there will be no oil purchased from Russia. I don't know, maybe that is a breaking story. Can I say that? Would you say?" Trump said in the Oval Office.

"There will be no oil — he's not buying his oil from Russia. It has started. He can't do it immediately, it's a little bit of a process. But the process is going to be over with soon"

Trump, who imposed a 50% tariff rate on India in August over New Delhi's Russian oil imports, added that "Modi is a great man. He loves Trump."

President Trump has said that the administration is "looking at" targeting Venezuela-based drug cartels on land after taking out approximately half a dozen drug smuggling vessels.

"We are certainly looking at land now because we’ve got the sea under control," he said in response to a reporter question in the Oval Office.

"A lot of the Venezuela drugs come in through the sea. So you get to see that, but we're going to stop them by land also," Trump added.

The president also declined to say whether he has authorized the CIA to "take out" Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, though he confirmed that he approved covert operations inside the South American country.

"Wouldn't it be a ridiculous question for me to answer?" he said. "But I think Venezuela is feeling heat."

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President Trump said Wednesday that he wants to surge federal forces into San Francisco to tackle violent crime.

"I'm going to be strongly recommending, at the request of government officials, which is always nice, that you start looking at San Francisco," Trump said in the Oval Office.

Trump said San Francisco was "one of our great cities 10 years ago, 15 years ago, and now it's a mess."

"We have great support in San Francisco, so I'd like to recommend that for inclusion," Trump told FBI Director Kash Patel, Attorney General Pam Bondi and Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche.

President Trump told reporters in the Oval Office that 2025 was the "most peaceful summer in two decades" thanks to the FBI's Operation Summer Heat.

"We were in many cities that people didn't know about," Trump said alongside FBI Director Kash Patel, Attorney General Pam Bondi and Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche.

"As a result of these efforts, violent crime declined nearly 20% nationwide compared to the same period last year and it was the safest and most peaceful summer in two decades.

"And honestly, we haven't really even gotten going yet."

Trump added that the FBI arrested more than 8,000 violent criminals over the summer, including 725 suspected in crimes against children or murder.

For the second day in a row, a House-passed bill to end the partial government shutdown failed to clear the Senate's 60-vote legislative filibuster.

The measure, which would fund the government through Nov. 21, received 51 votes -- including two from Democrats Catherine Cortez Masto of Nevada and John Fetterman. Independent Angus King of Maine also voted to end debate on the bill.

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) was the only Republican "no." Five senators, four Republicans and one Democrat, did not vote.

On Tuesday, the Senate voted 49-45 to end debate on the continuing resolution, still short of the 60-vote magic number.

The shutdown drags on with no end in sight.

WASHINGTON — Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent described China’s lead trade negotiator as “unhinged” Wednesday — and announced the US is planning “price floors” and “forward buying” to prevent future supply chain disruptions by Beijing’s export controls.

Bessent made the remarks five days after President Trump threatened an additional 100% tariff on Chinese goods in response to Beijing’s rules requiring companies to seek permission to export products made with rare-earth or critical minerals, reducing the flow of batteries, magnets and semiconductors to the US.

The Treasury secretary revealed more of the backstory behind China’s surprise rule changes announced Oct. 9, claiming that a bellicose trade emissary named Li Chenggang “showed up uninvited” in DC on Aug. 28 and threatened that “China would unleash chaos on the global system” if the US didn’t abandon docking fees for Chinese ships.

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A grand jury is convening Wednesday afternoon to consider charges against former national security adviser John Bolton over his alleged sharing of highly sensitive classified materials on a private email server, The Post has learned.

The proceeding comes two months after federal investigators raided Bolton’s Maryland home and Washington, DC, office in search of evidence in the Trump critic’s alleged theft of “highly sensitive national security” information.

Justice Department officials expect an indictment to be handed up either Wednesday or Thursday, with one telling The Post that the case against the 76-year-old is “airtight.”

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