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Trump Holds a Press Conference with President Emmanuel Macron of France, Feb. 24, 2025

February 24, 2025 · The White House · 0:43:21

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What happened

President Donald Trump held a joint press conference with President Emmanuel Macron of France at the White House on Feb. 24, 2025, carried on the White House channel, on the third anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The President said the meeting’s purpose was to end the war, that his administration had made more progress toward that goal in one month than in the past three years, and that the focus was achieving a ceasefire as soon as possible and ultimately a permanent peace.

The President said an agreement with Ukraine on critical minerals and rare earths was part of the security picture and that a great deal of progress had been made toward it just before the press conference. Macron, as he stated his position, said any peace must include security guarantees so it did not repeat the Minsk I and II pattern of ceasefires without guarantees. The President credited the previous week’s talks in Saudi Arabia by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, National Security Advisor Michael Waltz, and Special Envoy Steve Witkoff with a Russian delegation.

Why it matters

The Macron press conference is the first joint allied-leader statement of the Ukraine endgame: ceasefire first, a minerals agreement as part of the security structure, and France’s guarantees condition stated beside the President.

Scoreboard watch

Scoreboard watch: the Ukraine critical-minerals agreement described here as near completion and the ceasefire objective as stated on Feb. 24, 2025 - flagged for the scoreboard editors; the entry itself remains review-gated.

Sources: The White House, “President Trump Holds a Press Conference with President Emmanuel Macron of France” (YouTube, 2025-02-24) - official description and broadcast transcript as aired.