Washington, Feb 23 (AP) President Donald Trump's fifth week in office included a dramatic shift in US policy toward Russia, firing the country's senior military officer, sitting for a chummy interview alongside bureaucracy-buster Elon Musk and seeking greater authority over independent regulatory agencies.

Trump also said “inflation is back,” but said his short time back in the White House meant he had "nothing to do” with prices remaining high. That deflection can only work for so long, unless the economic outlook changes. Consumer sentiment suggests that isn't happening.

A look at where things stand after the first month of Trump's second term: Russian policy shift Trump dispatched top foreign policy advisers to Saudi Arabia for direct talks with Russian officials that were aimed at ending Moscow's war against Ukraine.

Those meetings did not include Ukrainian or European officials, a matter that has increased tensions between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Trump.

For much of the time since Russia invaded in February 2022, the US, under the Democratic Biden administration, held to the basic tenet of “nothing about Ukraine without Ukraine.” The new Republican administration has dispensed with that notion as Trump has accelerated his push to find an endgame to the war.

Zelenskyy said Trump was living in a Russian-made “disinformation space.” Trump called Zelenskyy a “dictator” and falsely suggested that Ukraine started the war, though on Friday he acknowledged that Moscow had attacked its neighbour.

Trump has said he hopes to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin soon — preparations are underway, a Kremlin official said Saturday — and has said the war has cost too many, in lives lost and US money spent equipping Ukraine.

“I'm not trying to make Putin nicer or better," Trump said during a Fox News Radio interview. “I'm just telling you the fact that war should have never happened” if Trump had been reelected president in 2020.

Trump's comments have alarmed European leaders and could make for some awkward moments when French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer visit the White House in the week ahead.

Pentagon shakeup as DOGE remains undaunted In an extraordinary move, Trump fired Air Force Gen. CQ Brown Jr, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. The dismissal of the history-making fighter pilot and respected officer was part of a push to rid the military of leaders who support diversity and equity in the ranks.

In an online post announcing the move, the president called Brown, only the second Black general to serve in that post, “a fine gentleman and an outstanding leader.” But his ouster sent shockwaves through the Pentagon and was part of a larger wave of dismissals at the Defense Department.

Meanwhile, federal firings continued to accumulate as Musk's Department of Government Efficiency team pursued more spending cuts.

On Saturday, Musk gave hundreds of thousands of federal workers a deadline of Monday at 11:59 pm EST to explain what they accomplished over the past week. In an X post, he said failure to respond to an email going out to employees with that request "will be taken as a resignation.” DOGE had some wins in court and posted a savings tracker meant to show taxpayer money being recovered by cancelled contracts and other cuts.

The amounts listed were sometimes misattributed or erroneous, however, and the totals often didn't add up.

Trump nonetheless floated the idea of returning as much as 20 per cent of any savings produced by DOGE to taxpayers. Musk suggested USD 5,000 rebate checks might be in the offing, even though generating that much money might require cuts to big-ticket government items such as Social Security.

Trump and Musk gushed with mutual admiration during a joint, nationally televised interview. Musk also used an appearance at conference of conservatives to wave around a chainsaw meant highlight his leading role in cost-cutting efforts. Yet the White House suggested in a court filing that Musk wasn't heading DOGE, a notion undercut by Trump himself, who said he had “put a man named Elon Musk in charge.” On Saturday, the president posted on his social media site, “ELON IS DOING A GREAT JOB, BUT I WOULD LIKE TO SEE HIM GET MORE AGGRESSIVE.” Americans aren't feeling great about the economy Trump signed an executive order seeking to give the White House control of independent regulatory agencies created by Congress, including the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Federal Trade Commission.

He and his aides say the economy is ready to roar. But the public is increasingly pessimistic. Trump's constant tariff threats, mass federal layoffs and broader uncertainty about spending cuts and taxes have spooked many consumers.

“There's clearly something that's still nagging consumers,” economist Ryan Cummings said in an email. “Whether that's elevated price levels, uncertainty surrounding policy, or consumers projecting their feelings about the direction of the country (and world) onto the economy itself.” It's hard to tell what will pique the president's interest next He's already suggested invading Panama and Greenland, making Canada the 51st state and reinventing Gaza as a “Riviera” resort.

But there's more.

Last week, the president ordered his administration to take a closer look at Fort Knox, the United States Bullion Depository, “to make sure the gold is there.” That directive came after Musk posted about the site, which has stored precious metal bullion reserves for the US since 1937, potentially having been emptied of gold.

Trump also mused about the federal government taking back control of the nation's capital, which would reverse more than 50 years of home rule in the District of Columbia.

And he renewed his ideas about the US sending humans to Mars, suggesting that task could fall to Musk's rocket company, SpaceX.

Trump's agenda begins advancing in Congress The president has long advocating for one “big, beautiful bill” allowing Congress to address his budget priorities, from funding for the US-Mexico border to extending tax cuts approved during his first term.

But there are signs he may be wavering.

“As long as we get to the same point, you know, two bills,” Trump told Fox News Radio. “I guess you could make the case you could do three. You could do 10.” That came after Senate Republicans made the first tangible progress on Trump's funding goals, advancing a budget blueprint that would provide USD 342 billion for border security and defence. It's an approach that would leave the president's prized tax cuts to be dealt with later.

House Republicans, however, aren't onboard. Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., is trying to generate support for a more ambitious plan that would also extend the tax cuts.

But doing so would increase federal deficits by more than USD 4.5 trillion over the next decade. Trump's desire to add new tax breaks by exempting tips, Social Security benefits and overtime from income taxes only boosts the price tag.

That's creating a difficult balancing act. Johnson has almost no votes to spare with a narrow 218-215 majority for Republicans in the House. Budget hawks back the more than USD 2 trillion in spending cuts over 10 years that are in the blueprint.

But lawmakers from more divided congressional districts worry their constituents will be harmed in the tradeoff. First-term Republican Rep. Rob Bresnahan of Pennsylvania posted on X that if a bill is put in front of him that “guts the benefits my neighbours rely on, I will not vote for it.” If the House plan falters, then pressure will build to give Trump an early win and take up the Senate approach. (AP) GRS GRS