DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The U.S. national intelligence director told officials Friday in the Mideast that America’s former strategy of “regime change or nation building” had ended under President Donald Trump.
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Tulsi Gabbard ’s comments before the Manama Dialogue, an annual security summit in Bahrain put on by the International Institute for Security Studies, underlines remarks Trump offered on a trip earlier this year to the Middle East.
In Trump’s second term, previous American goals of fostering human rights and democracy promotion in the region have been replaced by an emphasis on economic prosperity and regional stability. That includes securing a ceasefire that has halted the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip, as well as forcing an end to Israel’s 12-day war on Iran after sending American bombers to attack Iranian nuclear sites.
“For decades, our foreign policy has been trapped in a counterproductive and endless cycle of regime change or nation building,” said Gabbard, a former Congresswoman from Hawaii and U.S. Army National Guard veteran.
“It was a one-size-fits-all approach, of toppling regimes, trying to impose our system of governance on others, intervene in conflicts that were barely understood and walk away with more enemies than allies.”
She added: “The results: Trillions spent, countless lives lost and in many cases, the creation of greater security threats.”
That assessment mirrors Trump’s own thinking about the wars that followed the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks on New York and Washington. He reached a deal in his first term to withdraw from Afghanistan, which in the Biden administration became a chaotic departure in 2021. Meanwhile, he’s embraced Syria’s interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa, a former al-Qaida fighter once held in an American prison in Iraq.
But serious challenges remain, particularly in the Middle East. Gabbard noted in her brief remarks that the ceasefire in Gaza remained “fragile.” She also acknowledged Iran remained a concern as the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency said renewed movement has been detected recently at the country’s nuclear sites.
“The road ahead will not be simple or easy but the president is very committed down this road,” said Gabbard, who attended the event as a government shutdown grinds on back home.
An Associated Press journalist had been accredited and issued a visa to cover the summit, but the Bahraini government late Wednesday said it had been rescinded as it was conducting a “post-approval review” of that permission. The government did not elaborate on why the visa was revoked. Earlier that day, the AP published a story on long-detained activist Abdulhadi al-Khawaja beginning an “open-ended” hunger strike in Bahrain over his internationally criticized imprisonment.
Minnesota Wild general manager Bill Guerin did not offer any out clauses or caveats when asked if he would give head coach John Hynes a vote of confidence earlier this week.
“He’s not going anywhere,” Guerin said. At the time, the Wild had lost four in a row.
When the team closed October with a come-from-ahead home loss to Pittsburgh and the losing streak hit five, that endorsement by Hynes’ boss was promptly ignored by a small but vocal segment of the fanbase that seems to always have the torches and pitchforks at the ready.
“The coach is toast,” one posted on social media. Others called for a boycott of the team until changes are made. And some want Guerin’s head to roll, as well, after a coaching change is made.
One of the primary jobs for Guerin and Hynes is to cast aside all of that noise and run this team like the billion dollar business it is. That’s not just hyperbole. In a recent estimate of every NHL team’s value by Forbes, the Wild were pegged as being worth $1.55 billion. But if the seat upon which Hynes sits is getting hotter as the Minnesota weather gets colder, the coach’s past success, and the high expectations that winning produced, are partially to blame.
Less than 11 months ago, with a roster largely the same as this year’s, the Wild beat the Ducks in Anaheim, 5-1, to improve to 18-4-4. Minnesota, in its first full season under Hynes, had the best record in the NHL, and the best start in franchise history.
The 2024-25 season devolved into a mess of injuries. Kirill Kaprizov would miss half of the regular season. Mats Zuccarello and Jared Spurgeon missed a month each. Joel Eriksson Ek missed 36 games. Jonas Brodin missed 32. After that eye-popping start, the Wild needed a dramatic goal in the final half-minute of the regular season just to make the playoffs.
They didn’t stay long in the postseason, falling to Vegas in six games, but not before taking a 2-1 series lead and coming within a one-inch toe of Gustav Nyquist’s skate from flying back to Minnesota with a 3-2 series lead.
There were no eye-popping free agent moves over the summer, despite a notion that with money to spend, Minnesota would load up on July 1. They got veteran Vladimir Tarasenko for little in return, and he has scored one goal in the first dozen games. They signed faceoff specialist Nico Sturm, who has been injured and has an uncertain future following back surgery.
It doesn’t help that Zuccarello (lower body) has yet to play in a game this season.
But with Kaprizov locked up to the richest contract in NHL history, and top goalie Filip Gustavsson signed long term, there was a quiet expectation that another hot start and 41 fun-filled nights at the newly-renamed Grand Casino Arena were coming. A decisive 5-0 win in St. Louis on the opening night of the regular season only deepened that fanbase confidence.
Since that triumphant night in the Show Me State, the Wild are 2-6-3 and have shown very little to anyone. At their current pace of winning three out of every 12 games, the franchise’s 18th victory of the season would come on March 24, not Dec. 6 like it did a season ago.
“I think we have to get rid of last season in general,” Wild winger Marcus Foligno said Thursday. He has no goals or assists through his first 11 games.
“It’s not even close right now. It’s frustrating,” he said. “You know, last year’s last year. There’s new guys in the lineup. Every year brings something different. Right now we’re going through it. For whatever reason, it’s just mellow and vanilla right now. So, it’s not good enough.”
It’s common for Minnesota fans to be nostalgic for the good times. Recent reunions of former Wild players have, almost to a man, focused on the team’s unlikely 2003 run to the Western Conference Final. Vikings fans still dream of 1998 and what could have been had Gary Anderson stayed perfect for the season. Twins fans still come to the ballpark wearing vintage 1991 gear.
But it is now November 2025, and flashbacks to the good times a year ago will do nothing to clean up the early season mess the Wild find themselves in.
“Every year presents different challenges. You don’t pick (up) where you left off last year,” Hynes said after Thursday’s loss to Pittsburgh. “There’s four to five months in between the seasons, and there’s different dynamics to your team, and then you commit. Right now, we haven’t found that regularly. And that’s something that we’ve got to do.”
And soon.
The Wild were only three points out of a playoff spot Friday morning, with nearly the entire season ahead of them — 67 games starting Saturday against Vancouver. But this team knows better than most how much a team’s start, good or bad, can influence an entire season.
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BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said Friday that he would try to persuade U.S. President Donald Trump to grant Hungary exemptions from Washington’s newly announced sanctions targeting Russian oil when he meets with the president next week.
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The Trump administration unveiled sanctions against Russia’s major state-affiliated oil firms Rosneft and Lukoil last week, a move that could expose their foreign buyers — including customers in India, China and Central Europe — to secondary sanctions.
While most European Union member states sharply reduced or halted imports of Russian fossil fuels after Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022, Hungary and Slovakia have maintained their pipeline deliveries. Hungary has even increased the share of Russian oil in its energy mix.
Orbán, a Trump ally who is expected to visit Washington next week for his first bilateral meeting with the president since he retook office in January, has long argued that landlocked Hungary has no viable alternatives to Russian crude, and that replacing those supplies would trigger an economic collapse. Critics dispute that claim.
“We have to make the Americans understand this strange situation if we want exceptions to the American sanctions that are hitting Russia,” Orbán said in comments Friday to state radio.
The Hungarian leader, widely considered Russian President Vladimir Putin’s closest partner in the EU, has maintained warm relations with the Kremlin, despite the war, and has taken a combative stance toward Ukraine, portraying the neighboring country as a major threat to Hungary’s security and economy.
Orbán said Friday that both the U.S. administration and Moscow were seeking an end to the war, but that Ukraine and the EU were the primary impediments to peace. However, a planned meeting between Trump and Putin in Budapest was recently scrapped after Russian officials made clear they opposed an immediate ceasefire in the conflict.
Orbán said that he would be accompanied to Washington by a “large delegation” of ministers, economic officials and security advisers aimed at “a complete review” of U.S.-Hungarian relations. He said that Budapest hopes to finalize an economic cooperation package with the U.S., including new American investments in Hungary.
But any deal, he stressed, depends on securing Hungary’s continued access to Russian energy.
By DEREK GATOPOULOS and VOLODYMYR YURCHUK, Associated Press
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — At a secret location in rural Ukraine, columns of attack drones are assembled at night and in near silence to strike deep inside Russia.
Their targets are strategic: oil refineries, fuel depots, and military logistics hubs. Since the summer, Ukraine’s long-range drone campaign has ramped up dramatically, pounding energy infrastructure across Russia and stretching Moscow’s air defenses thin.
Built from parts made in a scattered network of workshops, these drones now fly much further than at any point in the war.
Officers in body armor move with quick precision; headlamps glow red to stay hidden. Engines sputter like old motorcycles as exhaust fumes drift into the moonless night. Minutes later, one after another, the drones lift from a makeshift runway and head east. The strikes have caused gasoline shortages in Russia, even forcing rationing in some regions and underscoring a growing vulnerability in the country’s infrastructure. Lt. Gen. Vasyl Maliuk, head of the Ukrainian Security Service, said Friday that more than 160 successful strikes had been carried out against Russia’s oil extraction and refining facilities so far this year.
A Ukrainian serviceman of the 14th Separate Unmanned Aerial Systems Regiment prepares a long-range drone An-196 Liutyi before takeoff in undisclosed location, Ukraine, Tuesday, Oct. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)
A Ukrainian commander callsign Fidel of the 14th Separate Unmanned Aerial Systems Regiment looks though night vision before takeoff long-range drones An-196 Liutyi towards Russia in undisclosed location, Ukraine, Tuesday, Oct. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)
Long-range drones An-196 Liutyi of the Ukrainian 14th Separate Unmanned Aerial Systems Regiment stand in line before takeoff in undisclosed location, Ukraine, Tuesday, Oct. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)
Ukrainian servicemen of the 14th Separate Unmanned Aerial Systems Regiment prepare long-range drones An-196 Liutyi before takeoff in undisclosed location, Ukraine, Tuesday, Oct. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)
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A Ukrainian serviceman of the 14th Separate Unmanned Aerial Systems Regiment prepares a long-range drone An-196 Liutyi before takeoff in undisclosed location, Ukraine, Tuesday, Oct. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)
Western analysts say the attacks on energy infrastructure so far have had a serious — but not crippling — effect. Ukrainian drones have repeatedly hit 16 major Russian refineries, representing about 38% of the country’s nominal refining capacity, according to a recent review by the Carnegie Endowment, a U.S.-based think tank.
But it argues the actual impact has been considerably more limited: most plants resumed operations within weeks, and Russia’s refining output has been cushioned by idle capacity and existing fuel surpluses.
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The deep strikes have, however, given Kyiv the initiative at an important moment. The United States and Europe are ramping up sanctions on Russia’s oil industry even as Kyiv’s request for U.S. long-range Tomahawk missiles has stalled. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says Ukraine’s improved long-range strike capability is causing real damage – forcing the Kremlin to import fuel and curb exports. “We believe they’ve lost up to 20% of their gasoline supply — directly as a result of our strikes,” he told reporters at a briefing in Kyiv.
At the secret launch site, the commander overseeing the operation — a broad-shouldered man identified by his call sign, “Fidel,” in accordance with Ukrainian military regulations — watches through night-vision goggles as the drones climb into the star-filled sky.
“Drones are evolving,” Fidel told The Associated Press. “Instead of flying 500 kilometers (310 miles), now they fly 1,000 … Three factors go into a successful operation: the drones, the people and the planning. We want to deliver the best result. For us, this is a holy mission.”
Ukraine thrives on no-frills weapons
Much of Ukraine’s fleet is homegrown. The Liutyi, a workhorse of the nightly attacks, is a waist-high craft with a sausage-shaped body, a propeller at the back, and a distinctive triangular tail.
It looks neither sleek nor intimidating — more Home Depot than Lockheed Martin — but the ease of assembly means it can be kept hidden and constantly tweaked: optimized to slip through heavily monitored frontline airspace.
Typical of Ukraine’s no-frills war production philosophy, the Liutyi — whose name means “fierce” in Ukrainian — has become a symbol of national pride and recently featured on a local postage stamp.
The reach of these drones — with some models doubling in range over the past year to routinely strike targets within a 1,000-kilometer radius of the border — marks a shift in the geography of the conflict. Attacks a year ago damaged refineries in a much narrower range, mostly in western Russian border regions. Costs have also come down, further testing expensive air defense systems, with long-range drones now being produced in Ukraine for as little as $55,000.
A shift in conflict geography
“What we’re seeing is that Ukraine is getting better at taking the war inside Russia,” said Adriano Bosoni, director of analysis at RANE, a global risk analysis firm. “For most of the war, Russia operated on the assumption that its own territory was safe. That’s no longer the case.”
The strategic logic is attrition by logistics, he argued: by forcing Russia to reroute supplies and commit air defenses to a wider area, Kyiv seeks to degrade Moscow’s capacity to sustain large-scale operations.
The Paris-based International Energy Agency says repeated drone strikes have cut Russia’s refining capacity by about 500,000 barrels a day. That’s triggered domestic fuel shortages and curbed exports of diesel and jet fuel, even as overall global oil production remains steady and prices stable.
Kyiv’s homegrown strike capability allows independent drone launches, bypassing the Western approval required for imported long-range weapons. That autonomy preceded tougher sanctions on Russia: allies escalated only after Ukraine had spent months hitting Russian refineries.
On the ground, each mission is a study in tradeoffs. Fewer than 30% of drones even reach the target area, so meticulous planning is essential, said Fidel, who reflected on the human cost. “War has fallen to our generation so that we can fight for our kids and they can live in a free democratic country,” he said. “We are currently obtaining experience that will be used by every country in the world, and we are paying the price with our lives and the lives of our friends.”
Associated Press journalists Hanna Arhirova, Illia Novikov, Evgeniy Maloletka, Dmytro Zhyhinas and Alex Babenko contributed to this report from Ukraine.
