In light of Russia’s recent barrage of strikes on Ukraine, which Ukrainian authorities said included more than 900 attack drones over just three days, calls for the United States and European allies to impose additional sanctions on Russia have grown louder. President Donald Trump told reporters why he hasn’t made the move yet.

“Only the fact that if I think that I’m close to getting a deal, I don’t want to screw it up by doing that. Let me tell you, I’m a lot tougher than the people you’re talking about but you have to know when to use that,” Trump said.

Despite the recent attacks and what’s become a war of words between Trump and those closest to Russian President Vladimir Putin, Trump was still undecided about whether Putin is serious about negotiating an end to the war. See Nation & World Page 7

Here are more Trump administration headlines from Saturday:

Court’s decision: An appeals court refused to freeze a California-based judge’s order halting the Trump administration from downsizing the federal workforce, which means that the Department of Government Efficiency-led cuts remain on pause for now. A split three-judge panel of the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals found that the downsizing could have significant ripple effects on everything from the nation’s food-safety system to veteran health care and should stay on hold while a lawsuit plays out.

Tariff questions:Trump’s tariff regime is less than three months old, yet it has undergone significant changes from month to month, and sometimes even from day to day and hour to hour. The president has imposed across-the-board duties on the whole world and strict ones on China, only to pull back. Wall Street is starting to notice a pattern. Trump has taken investors for a ride in the meantime as they wrestle with where the administration takes tariffs next. Market players think they’ve detected a new type of international trade developing under the president.

Cuts impact: The Trump administration has proposed cutting billions more from the CDC’s budget, enough to cut the agency’s spending in half. The CDC sends about 80 percent of its budget to states and local communities. Michael Eby, a director of clinical services, said the relentless cuts to the system leave departments unable to respond to new pandemics and old diseases returning across the United States.

From wire and Sinclair National Desk reports