Ukraine war: Biden’s secretive trip to Kyiv was disguised as a ‘golf tourney’ – here’s how it unfolded
US President Joe Biden has become the latest and most powerful Western leader to visit Kyiv since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February last year.
The show of solidarity for President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and his people came as a surprise to many, as the White House said last week that the US president had no intention of visiting Ukraine.
Whether or not that statement was true at the time is something we will likely never know, but some details of how the president’s secretive and historic visit was carried out are beginning to emerge.
Here is how the high-security operation unfolded.
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‘I gotta handshake here, too?’
Journalists told to await ‘arrival instructions for the golf tourney’
Two journalists were summoned to a private meeting with the White House’s communications director Kate Bedingfield on Friday.
They were informed that President Biden would be travelling to Kyiv and that they were the only two journalists who would be allowed to travel with him.
They would form the “travel pool” – meaning it would be their responsibility to share details with other news organisations.
These pool reporters were sworn to secrecy about the trip and told to look out for an email containing instructions for an early Sunday morning departure from Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland.
The subject line would read: “Arrival instructions for the golf tourney.”
The email arrived just after 3pm eastern US time (8pm UK time) on Saturday.
The journalists were told to report to the Andrews base between 2am and 2.15am eastern US time (7am and 7.15am UK time) the following morning.
Joe Biden sits on the train with his National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan. Pic: AP
Departure from the air base
The pool journalists arrived at the base and had their phones taken from them. The devices were not returned until their arrival at the US embassy in Kyiv more than 24 hours later.
They then boarded an Air Force C-32 often used to fly into smaller airports during domestic travel.
Before its departure, the plane sat in the dark next to a hangar with the shades drawn and away from the tarmac where it is typically parked for presidential travel.
Air Force One departed from the Andrews base at 4.15am eastern US time (9.15am UK time) on Sunday.
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Biden talks ‘very fruitful’ – Zelenskyy
Biden arrives in Germany
Air Force One touched down at Ramstein Air Base in Germany at 5.13pm local time (4.13pm UK time) Sunday under slightly overcast skies to refuel after an approximately seven-hour flight.
The plane remained with its shades down for the duration of its time on the ground, which lasted roughly an hour and 15 minutes.
The journalists on board remained in the press cabin the entire time and did not see Mr Biden at any point during the flight or stop in Ramstein.
Air Force One took off at 6.29pm local time (5.29pm UK time) after the sun had set and the skies were dark.
Pic: AP
Arrival in Rzeszow
Air Force One landed at the Rzeszow-Jasionka Airport in southeastern Poland at 7.57pm local time (8:57pm UK time) on Sunday.
The airport was clear upon Mr Biden’s arrival.
The journalists did not see the US president get out of Air Force One before he was quickly ushered towards an SUV.
The president’s motorcade began rolling at 8.12pm local time (7.12pm UK time) on a roughly one-hour drive along a fairly empty eastbound highway.
One of the pool journalists counted at least 20 cars in the motorcade which consisted of a mix of minivans, SUVs and suburbans – and sirens were not used to avoid drawing attention.
Pic: AP
Biden catches the train from Poland to Ukraine
Biden’s motorcade arrived at the Przemysl GÅ‚owny train station at approximately 9.15pm local time (8.15pm UK time).
The motorcade pulled directly up to a train that was mostly purple with two large strips at the bottom from its exterior and large square windows with the shades mostly drawn.
A handful of the train cars were blue with a yellow stripe along the middle and were reminiscent of the trains that have brought refugees into Poland from Ukraine.
Mr Biden was dropped directly in front of his train car.
The pool journalists were escorted to their own train car and put in separate sleeper cabins, each of which contained four single bunkbed-style beds.
One of the journalists was told by a security officer that the train had approximately eight cars, including the engines.
Most of the train was occupied by a heavy security presence.
A small group of passengers awaiting a separate train on the opposite side of the tracks were huddled in conversation and occasionally glanced over, but it was unclear if they could make out any of the activity unfolding before them.
The train left Przemysl GÅ‚owny at 9.37pm local time (8.37pm UK time).
One of the pool journalists was told by an agent on board that the train crossed the border into Ukraine at roughly 10pm local time on Sunday but this was not confirmed.
Much of the journey occurred in the dark and so there was little visible beyond streetlights and the shadows of buildings in the distance.
There was no interaction between the pool journalists and White House staff traveling with the president throughout the 10-hour journey, nor any sightings of Mr Biden on his favourite mode of transport.
There were a handful of stops, at least once to pick up additional security, along the way. It was not always clear what prompted the stops, most of which were brief, and the journalists were isolated from the staff on board.
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Biden and Zelenskyy meet in Kyiv
Biden arrives in Kyiv
The sun had risen as the train carrying President Biden approached the Ukrainian capital Kyiv.
One of the journalists aboard described how “views from the window largely consisted of graffiti walls, barren winter trees and a colourful assortment of brick homes – many of them in pastel colours”.
The train came to a stop at the Kyiv-Pasazhyrsky station at roughly 8am local time (6am UK time) on Monday.
The area around the platform had been cleared and US ambassador to Ukraine, Bridget Brink, awaited Mr Biden and his staff in chilly outdoor conditions.
The president’s first words after stepping off the train were: “It’s good to be back in Kyiv.”
The motorcade, which again was a mix of SUVs, minivans and armoured vehicles, rolled from the train station to Mariinsky Palace – the official residence of the Ukrainian president.
Along the way, the motorcade passed Kyiv’s Independence Square, the site of major demonstrations in 2013 and 2014.
The president’s stops consisted of a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at Mariinsky Palace, a walkabout with Mr Zelenskyy at St. Michael’s Cathedral, and a stop at the US embassy in Kyiv.
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Joe Biden arrives in Poland
Biden heads back to Poland
Biden departed Kyiv just before 1.10pm local time (11.10am UK time) in the same train he arrived in.
The train crossed the border back into Poland shortly after 8pm local time (7pm UK time).
The train arrived at the Przemyśl Główny at 8:45pm (7.45pm).
Donald Trump’s bruising assessment of Europe as “weak” and “decaying” is a bitter blow to nations already reeling from the release of his national security strategy.
At the end of the 45-minute interview with Politico, EU leaders might be forgiven for thinking, with friends like these, who needs enemies?
“Europe doesn’t know what to do,” Trump said, “They want to be politically correct, and it makes them weak.”
Trump meets leaders from Ukraine, Germany, France, the UK, Italy, and Finland, as well as the EU and NATO, in August Pic: Reuters
On the contrary, I would imagine some choice words were being uttered in European capitals as they waded through the string of insults.
First up, the US president criticised European leaders for failing to end the war between Russia and Ukraine.
“They talk but they don’t produce. And the war just keeps going on and on,” he said.
The fact that the Russians have shown no real commitment to stopping the invasion they started is not mentioned.
EU Flags at the European Commission Building. Pic: iStock
Instead, the blame is laid squarely at the feet of Ukraine and its allies in Europe.
“I think if I weren’t president, we would have had World War III,” Trump suggested, while concluding that Moscow is in the stronger position.
Critics claim that the White House has emboldened the Kremlin and brought Putin in from the cold with a summit and photo opportunities.
Trump highlights the fact that his return to office forced many European NATO members to increase defence spending drastically.
Trump meeting European leaders in the Oval Office in August. Pic: @RapidResponse47
On this, he is correct – the growing insecurity around how long America can be relied on has brought security into sharp focus.
The release of the new US national security strategy has only added to the feelings of unease.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz on Tuesday claimed some of its contents were unacceptable from a European point of view.
“I see no need for America to want to save democracy in Europe. If it was necessary to save it, we would manage it on our own,” he told a news conference in Rhineland-Palatinate, the German state where Trump’s paternal grandfather was born.
Meeting between, left to right, Keir Starmer of the UK, Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine, Emmanuel Macron of France, Donald Tusk of Poland, and Friedrich Merz of Germany. Pic: AP
The leader of the EU’s biggest power also said that the new US strategy was not a surprise and largely chimed with the vice president’s speech at the Munich Security Conference in February.
For this reason, Merz reiterated that Europe and Germany must become more independent from America for their security policies.
However, he noted, “I say in my discussions with the Americans, ‘America first’ is fine, but America alone cannot be in your interests.”
For his part, while Trump said he liked most of Europe’s current leaders, he warned they were “destroying” their countries with their migration policies.
He said: “Europe is a different place, and if it keeps going the way it’s going, Europe will not be…in my opinion, many of those countries will not be viable countries any longer. Their immigration policy is a disaster”.
He added: “Most European nations… they’re decaying.”
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Again, the comments echoed his security strategy, which warned immigration risked “civilisation erasure” in Europe.
There’s no doubt immigration is a major concern for many of the continent’s leaders and voters.
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Zelenskyy meets European leaders
However, irregular crossings into the EU fell 22% in the first 10 months of 2025 according to Frontex, a fact which seems to have passed the president and his team by.
“Within a few decades at the latest, certain Nato members will become majority non-European”, his security document warned.
It also suggested “cultivating resistance” in Europe “to restore former greatness” leading to speculation about how America might intervene in European politics.
Trump appeared to add further clarification on Tuesday, saying while he did not “want to run Europe”, he would consider “endorsing” his preferred candidates in future elections.
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This comment will also ruffle feathers on the continent where the European Council President has already warned Trump’s administration against interfering in Europe’s affairs.
“Allies do not threaten to interfere in the domestic political choices of their allies,” Antonio Costa said on Monday.
“The US cannot replace Europe in what its vision is of free expression… Europe must be sovereign.”
So, what will happen now, and how will Europe’s leaders respond?
If you are hoping for a showdown, you will likely be disappointed.
Like him or loathe him, Europe’s leaders need Trump.
They need the might of America and want to try to secure continued support for Ukraine.
While the next few days will be filled with politely scripted statements or rejections of the president’s comments, most of his allies know on this occasion they are probably best to grin and bear it.
Police officers found a handgun, a silencer and a red notebook described as a “manifesto” when they arrested Luigi Mangione.
The 27-year-old was arrested in December 2024 and charged with killing UnitedHealthcare chief executive Brian Thompson in New York City.
Mangione‘s lawyers want to block prosecutors from showing or telling jurors at his eventual trial in Manhattan about statements he allegedly made and items they said police seized from his backpack during his arrest at a McDonald’s in Pennsylvania.
The objects include a 9mm handgun prosecutors say matches the one used in the killing, a silencer, a magazine with bullets wrapped in underwear and a notebook in which they say Mangione described his intent to “wack” a healthcare executive.
Mangione with his attorney. Pic: Reuters
The defence contends the items should be excluded because police did not get a warrant before searching Mangione’s backpack.
Prosecutors deny claims Mangione was illegally searched and questioned.
They also want to suppress some statements he made to police, such as allegedly giving a false name, because officers asked him questions before telling him he had a right to remain silent.
Last week, Mangione watched surveillance videos of the killing of Mr Thompson, 50, as he walked to a New York City hotel for his company’s annual investor conference.
Mangione has pleaded not guilty to state and federal murder charges.
The state charges carry the possibility of life in prison, while federal prosecutors are seeking the death penalty.
This week’s hearing concerns only the state case, but Mangione’s lawyers want to bar evidence from both cases.
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In September, a judge dismissed two terrorism counts against Mangione, finding prosecutors had not presented enough evidence Mangione intended to intimidate health insurance workers or influence government policy.
Trial dates are yet to be set in either the state or federal cases.
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