The Trump administration has been secretly working in consultation with Russia to draft a new plan to end the war in Ukraine, U.S. and Russian officials tell Axios' Barak Ravid and Dave Lawler.

• Why it matters: The 28-point U.S. plan is inspired by President Trump's successful push for a deal in Gaza. A top Russian official told Axios he's optimistic about the plan. It's not yet clear how Ukraine and its European backers will feel about it.

🪖 At the same time, Trump has dispatched Army Secretary Dan Driscoll, plus two four-star Army generals, to Kyiv for talks today to revive negotiations on ending the war, The Wall Street Journal reports (gift link).

• The Pentagon delegation is scheduled to hold discussions with President Volodymyr Zelensky. Driscoll is to meet Russian officials later.
• "The White House decision to turn to Driscoll and senior military officers is driven in part by the belief that Moscow might be more open to military-brokered negotiations and by frustration that multiple previous attempts have yielded little," The Journal says.
• A senior administration official said: "The president has been clear that it is time to stop the killing and make a deal to end the war."

🇺🇦 The draft plan's 28 points fall into four general buckets, sources tell Axios: peace in Ukraine, security guarantees, security in Europe, and future U.S. relations with Russia and Ukraine.

• It's unclear how the plan approaches contentious issues such as territorial control in eastern Ukraine — where Russian forces have been inching forward, but still control far less land than the Kremlin has demanded.

👀 Behind the scenes: Trump envoy Steve Witkoff is leading the drafting of the plan and has discussed it extensively with Russian envoy Kirill Dmitriev, a U.S. official said.

• Dmitriev, who runs Russia's sovereign wealth fund and is deeply involved in diplomacy over Ukraine, told Axios on Monday that he spent three days huddled with Witkoff and other members of Trump's team when Dmitriev visited Miami from Oct. 24-26.
• Dmitriev expressed optimism about the deal's chances of success because, unlike past efforts, "we feel the Russian position is really being heard."

🔎 Zoom in: Dmitriev told Axios the basic idea was to take the principles Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed to in Alaska in August and produce a proposal "to address the Ukraine conflict, but also how to restore U.S.-Russia ties [and] address Russia's security concerns."

• "It's actually a much broader framework, basically saying: How do we really bring, finally, lasting security to Europe, not just Ukraine?" he said.
• The aim is to produce a written document along those lines before Trump and Putin next meet, according to Dmitriev.

What to watch: The White House has started briefing European officials, in addition to the Ukrainians, about the new plan.

• "We think the timing is good for this plan now," the U.S. official said. "But both parties need to be practical and realistic."

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AI is far too transformative for society — and disruptive to legacy industries — to fixate on a near-term bubble, some of the world's top private investors said at our Axios BFD summit in Manhattan yesterday.

• Why it matters: Financial markets may be nervous now. But the people who invest billions for the long term believe in what they're seeing.

Sequoia Capital partner Roelof Botha, one of the world's top venture capitalists, told Axios Pro Rata author Dan Primack: "I was in Silicon Valley in '98, '99. I saw what happened with the dotcom era. I saw what happened with mobile, saw what happened with cloud computing. This surpasses all of them and more."

• "You have so many industries that are relatively ossified and ripe for disruption. And AI isn't just a new distribution mechanism or a new interface. It is fundamentally a set of capabilities that can upend industries."

🎥 Case in point: Creatives fear the impact AI could have on entertainment and the arts. But those who are using it right now to change businesses say rejecting it isn't the answer.

• "The reality is, the world's not going to stop and AI is coming, so you have a choice: You could put your head in the sand or you can embrace it," said Gerry Cardinale, managing partner of RedBird Capital Partners, which helped finance the Skydance acquisition of Paramount.
• "I don't think AI is going to replace Robert Plant and Jimmy Page. … It's not gonna replace Ben Affleck and Matt Damon. However, it has to be harnessed."

🎤 More top BFD moments: SpaceX > OpenAI ... LLM bubble ... Polymarket blasts "scam" sportsbooks ... Coinbase's Trump ballroom backstory.

The Senate yesterday unanimously passed a bill to compel the Justice Department to release files related to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, sending it to President Trump's desk, Axios' Stephen Neukam writes.

• Why it matters: Trump said he'll sign the bill. But the files still may not be released anytime soon.

The Senate passed the bill by unanimous consent, which required the green light from all 100 senators, just hours after it cleared the House via a near-unanimous vote — and before the bill had even technically been sent over.

• Just one lawmaker — Rep. Clay Higgins (R-La.) — ended up voting against the bill.

👀 What we're watching: The bill allows DOJ to withhold information that could interfere with an ongoing federal investigation, meaning Trump's recent demand that the DOJ investigate Epstein's ties to other powerful figures could halt the process.

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Elon Musk and soccer star Cristiano Ronaldo — who plays for a Saudi team (and has 668 million followers on Instagram) — attended last night's White House dinner for Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS).

• During his speech, Trump said he's formally designating Saudi Arabia as a major non-NATO ally, a key symbol of a close relationship with the U.S. that carries defense contracting and security cooperation benefits.

The guest list — filled with major leaders in business and tech — included Nvidia's Jensen Huang ... Apple's Tim Cook ... Salesforce's Marc Benioff ... Oracle's Larry Ellison ... Palantir's Alex Karp ... GM's Mary Barra ... Bill Ackman ... and Sen. Dave McCormick (R-Pa.) and Dina Powell McCormick.

• Trump and MBS will attend a U.S.-Saudi investment conference at the Kennedy Center today.

More pics ... Full guest list ... White House fact sheet.

Investors looking to bitcoin as a safe haven this year are feeling anything but safe, Axios' Pete Gannon writes.

• Why it matters: Once billed as a hedge against inflation and economic angst, bitcoin is now performing like the ultimate risk asset.

It was one of the first things to fall as investors increasingly question the sustainability of the AI-driven stock rally.

• Crypto's latest slide comes while the Nasdaq is down 6% over the past month.

🧮 By the numbers: After a 26% slide from its all-time high in early October, bitcoin is now trading roughly flat since the start of the year.

• Gold has soared 55% in 2025.

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JPMorgan Chase today is announcing more than $40 million in philanthropy to increase America's housing supply, including more than $20 million in grants and $20 million in flexible loans.

• Why it matters: The funds will support innovative financing and construction models to expand and preserve housing, as well as home improvement loans for low- and moderate-income families.

Zoom out: Tim Berry — JPMorgan Chase's global head of corporate responsibility and chair of the Mid-Atlantic Region — said in the announcement that housing "is at the root of local economic growth and homeownership is key to building generational wealth."

• JPMorgan Chase also announced it has extended more than $5 billion in debt and equity for affordable housing.

Zoom in: Among JPMorgan Chase's local grants, an Atlanta organization that works to keep residents in their homes within the Sweet Auburn Historic District, a Black neighborhood where the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was born, will receive $1.7 million, Axios Atlanta's Kristal Dixon writes.

• The money will help the group, Historic District Development Corporation, "accelerate the construction and sale of affordable homes" for low and moderate-income Atlanta residents, the bank said.

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A tech-friendly new group, the AI Infrastructure Coalition, will launch this evening with a reception near the White House, to advocate for "every layer of the AI tech stack — from semiconductor manufacturers and energy providers to hyperscalers, data-center operators, private equity, and AI model developers."

• Why it matters: AIIC, which debuts as data centers are becoming a flashpoint nationwide, tells Axios the group will push for President Trump's AI Action Plan and push back on increased scrutiny of the industry.

The group, which emphasizes an American-jobs message, says it wants to "shape the future of AI infrastructure policy and advance U.S. leadership in AI," in an effort to "ignite American economic prosperity, create high-quality jobs, and fortify our nation's security in the AI race against China."

• Members include Andreessen Horowitz, Cisco, ExxonMobil, Google, Meta, Microsoft and PG&E.

The co-chairs are former Arizona independent Sen. Kyrsten Sinema and former Louisiana Republican Rep. Garret Graves.

• The executive director is Brian O. Walsh, a longtime Republican campaign strategist.

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Joe Rogan holds the top spot on Apple's podcast charts for the most popular show of 2025, The Hollywood Reporter writes.

• Rogan — a longtime leader of the Spotify charts — beat out "The Daily" from The New York Times. "The Mel Robbins Podcast" climbed into third.

The top 5 most popular podcasts:

1. "The Joe Rogan Experience"
2. "The Daily"
3. "The Mel Robbins Podcast"
4. "Crime Junkie"
5. "Dateline NBC"

The top 5 newest shows:

1. "Good Hang with Amy Poehler"
2. "Not Gonna Lie with Kylie Kelce"
3. "Deadly Mirage"
4. "Blink | Jake Haendel's Story"
5. "Murder in the Moonlight"

More year-end lists, including top episodes.