HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. would not comment Thursday on the situation over CDC Director Susan Monarez's job but said that President Donald Trump has "ambitious hopes" for the CDC, signaling the president's alignment with him.

"I will say is President Trump has very, very ambitious hopes for what for the CDC right now. CDC has problems," Kennedy said in a "Fox and Friends" interview, before he made unproven claims about the pandemic.

Kennedy, who has no formal medical training or experience, also said that the priorities of the CDC need to be reexamined.

"If there's really a deeply, deeply embedded, I would say, malaise at the agency, and we need strong leadership that will go in there, and that will be able to execute on President Trump's broad ambitions," he said.

-ABC News' Hannah Demissie and Cheyenne Haslett

Trump says Utah redistricting ruling is ‘absolutely Unconstitutional’

Trump claimed on his social media platform that the ruling by a Utah judge Monday that the state legislature will have to redraw its congressional map is "absolutely Unconstitutional.”

"All Citizens of Utah should be outraged at their activist Judiciary, which wants to take away our Congressional advantage, and will do everything possible to do so," Trump said.

The judge’s decision could benefit Democrats heading into the 2026 midterm elections.

Currently, Salt Lake City is split between the state’s four congressional districts, dividing Democratic votes among the districts that back Republicans.

But the judge determined that the map was drawn in violation of an independent redistricting commission approved by voters in 2018.

-ABC News’ Michelle Stoddart and Oren Oppenheim

Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser on Wednesday talked about the benefits of a federal law enforcement surge in the nation's capital, while warning of broken trust with residents and renewed risks to the city's autonomy.

Bowser confirmed she had a "courtesy meeting" with Trump after a more substantive discussion with Attorney General Pam Bondi and the president's chief of staff, Susie Wiles.

The mayor credited the surge with driving down crime but warned it has strained community trust. Bowser said there's been an 87% reduction in carjackings during the federal takeover and praised efforts to get guns off the streets, but said what is "not working" is masked ICE agents or National Guard troops.

Bowser also reiterated her push to rebuild the Metropolitan Police Department, which has struggled with retirements, budget cuts and recruitment. She said on Wednesday, the force needs at least 500 new officers.

-ABC News' Beatrice Peterson

Andriy Yermak, the head of the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's office, and First Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Sergiy Kyslytsya will take part in negotiations with White House special envoy Steve Witkoff in the United States this week, according to a source familiar with the plans.

The visit is being described as a follow-up meeting to Gen. Keith Kellogg's visit to Kyiv earlier this week. Kellog is President Donald Trump's Ukraine envoy.

The focus of the talks will be security guarantees progress and the Russians seemingly not committing to another meeting.

Zelenskyy said Ukrainian officials will meet with members of Trump's team on Friday in New York.

"Everyone who is working on the content of the security guarantees will be involved -- the military, political, and economic components of security guarantees. The task is to accelerate as much as possible so that this too becomes a lever – a lever of influence: the Russians must see how seriously the world is determined and how dire the consequences will be for Russia if the war continues," Zelenskyy said.