First lady Melania Trump helped convince president to get tough on Russia, he says

President Trump suggested Monday that first lady Melania may have helped convince him to ramp up military aid to Ukraine.

As he explained his decision to get tough on Russian President Vladimir Putin, Trump said his wife was one of the people who directly pointed out to him that Putin always backs out of his promises following their phone calls over a peace deal.

“I go home, I tell the first lady, ‘You know, I spoke to Vladimir today. We had a wonderful conversation.’ She said, ‘Oh, really? Another city was just hit,’” he said, recounting one of their recent calls.

The Kremlin has repeatedly fired ever-escalating waves of drone and missile attacks at Ukraine following the calls with Trump. The American commander in chief announced that he was fed up with Moscow as he vowed to commit “billions of dollars” worth of weapons to Ukraine and levy 100% tariffs against Russia if Putin continues to reject a US-backed cease-fire agreement over the next 50 days.

Melania, who is originally from Slovenia, has not publicly spoken out on the Ukraine war before, but the country of her birth has kept cold relations with Russia since the invasion began in February 2022.

Just a month into the war, a Russian airstrike destroyed Slovenia’s consulate in Ukraine during an attack on Kharkiv, the nation’s second-largest city.   

Slovenia, a member of the European Union, declared its independence from Yugoslavia in 1991, with the socialist republic’s army yielding following a ten-day war. 

Trump’s remarks on the first lady’s advocacy for Ukraine has been welcomed by supporters of Ukraine, who went on social media to tout her as an ally against Russian aggression. 

Melainia was recently spotted with the president during the FIFA Club World Cup final at New Jersey’s MetLife Stadium on Sunday.