President Trump said it’s time for Ukraine to ditch President Zelensky and find a new negotiator if it wants to end the war with Russia.
And he defended President Vladimir Putin’s latest actions in the four-year invasion of Ukraine.
“Russia, frankly, has been fine on Ukraine. They haven’t been doing much,” Trump told reporters on the South Lawn before he headed to Kansas for a campaign trip.
More than 125,000 Ukrainians have died in the war, according to estimates, and that includes civilian casualties. Russian forces have struck indiscriminately as they try to subdue the country, including an attack on a park on Monday that killed 10 people — two of whom were women and one was an infant in a stroller.
But Trump’s fury was firmly focused on Zelensky, as he blew up on the longtime Ukrainian leader.
The president referred to his infamous February 2025 Oval Office meeting with the Ukrainian leader, where he warned Zelensky that he was in danger of losing the war and was only in a strong position because of American military aid.
“Zelensky is a man that should have had this war settled a long time ago,” Trump told reporters on the South Lawn before he headed to Kansas for a campaign trip.
“They’re losing their male population. Ukraine could have had this thing settled a long time ago. If he would have listened to me, and you remember the Oval Office, he would have had to settle a long time ago,” he added. “I think it’s time for somebody else to negotiate on behalf of Ukraine.”
In that now infamous Oval Office showdown over a year ago, Trump, Zelensky and Vice President JD Vance got into a shouting match over American aid to Ukraine and whether Zelensky had shown enough gratitude to the United States.
“You’re not winning. You’re not winning this. You have a damn good chance of coming out OK because of us,” Trump told the Ukrainian leader at the time. “If you didn’t have our military equipment, this war would have been over in two weeks.”
“I don’t think you’d be a tough guy without the United States,” the president went on to tell him, adding that “you don’t have the cards. But once we sign that deal, you’re in a much better position, but you’re not acting at all thankful. And that’s not a nice thing.”
Trump, meanwhile, pulled the rug out from under Ukraine last week when he decided to pause sanctions on Russia and signed a deal with Putin for that country’s diesel fuel.
Diesel fuel is above $6 in the US, hurting farmers and truckers, two voting blocs Republicans need to keep control of Congress in November’s midterm election. Trump is heavily courting those groups, which is part of the reason for his Kansas trip.
The president defended his actions as he faced criticism from some Republicans who claimed he sided with Moscow over Kyiv. Trump claims his move will give the US a “leg up” in negotiations to end the Russian-Ukraine war.
He also confirmed he was open to a meeting with Putin and Chinese President Xi next month when he’s in China for the ASEAN meeting.
“I would do it,” he said.
Putin proposed the meeting for when Trump was already scheduled to be in China for a meeting of Asian leaders, the Wall Street Journal reported. Zelensky was not invited.
Trump and Zelensky have had an on-and-off relationship as the president has urged Ukraine to simply make a deal. Now both men are showing frustration with the other, snapping back and forth via public statements.
Zelensky criticized Trump’s decision to remove sanctions on Russia, which came as Moscow was losing ground in Ukraine.
“I believe steps have been taken to convince Ukraine to capitulate,” he told Bloomberg News. “That’s how it looks.”
He resumed strikes on Russian oil refineries, which Trump blasted as a disgrace. Zelensky said he was “only standing up for Ukraine’s interests.”
Meanwhile, Trump indicated his patience was up and the US had done enough to help Kyiv.
“We’ve given a lot to Ukraine. They’ve given nothing to us. Remember that,” Trump said.
“All I want is for Russia and Ukraine to stop that stupid war.”
