The President pushed back against suggestions from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy that the United States could capture Russian President Vladimir Putin, following Zelenskyy’s reference to Washington’s recent actions against Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro.
Trump dismissed the idea of such an operation, while expressing frustration over the protracted war and his failure thus far to bring it to a close. Trump has repeatedly stated on the campaign trail that he could end the war on his first day back in office, but despite meetings with both Zelenskyy and Putin, a resolution remains unattainable.
“Well, I don’t think it’s going to be necessary,” Trump said in response to a question from ’ Peter Doocy during a meeting with U.S. oil company executives at the White House on Friday.
“I’ve always had a great relationship with him. I’m very disappointed,” Trump said of Putin. “. I thought this would be in the middle of the pack, or maybe one of the easier ones.”
Trump noted the conflict continues to take a heavy toll, particularly on , and claimed Moscow’s economy is also suffering.
“And in the last month they lost 31,000 people, many of them Russian soldiers,” Trump said, adding that the Russian economy is “doing poorly.”
“I think we’re going to end up getting it settled,” Trump said. “I wish we could have done it quicker because a lot of people are dying.”
“But largely it’s the soldier population,” he continued. “When you have 30,000, 31,000 soldiers dying in a period of a month, 27,000 the month before, 26,000 the month before that. That’s bad stuff.”
Trump also criticized the Biden administration for sending what he described as , arguing the U.S. should be able to recoup costs through a rare earth minerals agreement tied to continued support. He also claimed the U.S. is not losing money in the conflict, stating Washington is benefiting through arms sales to NATO allies, and pointed to NATO’s pledge to raise defense and security spending toward 5% of GDP by 2035, up from the longstanding 2% benchmark.
“We’re not losing any money. We’re making a lot of money.”
Zelenskyy’s comments came after Russia said it fired its new nuclear-capable Oreshnik hypersonic missile as part of a , a claim Kyiv disputed. Ukrainian officials said the barrage involved hundreds of drones and multiple missiles and struck energy facilities and civilian infrastructure, killing at least four people.
Zelenskyy called on the United States and the international community to respond, saying Russia must face consequences for attacks targeting ordinary civilians.
‘ Rachel Wolf contributed to this report.