A day after claiming that Ukraine needed additional weaponry to defend itself against Russian invasion, President Trump intensified his criticism of Russian President Vladimir V. Putin on Tuesday, accusing him of being dishonest.
At a cabinet meeting, Mr. Trump told reporters, “If you want to know the truth, we get a lot of bullshit thrown at us by Putin.” He is always so kind to us, yet it is ultimately pointless.
For Mr. Trump, who has frequently voiced doubt about U.S. assistance to Ukraine and praise for Mr. Putin’s power and intelligence, the strong rhetoric was noteworthy. Mr. Trump insulted Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in the Oval Office a few months ago, saying he wasn’t thankful enough for America’s assistance.
However, Mr. Trump has made more and more claims that Mr. Putin is now a barrier to the peace agreement he is attempting to negotiate.
In order to assist Ukraine in repelling Russia’s invasion, the president said on Monday that the United States was restarting its supply of ammunition to the country. The administration had halted the transfer of some air defense interceptors, precision-guided bombs, and missiles to Ukraine, the White House admitted just last week, citing Pentagon worries that the country’s weapons inventories were running low.
Notably, Mr. Trump declined to comment on Tuesday on whether he was aware of the halt in ammunition shipments beforehand. Mr. Trump was asked repeatedly who ordered the stop when he was sitting next to his defense secretary, Pete Hegseth. “I’m not sure,” he told the reporter. Would you mind telling me?
Throughout his speech, the president called out Russia’s aggression against Ukraine on numerous occasions.
We don’t approve of Putin. Putin doesn’t make me happy. Mr. Trump stated, “I can tell you that much right now because he’s killing a lot of people.”
He said that the Russian president was killing too many people and that we were delivering some defensive weaponry to Ukraine because Mr. Putin was not treating people humanely.
According to the Ukrainian Air Force, Russia launched the most drones and missiles in a single barrage during its attack on Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities on Friday. The assault occurred just hours after Mr. Trump and Mr. Putin spoke on the phone.
