NBC’s Kristen Welker said Trump had called her to express his fury over Putin questioning Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s future as a leader — something that Trump himself has done.
Welker, on her NBC show “Meet The Press” on Sunday, quoted directly from an early-morning telephone conversation with the president.
“If Russia and I are unable to make a deal on stopping the bloodshed in Ukraine, and if I think it was Russia’s fault… I am going to put secondary tariffs on all oil coming out of Russia,” Trump said.
Trump told Welker that he “was very angry, pissed off” over Putin’s recent comments about Zelensky’s credibility and talking about new leadership in Ukraine.
The US president has been pushing for a speedy end to the more than three-year war since taking office, but his administration has failed to reach a breakthrough despite negotiations with both sides.
Putin rejected a joint US-Ukrainian plan for a 30-day ceasefire, and on Friday suggested Zelensky be removed from office as part of the peace process.
Trump told NBC that Putin knows he is angry, but said that he has “a very good relationship with him” and “the anger dissipates quickly… if he does the right thing.”
