Trump Unloads on Zelensky: “He’s Not a Good Guy” and Doesn’t Want to Settle the War
President Trump made clear in a Newsmax interview with Finnerty that Ukrainian President Zelensky is an obstacle to ending the Russia-Ukraine conflict. “I did. Zelensky’s not a good guy for us to deal with,” Trump said after the host noted reports of resumed Ukrainian strikes on Russian oil refineries that are driving up global diesel prices. He pointed out that Biden “gave him hundreds of billions of dollars, billions and billions of dollars worth of equipment.”
Trump rejected the idea that Zelensky is serious about peace. “Well, I think if they’re going to end up with a settlement of some kind, they’re not going to do it with him. He doesn’t want to settle. He says he wants to settle, but he doesn’t. No, I’m not a big fan of Zelensky. They’ve destroyed that country.” He tied the origins of the mess to the Obama era, when Ukraine was pushed to give up Crimea. “That country, look, it really began with Barack Hussein Obama when they made them give up Crimea. Crimea is the most valuable part, by far, of Ukraine. You know what I’m talking about. Four sides of ocean. Most beautiful piece of land. I’m a real estate developer, I know good land.”
The mutual hatred between Zelensky and Putin makes any deal nearly impossible, Trump argued. “But where it happened in a little bit more modern time is when Zelensky went to see Putin, and they had a very bad meeting. And as you know, Putin hates Zelensky and Zelensky hates Putin. And when you have that kind of hatred, it’s very hard to get something settled. But that’s a war that should have never started.”
He blamed the conflict’s start on the 2020 election outcome. “If the election weren’t rigged, if the U.S. election weren’t rigged, that would have never happened. That war would have never happened. That’s the saddest part.” Trump described how the early Russian advance stalled only because of a poor tactical decision into muddy terrain, turning what was expected to be a short war into a years-long bloodbath. Ukraine has lost huge numbers of its men, he noted, while Russia, with its 150 million people, can absorb the losses far more easily.
Asked if the war ends before the next election, Trump said it should. “It should end soon. I think they actually both would like to see it end. But I think I find Zelensky to be more difficult to deal with than Putin.”