Donald Trump has made a new promise to end the Ukraine war by Wednesday.
Trump repeatedly pledged on the campaign trail he’d end the war in Ukraine by the first day he returned to power. But as he fast approaches his 100th day in office, his inability to find a solution has become an increasingly obvious flaw of his presidency.
After a surprise attack on Kyiv killed at least 12 Ukrainians amid collapsing peace deal negotiations late Wednesday, the president reportedly told aides that he wants to resolve the conflict before his 100th day arrives next week, according to CNN.
Rising frustration over the ongoing conflict—and Russian President Vladimir Putin’s and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s deep hatred for one another—has flustered Trump.
On Thursday, the president had resorted to begging Putin to stop the violence. At a White House press conference later that day, Trump claimed that Russia had offered major concessions in a possible peace deal. Those concessions, however, amounted to “stopping taking” the entirety of Ukraine. Senior officials in the Trump administration—including the president himself—have also verbally recognized Crimea as a part of Russia, a remarkable reversal of long-standing U.S. policy that made Kremlin propagandists on state-sponsored television laugh at the downfall of American power.
Trump has since tried to backtrack his initial promises over the war. In a 100-day retrospective with Time magazine, Trump claimed that his pledge to end the war “on day one” was little more than a joke.
“Obviously, people know that when I said that, it was said in jest, but it was also said that it will be ended,” Trump told Time.
But when pressed on when the war would finally end, Trump said, “I don’t think it’s long.”
“I mean, look, I got here three months ago,” he continued, again deflecting blame for the conflict onto former President Joe Biden.
“It’s Biden’s war. It’s not my war. I have nothing to do with it. I would have never had this war. This war would have never happened,” Trump said. “Putin would have never done it. This war would have never happened. [October] 6 would have never happened. [October] 7 would have never happened. Would have never happened. Ever. You then say, what’s taking so long? Do you hear this, Steve [Cheung]? The war has been raging for three years. I just got here, and you say, what’s taken so long?”
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