President Donald Trump railed against Vladimir Putin in a wild rant, claiming that “something has happened” to his Russian counterpart after Moscow launched its biggest airstrike yet on Ukraine.
Hours after a massive Russian attack killed 12 people and injured nearly 80 others in Ukraine on Sunday, Trump unloaded on Putin to reporters in New Jersey and then, shortly afterwards, again in a Truth Social tirade.
“I’ve always had a very good relationship with Vladimir Putin of Russia, but something has happened to him. He has gone absolutely CRAZY!” he wrote on Truth Social. “Missiles and drones are being shot into Cities in Ukraine, for no reason whatsoever. I’ve always said that he wants ALL of Ukraine, not just a piece of it, and maybe that’s proving to be right, but if he does, it will lead to the downfall of Russia!”
Though Russia has been lobbing missiles into Ukraine since the invasion in 2022, Moscow has escalated its attacks in recent days amid ceasefire negotiations that Trump has backed away from.
European allies were hopeful last week that Trump would use his call with Putin to pressure the Russian president into agreeing to a ceasefire by threatening new sanctions. Instead, Trump told reporters after their two-hour-long conversation that “this was not my war.”
But Russia’s latest attacks on Ukraine might once again change Trump’s mind.
“We’re in the middle of talking, and he’s shooting rockets into Kyiv and other cities. I don’t like it at all,” Trump told reporters in New Jersey on Sunday, adding that he was “surprised” by Putin.
Asked whether he was considering imposing more sanctions on Russia, Trump responded: “Absolutely. He’s killing a lot of people. I don’t know what’s wrong with him. What the hell happened to him, right?”
Trump’s comments come on the same day Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky blasted the U.S. and other countries on X for their silence on the fresh slew of Russian attacks.
“Each such terrorist Russian strike is a sufficient reason for new sanctions against Russia,” he wrote. “The world may go on a weekend break, but the war continues, regardless of weekends and weekdays. This cannot be ignored. Silence of America, silence of others around the world only encourage Putin.”
Today, rescuers have been working in more than 30 Ukrainian cities and villages following Russia’s massive strike. Wherever necessary, work continues – our emergency services are on the ground, providing assistance and supporting people. Thank you. Nearly 300 attack drones were… pic.twitter.com/Mxx1a34kS2
— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) May 25, 2025
Zelensky said “sanctions will certainly help” as he argued that the war can only be stopped through “the necessary force of pressure” on Russia by the U.S. and European countries.
Trump appeared to hit back in his Truth Social post, calling out Zelensky after raging against Putin.
“President Zelenskyy is doing his Country no favors by talking the way he does,” he said. “Everything out of his mouth causes problems, I don’t like it, and it better stop.”
Trump announced last week that he was bailing out of the Russia-Ukraine peace talks and letting Pope Leo XIV take charge of hosting the negotiations.
Days later, Reuters reported that Ukraine was preparing to ask the European Union to take a more aggressive and independent approach to sanctions on Russia amid uncertainty over Washington’s role in the negotiations.
“This is a War that would never have started if I were President,” Trump said in his Sunday Truth Social post. “This is Zelenskyy’s, Putin’s, and Biden’s War, not ‘Trump’s,’ I am only helping to put out the big and ugly fires, that have been started through Gross Incompetence and Hatred.”
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