Donald Trump just can’t quit Vladimir Putin, with the U.S. president declaring that he’s “not done with him” despite his disappointment in the Russian leader.
The relationship between the pair has become increasingly strained over Putin’s refusal to end the war. Ahead of announcing a decision to send more U.S. weapons to Kyiv, Trump complained: “Putin really surprised a lot of people. He talks nice and then he bombs everybody in the evening… I don’t like it.”
Trump doubled down on Monday, saying he is “very, very unhappy” with Russia and threatened the country with secondary tariffs of up to 100 percent if they couldn’t negotiate a peace deal with Ukraine.
Trump said of Putin: “I don’t want to say he’s an assassin, but he’s a tough guy. He’s proven that over the years.”
In a new interview from the White House with the BBC, hours after issuing his tariff threat over the ceasefire deal, the president was asked if he trusted Putin.
“I trust almost no one,” Trump stated.
Despite his frustrations, Trump said he’s not giving up on Putin. “I’m disappointed in him, but I’m not done with him,” Trump told the BBC. “But I’m disappointed in him.”
Trump said he was getting mixed messages from Putin, noting, “We’ll have a great conversation. I’ll say: ‘That’s good, I’ll think we’re close to getting it done,’ and then he’ll knock down a building in Kyiv.”
Last week, Trump told reporters he was frustrated by his dealings with Putin over the Ukraine situation.
“A lot of people are dying and it should end,” Trump said. “We get a lot of bulls–t thrown at us by Putin, if you want to know the truth. He’s very nice all the time, but it turns out to be meaningless.”
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