Although newly christened American President Donald Trump did not mention Ukraine in his inaugural address as president, he did name-drop the country later on at a rally and again in the Oval Office when repeating his campaign promise to end “needless wars” like Russia’s invasion of Ukraine that “should never have started.”
He went on to bring up Ukraine, Russia, and their leaders multiple times in the televised addresses.
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On ending the war in Ukraine
When asked in the Oval Office if he would end the war in Ukraine on Day 1 as promised on the campaign trail, he responded with a cheeky remark and a smirk. “Well this is only a half a day – I have another half a day.”
When asked later for more information about how he intended to end the war, Trump continued to demur. “Well, we’re going to try and get it done as quickly as possible,” he said.
“It should have never started, the war with Ukraine. Russia should have never started it,” he said, pointing a rare finger at the Kremlin for initiating the war. “It would have never started if I were president.”
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Previously, Trump has claimed that American support for Ukraine joining NATO had justified an invasion by Russia. “A big part of the problem is, Russia – for many, many years, long before Putin – said, ‘You could never have NATO involved with Ukraine,’” he said, earlier this month per Reuters. “Now, they’ve said that. That’s been, like, written in stone.”
Trump’s proposed Ukraine envoy, Lt. Gen. (Ret.) Keith Kellogg has proposed a peace plan to end the war by making concessions to Russia that include losing occupied territory and denying Ukraine membership in NATO in exchange for a more favorable ceasefire deal.
On the NATO alliance
The first mention of Ukraine came as Trump railed against NATO, declaring that “NATO has to pay more money. NATO has to pay 5%.”
He said the US had spent “$200 billion more than NATO” and called the alleged disparity “ridiculous” because “we have an ocean in between” the US and Europe. “They’ve got to equalize.”
Trump has long been skeptical of NATO, reiterating last month a familiar threat to leave the alliance if its members did not step up spending.
“Europe is in for a tiny fraction of the money that we’re in,” Trump said at the time. “We have a thing called the ocean in between us, right? Why are we in for billions and billions of dollars more money than Europe?” he asked.
Despite NATO’s formal support for Ukraine’s future membership since the 2008 Bucharest Summit, the country has yet to receive an invitation to join the alliance. Many of Ukraine’s allies said that the country’s path to NATO membership was all but guaranteed after 2022.
On meeting with Putin
He mentioned Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky when signing his second batch of executive orders in the Oval Office after a reporter asked him for further details about how he plans to deal with the leaders. “I have to speak to President Putin,” he said.
He then suggested Putin’s situation at home was deteriorating. “He can’t be thrilled – he’s not doing so well,” the president said with his eyebrows raised. “I mean, he’s grinding it out, but most people thought that war would have been over in about one week and now you’re into three years.”
Trump continued to explain why it was in Putin’s interest to agree to end the war as soon as possible. “I think he’d be very well off to end that war.
“I think he’d be very well off to end that war. We have numbers that almost a million Russian soldiers have been killed, about 700,000 Ukrainian soldiers killed,” he claimed. Zelensky stated in December that 43,000 Ukrainian soldiers have died in the war, with another 370,000 injured.
Trump went on to describe the Kremlin’s losses as unsustainable. “Russia’s bigger – they have more soldiers to lose – but that’s no way to run a country,” he said, noting that the Russian economy was in shambles too.
He added that the Ukrainian president is already on board to negotiate. “Zelensky wants to make a deal, I don’t know if Putin does… He should make a deal. I think he’s destroying Russia by not making a deal. I think Russia’s going to be in big trouble.”
A reporter then asked the US president if he would continue imposing sanctions on Russia or whether he would turn to tariffs, as he had discussed in the past.
“The word tariff is much better because it keeps your dollar stronger,” he said. “I think tariffs are more effective.” Trump did not clarify how tariffs could be more effective in the fight against Russia or what plans his administration may have.
His comments signal a shift in US policy towards negotiation over continued military aid. With scant details made public about the intended actions behind his political promises, however, Ukrainians and Americans alike are waiting to see how the new Trump administration will impact global affairs.
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