LATEST: Zelensky Responds to Donald Trump’s Plan to Stop War ‘in 24 Hours’

Donald Trump has claimed he could stop Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine “in 24 hours” and then spectacularly failed to explain just how he would do it.

Speaking on Thursday night during a town hall event on Fox News, the former president also said he “got along with Putin” and made bizarre comments about the current waves of Russian missile and drone attacks against Kyiv.

When asked about Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, he said: “I want to stop that war, I don’t want that war to continue.

“And I’ll stop that war, mark my words, I’ll stop that war in 24 hours.”

The event’s host Sean Hannity then interrupted to say: “Mr President, let me ask. Serious question. How do you stop that war in 24 hours?”

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Instead of a straight answer, Trump then indulged in a rambling speech that contained lots of words, a liberal sprinkling of fantasy, but very little of any actual substance.

“I get along with [Zelensky], I get along with Putin. It would have been much easier to stop it before it started. Putin would have never done this; it would have been much easier. Right now, it’s a mess. 

Avoiding the topic of how to stop the war in 24 hours, Trump switched to describing the recent Russian attacks against Ukraine’s capital.

“Right now, they’re hitting Kyiv, and they’re hitting all sorts of things that weren’t supposed to be hit, the country is being decimated.

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“By the way, the deaths are far more than they’re reporting. When they say ‘nine apartment buildings got knocked down and two people got hurt’, no, no, hundreds of people died.

“The numbers are much different from what you’re being told.” 

During the entire war, Ukraine has never claimed “nine apartment buildings got knocked down” and Ukrainian authorities have made no efforts to conceal the death tolls from Russian missile strikes as they grimly illustrate the horrific toll being wrought by the Kremlin.

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There have been numerous instances of Russian missiles hitting residential buildings resulting in large death tolls such as the Dnipro strike in January that killed 46 people.

And as for the recent strikes that Trump was referring to, thanks in large part to US-supplied air defense systems, the only damage to buildings in the capital over the last month has been due to falling debris from intercepted missiles and drones.

Several people have been killed and injured but nowhere near the “hundreds” Trump is referring to.

Getting back on topic, Trump then outlined his grand plan for stopping the war. 

“I will get them into a room, and I know an exact way. You tell one ‘you’re not going to get anything unless you make a deal.’ You tell the other one ‘they’re going to get a lot unless you make a deal.’

“And you just sit them, and you put them, and you have to make a determination.”

Although Trump did not say which one was which, his comments appear to suggest he would force Ukraine to accept the loss of territories illegally occupied and annexed by Russian forces with the threat of rewarding President Putin with even more if they refuse to accept his offer.

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“And I’m telling you, within 24 hours that whole thing will be settled,” he added.

Despite suggesting he would pander to the imperialist ambitions of Russia, Trump ended his rant by highlighting just one of the countless horrors Putin has inflicted upon Ukraine.

“It’s a horrible war,” he said. “It’s a vicious, vicious… I saw it today where missiles were going into cities, in this case, Kyiv, and you see the schoolchildren going to school and the missiles are following them.

“The whole thing is horrible. I will have that thing settled in 24 hours.”

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Comments (13)

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Tomas
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You guys are reading it wrong. Trump implied weapons, not territory. Let me re-read it for you:

"You tell one [Zelensky] ‘you’re not going to get anything [U.S. supplied weapons] unless you make a deal.’ You tell the other one [Putin] ‘they’re [Ukraine] going to get a lot [U.S. supplied weaponry] unless you make a deal.’

Trump is as easy to decode as a 5-year-old child and you still missed it?

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John Hoang
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It’s a horrible war but to solve it , Mr. Trump need to have the power which he doesn't have right now .

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I support
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On sale now peace plan everybody is doing it but Ukraine always loses somehow I don't ill buy it

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I support
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Because if I where Putin I would respect a man who has Lazer eye cards. Perhaps Putin has his own cards. They could trade them decide the fate of the world.

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Freddie
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Does his plan include playing cards with Lazers shooting out of his eyes?

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Duane  Hettich
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Ruzzia was already here in Ukraine 9 years ago and during the Idiots 4 years in office. He did nothing to stop it then. Don't believe a word out of his mouth.

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David
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Putin has no better ally than Trump. It’s clear Trump will do a deal that benefits him personally.

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Joseph Swanson
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'It would have been much easier to stop it before it started.'
Then why didn't trump do that?  He had a chance.

You tell one ‘you’re not going to get anything unless you make a deal.’ You tell the other one ‘they’re going to get a lot unless you make a deal.’
What this translates into from trump language is that my nation MUST give parts of our land to russia AND appease them.

trump will say anything to be elected or in this case, re-elected.  In 2016 it was a grand border wall, taller than his tales, separating the US & Mexico, that never materialized. 
Now, it is ending the war between Ukraine & russia AND the executive ordering the end of birthright citizenship which he cannot do because it is a US Constitutionally protected right...Fourteenth Amendment.

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ron
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TRUMP HAS THE SOLUTION. TRUMP FOR PEACE. TRUMP 2024.

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I support
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Why do superpowers think they have the solution . Why does the Ukraine have to fight a war against another superpower with one arm behind its back. I thank American for its huge support but with all the air attacks its confusing. We must show Putin we are not afraid .We must destroy his shadow with the light of the freehold together.

I support
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@I support, free world

I support
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@I support, how one trust a man who can't be trusted your country is amazing and yet confusing at the same time I don't understand.

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Leslie Kaye
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I think that you underestimate Trump. He is a businessman. He will make Putin an offer that he cannot refuse.
To assume that Trump envisages that Ukraine will yield territory is a mistake. There is no reason or evidence that he is thinking that.

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Chris Shove
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Author inaccurate by stating President Trump ranted and not 9 buildings destroyed. Cambridge dictionary definition of rant: " speak, write or shout in a loud, uncontrolled, or angry way, often saying confused or silly things". President Trump did not do this. Almost all buildings destroyed in Mariupol and Bakhmut. Obviously, author's slander of President Trump reveals author is just another liberal "never Trump" radical. Also known in U.S. as Bolshevik. Wikipedia cites that many news outlets state Huffington Post (author's former employer) as a liberal news source distributing much anti-Trump news. Trump gave first weapons to Ukraine after Obama & Biden refused to.

Barruntaranchos
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@Chris Shove, For us, Europeans, is unbelievable how in a free country, with free media where you can find all the information you need, like the US, an important number of citizens support someone like Donal Trump. A man that has said clearly that supports Putin and admires many other dictators because the wants US to become a dictatorship, under his control of course. He has said and done more than enough to make clear that the doesn´t like Democracy, unless he is the boss, so he admires Russia, China, and any other dictatorships where a man has total power and controls Judiciary system, media, Congress, etc. etc. In Europe we also have admirers of dictators, but only a minority with very poor culture admire those guys, nothing like in the US.

Pavov
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@Barruntaranchos, I agree they are a confusing country on one hand amazing and on the other scary

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Andrew Lockett
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The Mango Mussolini is only interested in deals that suit his own narcissistic ambitions, just like his kremlin lord and master vladolf. Unhinged is too weak a word

Jan
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@Andrew Lockett,

Jan
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@Jan, The Mango Mussolini? 😆😆😆

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