‘I Was Pissed Off’ – Trump Backs Up Zelensky When Putin Questions His Authority

In a remarkable change of course on Sunday, US President Donald Trump came to Volodymyr Zelensky’s defense after Kremlin autocrat Vladimir Putin questioned the Ukrainian president’s authority and has dragged his heels on a cease-fire.

According to Kristen Welker, host of NBC’s “Meet the Press” news program, Trump called her on Sunday morning to respond to Putin’s remarks before the weekend that Zelensky should be removed from office as part of the peace process. This angered Kyiv and, apparently, Washington, too.

Trump said “I was very angry, pissed off” by those comments, Welker reported. It was a surprising tone as Trump himself has called Zelensky a “dictator” because of the country’s postponed elections, and his administration has often called into question the Ukrainian leader’s mandate.

“If Russia and I are unable to make a deal on stopping the bloodshed in Ukraine and if I think it was Russia’s fault,” Trump continued, “then [I would impose] secondary tariffs on all oil coming out of Russia.”

Under Ukrainian law, elections are suspended during times of declared martial law, which was forced upon them by Russia’s full-scale invasion.  Zelensky’s domestic political opponents also agree that the country should not hold elections while hostilities are underway and more than a million residents have been displaced.

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In that same phone call, Trump mentioned the possibility of serving a third term himself, while the US Constitution limits a president to two terms.

“I’m not kidding,” Trump told Welker.

“There are methods [through] which you could do it,” the president said. Welker mentioned a scenario in which Vice President JD Vance would run in 2028 and then “pass the baton” to Trump.

“Well, that’s one. But there are others too,” Trump said

“Believe him,” Rep. David Jolly, Republican of Florida, told MSNBC. “I think the biggest mistake of the last eight years is we somehow failed to give credibility to Donald Trump’s whims.”

Nonetheless, Trump made the unusual move of striking out at the one actual dictator of the three, and said he planned to call him on Monday.

Trump’s comments came after Grigory Karasin, a former ambassador to the UK and part of the Kremlin’s negotiating team, said on Sunday that a ceasefire may not be implemented until 2026.

“It would be naive to expect any breakthrough results at the very first meeting,” said Karasin, who also serves as the chair of the Federation Council’s Committee on International Affairs.

Trump had previously discussed the possibility of imposing tariffs on Russia should the Kremlin not cooperate in peace talks. He explained to NBC, “if you buy oil from Russia, you can’t do business in the United States.”

“There will be a 25 percent tariff on all oil, a 25- to 50-point tariff on all oil,” he said.