Trump on Ukraine: ‘They Gave Putin a Reason to Go in and Bomb the Hell Out of Them Last Night’

In a recent comment, US President Donald Trump appeared to suggest that Kyiv provoked Russian bombings.

Journalists on board Air Force One asked Trump whether Ukraine’s drone strikes deep inside Russia changed his view of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s cards, Kyiv Post’s Washington correspondent reports.

Trump: “Well they gave Putin a reason to go in and bomb the hell out of them last night. That’s the thing I didn’t like about it.”

“When I saw it, I said, ‘Here we go, now it’s going to be a strike.”

Last week was one of the most intense weeks of Russian airstrikes on Ukraine since the start of Russia’s unprovoked full-scale invasion, now in its fourth year.

Then, on Sunday, June 1, the Ukrainians hit back with the covert operation “Spiderweb,” planned over a year, where the Ukrainians damaged or destroyed approximately 40 Russian bombers, roughly 1/3 of Russia’s strategic cruise missile carriers, using drones hidden in trucks.

Trump was evidently referring to the Russian strikes that have followed “Spiderweb,” including mass attacks largely striking civilian targets in Friday and Saturday attacks.  

Reporter: “Are you worried that Russia-Ukraine could spiral into a nuclear conflict?”

Trump: “I don’t… I hope not. I hope not.”

Asked where he stands on Republican Senator Lindsey Graham’s proposed Sanctioning Russia Act of 2025, which has strong bipartisan support in the Senate, Trump said: “We’re going to see. I think Russia will not be making a deal stopping ….  Thousand a week soldiers being killed, and people being killed, not just soldiers. People being killed…I’ll use it if it’s necessary.”

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The European Commission plans to amend the rules on the admission of Ukrainian war refugees from spring 2027, and has proposed that Ukrainian men of military age who arrive in the EU should no longer be automatically entitled to protection, although

Trump also denied reports that he was talking to the Senate about watering down the Graham bill.

“No, I haven’t spoken to them about it. They have the bill, it’s going to be up to me. It’s my option. They made it that way…It’s a very strong bill.”