US President Donald Trump’s weekend in brief: threatened Iran with bombs and told an American journalist that he was “pissed off” with Russian President Vladimir Putin over the war in Ukraine.
Speaking to US news network’s NBC’s Kristen Welker in an early-morning phone call, Mr Trump reportedly said he was “very angry, pissed off” over recent remarks by Mr Putin that questioned Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s leadership. The Russian president suggested that Ukraine should consider alternative leadership as part of a potential peace settlement – an idea Mr Trump dismissed as counterproductive.
“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… I am going to put secondary tariffs on all oil coming out of Russia,” Ms Welker quoted Mr Trump as saying.
Mr Trump, who has previously referred to Mr Zelensky as a “dictator,” has had a tumultuous relationship with the Ukrainian president. The two leaders clashed during Mr Zelensky’s recent visit to Washington, where Mr Trump criticised Ukraine’s wartime governance.
Mr Trump reportedly claimed that Mr Putin was aware of his anger but insisted that he still had a “good relationship” with the Russian President. Mr Trump added that his anger would subside if Mr Putin made the “right decisions” regarding Ukraine.