Former President Donald Trump laid out another objective of his foreign policy over the weekend, this one directed at ending the bloody stalemated war between Russia and Ukraine.
Trump vowed to supply “more” weapons “than they ever got” to Ukraine on day one in office if Russian President Vladimir Putin refuses to agree to conditions for a cease-fire. In an interview with Fox News host Maria Bartiromo, Trump explained how he planned to end the war within 24 hours of taking office.
Trump began by praising Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy as being “very honorable” because “when they asked him about the perfect phone call that I made, he said it was indeed, he said it was, he didn’t even know what they were talking about. He could have grandstanded —”
Bartiromo cut in, however, and said, “That’s not going to be enough for Putin to stop bombing Ukraine.”
“I know Zelensky very well, and I know Putin very well, even better. And I had a good relationship, very good, with both of them. I would tell Zelensky, no more. You got to make a deal,” Trump said. “I would tell Putin, if you don’t make a deal, we’re going to give him a lot. We’re going to them more than they ever got if we have to. I will have the deal done in one day. One day.”
Several responses online were critical of the former president’s approach.
“This is basically what Biden is doing,” said GOP strategist Ryan James Girdusky, according to the Daily Wire.
David Reaboi of the Claremont Institute said he was “knocked out” by the former president’s response.
“In order to end the war, Trump commits to following the Lindsay Graham and Neocon policy of arming Ukraine to the teeth,” he noted. “That’s exactly what’s happening now, and it hasn’t changed Putin’s behavior. Would Trump escalate against Russia beyond that? That’s exactly what Americans don’t want.”
He continued: “Newsflash to MAGA: Trump isn’t even suggesting the Biden policy—even the White House is slowly coming to realize that the whole thing is a mess—he is endorsing exactly the Lindsay Graham policy to end the war. How does that sit with you?”
Conservative influencer David Sacks simply responded, “Disappointing.”
“Would have been VERY interesting to see how Tucker would have responded to this if Trump hadn’t hidden from the Iowa candidate forum on Friday,” Republican strategist Matt Whitlock noted.
AG Hamilton, a popular right-leaning account, added: “Hilarious. Trump is asked to explain how he would actually end the Ukraine war in one day. He says he would tell Zelensky to stop and then tell Putin we will arm Ukraine a lot more if he doesn’t agree??? No wonder he skipped the Tucker Iowa event.”
That event, hosted by Tucker Carlson and called the Family Leadership Summit held in Des Moines, Iowa, saw Trump’s former vice president, Mike Pence, put on the hot seat over his preference to continue arming Ukraine.
“You are distressed that the Ukrainians don’t have enough American tanks? Every city in the United States has become much worse over the past three years. Drive around. There is not one city that’s gotten better in the United States. And it’s visible,” Carlson began.
“Our economy has degraded, the suicide rate has jumped, public filth and disorder and crime have exponentially increased, and yet your concern is that the Ukrainians, a country most people can’t find on a map, who have received tens of billions of U.S. tax dollars, don’t have enough tanks?” he said.