REWRITING HISTORY

Trump Appears to Forget JD Vance’s Threat to Russia

The president was asked about Vance’s latest comments on securing peace in Ukraine.

President Donald Trump backtracked on his vice president’s warning to Russia, seemingly forgetting his second-in-command’s comments just days after he made them. JD Vance said Friday that the U.S. may take military action if Russia failed to negotiate a deal with Ukraine that gave Kyiv its long-term independence. In an interview with The Wall Street Journal ahead of the Munich Security Conference last week, he warned Russia could face sanctions and the possibility of military action if they didn’t come to the negotiating table and strike a deal. “There are any number of formulations, of configurations, but we do care about Ukraine having sovereign independence,” Vance said while in Europe. “There are economic tools of leverage, there are of course military tools of leverage,” he added, “The president is not going to go in this with blinders on. He’s going to say, ‘Everything is on the table, let’s make a deal.’” However, on Sunday, Trump dismissed the report when quizzed by reporters. Trump was asked, “Vice president Vance said that the United States would potentially take military action against Russia if they won’t come to an agreement. Do you agree with that stance?” The president responded: “I don’t know if that’s what he said. I don’t think he said that.”

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