After describing Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky as a “dictator” in a Truth Social post last week, President Donald Trump seemed to have forgotten—or feigned ignorance—about his comment during a press conference Thursday.
“Did I say that? I can’t believe I said that. Next question,” Trump responded when probed by a reporter on whether or not he still believed his past description reigned true.
“We want to work with him, President Zelensky … and we will work with him,” the president noted later, speaking during a meeting with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer at the Oval Office. “I think the president and I actually have had a very good relationship. It maybe got a little bit testy because we wanted to have a little bit of what the European nations had.”
On Feb. 19, Trump posted a lengthy and explosive rant berating Zelensky for talking the U.S. into “spending $350 Billion Dollars to go into a War that couldn’t be won” and lamenting over the U.S. getting “nothing back” while Europe’s “money is guaranteed.”
“Why didn’t Sleepy Joe Biden demand Equalization, in that this War is far more important to Europe than it is to us — We have a big, beautiful Ocean as separation,” the president wrote.
“On top of this, Zelenskyy admits that half of the money we sent him is ‘MISSING.’ He refuses to have Elections, is very low in Ukrainian Polls, and the only thing he was good at was playing Biden ‘like a fiddle.’ A Dictator without Elections, Zelenskyy better move fast or he is not going to have a Country left,” he continued.
“I love Ukraine, but Zelenskyy has done a terrible job, his Country is shattered, and MILLIONS have unnecessarily died,” the president concluded, noting his ongoing peace talks with Russia that have spurred tension among European allies.
Zelensky is set to visit the White House on Friday to finalize an agreement between the U.S. and Ukraine that would allow the country to access Ukraine’s mineral supply.
