President Trump announced today from the Oval Office, while meeting with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, that he will be sending weapons, including 17 Patriot missile systems, to Europe, which will replace any Patriots and other military material that the NATO countries send to Ukraine for their use in the war. The NATO countries will pay for the U.S. munitions in full, he said.
Trump made many wildly exaggerated statements, including that the U.S. “makes the best military equipment by far,” even claiming that Russia is “25 years behind us.” He also claimed that Russia’s economy is in shambles, while Rutte fully backed him up on this. There was also an unproven claim that Russia had lost 100,000 dead in the war.
Trump indicated that he would place 100% tariffs on Russia, and those trading with Russia (secondary sanctions), if the war is not concluded in 50 days. Asked about the 500% tariffs now being pushed through the Congress by Sen. Lindsey Graham and other warhawks, Trump replied that they were doing good work, but that he felt that 100% tariffs would be all he is prepared to impose. He underlined that his purpose is to force Russia to the peace table as soon as possible. He repeated several times that he was very disappointed in President Vladimir Putin, claiming that he thought he had reached a deal four times, only to learn that Putin continued dropping bombs on Kiev. Trump claimed that he had succeeded in stopping several wars (naming Congo and Serbia, while admitting that Gaza remained a problem), but that Putin was holding back the peace in Ukraine.
Trump said that he was glad that “the European leaders have a real spirit for the war” in Ukraine. He said he was still hopeful that he could end the war, but implied that this was entirely up to Putin’s responding to this “big day” policy announcement.
