President Trump accused his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky of getting “pissed away” billions of {dollars} in US support for the war-torn nation.
Trump, in a Friday interview with Fox Information’ “Special Report” host Bret Baier, insisted that Kyiv’s administration of US-provided funds bothered him greater than the amount of cash Washington has doled out to Ukraine since Russia’s February 2022 invasion.
“The money is the money,” the president mentioned. “What bothered me — I hated to see the way it was, you know, excuse me, pissed away.”
Trump vented his frustrations with Zelensky’s dealing with of US support in response to a query from Baier on whether or not he’s contemplating further sanctions towards Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“I hated to see that checks were sent for $60 billion every time Zelensky [traveled to Washington],” he fumed.
“I think he’s the greatest salesman in the world. Far better than me,” Trump mentioned of the Ukrainian president.
“Where is all this money going?” he added.
Trump continued to voice his displeasure with Kyiv even after Baier interjected, “But I’m focused on Putin.”
“We send checks. We don’t always send equipment. We send — just checks. We send — just cash,” the president claimed. “Where is it?”
When Trump began to argue that European nations ought to’ve contributed greater than the US to the warfare effort, Baier as soon as once more tried to redirect him to his Putin query.
“Wait,” Trump responded, earlier than arguing that the US has been “treated worse” than Europe by Ukraine.
“We inherited this mess, but I think it’s going to get solved.”
Trump’s response comes as officers estimate that the US can have spent by means of all its congressionally accepted funds to assist Ukraine by June.
The US has accepted some $175 billion in support for Ukraine for the reason that warfare broke out.
The president, nevertheless, indicated that he hopes to schedule a gathering with Putin, which he believes will end in a peace settlement.
“I think we’ll do it fast,” Trump mentioned of assembly with the Russian president and hammering out a deal.
“I think he’s tired of this whole thing. He’s not looking good, and he wants to look good.”
