Just days after praising his phone call with Vladimir Putin, President Donald Trump dramatically changed his tone. In a rare and sharp criticism, Trump called out the Russian leader following a deadly missile strike on Kyiv that reportedly killed at least 12 people and wounded many more.
“I’ve always had a very good relationship with Vladimir Putin of Russia, but something has happened to him,” Trump wrote in a late Sunday post on Truth Social. “He has gone absolutely CRAZY! He is needlessly killing a lot of people, and I’m not just talking about soldiers. Missiles and drones are being shot into Cities in Ukraine, for no reason whatsoever.”
Trump went on to warn that Putin’s desire to control all of Ukraine could backfire. “I’ve always said that he wants ALL of Ukraine, not just a piece of it, and maybe that’s proving to be right, but if he does, it will lead to the downfall of Russia!”
This marks one of the strongest public attacks from Trump against Putin, who he has often spoken about in a softer way. Even when Trump said he was “pissed off” at Putin earlier this year, this recent post shows a sharper break.
Earlier on Sunday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky criticized the “silence of America” amid the ongoing war. Though he didn’t name Trump, Zelensky warned that ignoring the conflict only encourages Putin.
Trump responded by also criticizing Zelensky. “President Zelenskyy is doing his Country no favors by talking the way he does,” Trump wrote. “Everything out of his mouth causes problems, I don’t like it, and it better stop.”
Ending his post, Trump insisted that the war “would never have started if I were President.”
“This is Zelenskyy’s, Putin’s, and Biden’s War, not ‘Trump’s,’” he wrote. “I am only helping to put out the big and ugly fires, that have been started through Gross Incompetence and Hatred.”
