Donald Trump may have finally admitted what many have been saying for years: Vladimir Putin is using him.
In a post on Truth Social Saturday, Trump wrote, “It makes me think that maybe he doesn’t want to stop the war, he’s just tapping me along.”
This comes after Russia launched new missile attacks on Ukrainian cities, killing civilians and once again escalating the war. Trump didn’t hide his frustration: “There was no reason for Putin to be shooting missiles into civilian areas, cities and towns, over the last few days.”
That’s a sharp turn from just a week ago, when Trump insisted “nobody’s playing me.” Now he’s publicly questioning Putin’s intentions — and wondering if it’s time for tougher measures: “Has to be dealt with differently, through ‘Banking’ or ‘Secondary Sanctions?’ Too many people are dying!!!”
This shift happened as Trump flew back from Rome, where he attended Pope Francis’s funeral and met briefly with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. It was their first face-to-face meeting since a tense Oval Office exchange months earlier. The White House hasn’t revealed what was said in their 15-minute talk.
But Trump’s recent moves show a man torn between blaming the war on others and realizing he’s been misled. One minute, he’s slamming Putin. The next, he’s attacking the press.
“No matter what deal I make with respect to Russia/Ukraine, no matter how good it is… The Failing New York Times will speak BADLY of it,” Trump wrote. He called Times reporter Peter Baker “very biased and untalented” for suggesting Ukraine should get back territory like Crimea — which Russia seized in 2014.
He didn’t stop there. “Why doesn’t this lightweight reporter say that it was Obama who made it possible for Russia to steal Crimea from Ukraine without even a shot being fired?” Trump asked.
Still, Trump couldn’t resist deflecting blame. He called the conflict “a loser from day one” and claimed, once again, that none of this would’ve happened if he were still president: “I’m just trying to clean up the mess that was left to me by Obama and Biden, and what a mess it is.”
In a recent interview with Time, Trump even blamed Ukraine for provoking Russia by wanting to join NATO. He also said that Russia agreeing not to take over Ukraine would be a “concession toward peace.”
But after Saturday’s outburst, it seems the former president is starting to realize the truth: Putin isn’t looking for peace — and Trump’s been played.
Read Trump’s full statement below.
