Donald Trump is warning he might walk away from trying to end the war in Ukraine if either side refuses to cooperate.
During a press event at the White House on Friday, the former president said he’s willing to push for peace—but not if he’s met with resistance.
“If, for some reason, one of the two parties makes it very difficult, we’re just going to say, you’re foolish, you are fools, you’re horrible people, and we’re gonna just take a pass,” Trump said in a blunt message.
Trump has repeatedly promised to end the Russia-Ukraine war within 24 hours of taking office, calling it a “deal” he can make quickly. But his comments on Friday show that even he sees serious obstacles—and he’s ready to walk away if things don’t go his way.
He described the war in bleak terms, saying “2,500 young people a week” are dying in what he called a “vicious battle with the best equipment, the best everything.” He added, “Some of them not so young, actually. They’re getting older by the month.”
He said the goal is simple: stop the killing. “We’re going to get it stopped, ideally.”
But then came the warning:
“Now, if, for some reason, one of the two parties makes it very difficult, we’re just going to say, you’re foolish, you are fools, you’re horrible people, and we’re gonna just take a pass,” Trump declared. “But hopefully, we won’t have to do that. And Marco [Rubio] is right in saying it. Getting, we want to see it end. Think of it, every day, a lot of people are being killed as we talk about, you know, as they play games. So we’re not gonna take that, and we will see. I think we have a good chance of solving the problem, however.”
When asked directly if he would completely walk away from peace efforts, Trump said, “Well, I don’t want to say that, but we want to see it end. We want it to end, yeah.”
Asked if Vladimir Putin was stalling, Trump said, “I hope not. I’m going to let you know about that soon, if he is… It’s a war that should never have happened. It would have never happened if I were president.”
Trump also made it clear he thinks both sides know the war has to end—but he wants to see real intent.
“My whole life has been one big negotiation and I know when people are playing us and when they’re not,” he said. “I have to see an enthusiasm to want to end it and I think I see that enthusiasm. I think I see it from both sides.”
When asked if Russia might be playing him, Trump responded sharply: “No, nobody’s playing me. I’m trying to help. Nobody’s playing anybody. We are gonna see if we can get it done. I think we have a really good chance of getting it done and it’s coming to a head right now.”
And, as expected, he blamed President Joe Biden for the war, calling it “Biden’s war.”
“This is not Trump’s war, this is Biden’s. This is a war that should have never happened. Okay? Think of it. Those cities are crushed and crashed… those beautiful steeples… most of them are now smashed to smithereens… lying on the ground in a million pieces.”
When asked if he would still support Ukraine militarily if peace talks failed, Trump avoided a direct answer:
“Well, I’m not going to say that because I think we’re going to get it done.”
Watch the clip below via Sky News:
