Russia has the strongest negotiating position, there is no doubt about that, US President Donald Trump claimed in an interview with Politico. At an extremely critical time for the Ukrainian issue, the American president is sending clear messages to the rotten and weak Europe, as he characterizes it, and to Kyiv, announcing that it is now time for Ukraine to hold elections, if it wants to be called a... Democracy.
We would have a Third World War if I wasn't president
As Trump said, Russia is in a much stronger negotiating position compared to Ukraine. "There's no doubt about it. It's Russia. It's a much bigger country. It's a war that should have never happened. Frankly, it wouldn't have happened if I were president—and it didn't happen during my term. I saw it coming and I thought, 'This is going to be trouble.' And then it started, and it could devolve into a Third World War, honestly. I think that is now probably not going to happen. I believe that if I weren't president, we would have a Third World War. We would have a much bigger problem than we have now—but even now it's a big problem. It's a big problem for Europe. And they're not handling it well," Trump claimed.
Time for elections in Ukraine
The American president reiterated that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has not read the latest version of the American peace plan. "He has to read the proposal. He hasn't really read it, he hasn't read it yet," Trump noted, claiming it is time for elections in Ukraine. "I think it's time. It's been many years. Things are not going so well.
Yes, I think it's time for elections. They're using the war as an excuse not to have elections, but I think the Ukrainian people should have that choice. And maybe Zelensky will win. I don't know who's going to win. But they haven't had elections in a long time. They say it's a democracy, but at some point, if there are no elections, it's not a democracy anymore," the American president underlined.
We will not withdraw our interest
When asked whether the statements by Donald Trump Jr. that the US might withdraw its support from Ukraine are true, the American president said they were not. "But he's not entirely wrong. They have to... you know, they have to cooperate. If they don't read the agreements, the potential agreements, then it's not easy to negotiate with Russia, because Russia has the advantage.
It's much bigger. It's much stronger in that area. I recognize Ukraine, I recognize the people in Ukraine and their military for their courage, for their resistance, for their fight and all that. But you know, at some point the bigger country usually prevails. And in this case, we're talking about a huge difference..." Trump said.
Ukrainians have lost a lot of territory
Referring to the course of the war, Trump said that Ukraine has lost quite a lot of territory. "Well, they've lost territory, long before I got here. They've lost all the coastline, a big coastline. Look at the maps. If you go back ten months and look at it, you'll see they've lost all that section.
Now it's even bigger. It's a wider section. They've lost a lot of land—and it's very good land they've lost. You can't call that a victory. I can show you a chart. They've lost a lot of territory," the American president said, who, when asked if he believes Europe can win, replied:
"If they want to, let them back it up. Europe is... I'm friends with everybody. I like everybody. I don't have any real enemies. But Europe is not doing well. They're not doing a good job. They talk a lot, but they don't deliver."
Putin and Zelensky hate each other
As Trump said, the presidents of Russia and Ukraine truly hate each other. "Putin had no respect for Biden and he had no respect for Zelensky either. He didn't like Zelensky. The two of them hate each other. And part of the problem is that they really hate each other a lot, you know. And it's very hard for them to make a deal. It's harder than in most cases. I've finished eight wars, and this one would be the ninth.
This one would be, I would say, the easiest—or one of the easiest. I mean, I've resolved a conflict that lasted 36 years. Pakistan and India and I came to an agreement. I've solved so many conflicts. I'm very proud of that.
And I do it in a very natural way, very easily. It's not difficult for me. That's what I do. I make deals. This one is difficult. One of the reasons is the tremendous size of the hatred between Putin and Zelensky," Trump claimed.
Zelensky is a great salesman
As Trump said, long before Putin took power, there was a silent agreement that Ukraine would not join NATO. "That was long before Putin, we have to say that fairly. And now they're pushing... you know, when Zelensky first took office and met Putin for the first time, he said, 'I want two things. I want to get Crimea back and we want to become a member of NATO.' He didn't say it in a very polite way. You know, he's a great salesman.
I call him P.T. Barnum...
He was one of the greatest of all time.
He could sell any product at any time.
That was his motto: 'I can sell any product at any time.'
And that was true.
He said: 'It doesn't matter if it works or not.'
But Zelensky is the P.T. Barnum. You know, he managed to get $350 billion from the corrupt Joe Biden. And look what he got with that: About 25% of his country is missing..." Trump claimed.
Europe is rotten and weak
In his statements, Trump condemned Europe as a "rotten" group of nations led by "weak" people, diminishing the US's traditional allies for their failure to control immigration and end the Russia-Ukraine war, pointing out that he will support political candidates in Europe who align with his vision for the continent.
As reported, the attack against Europe's political leadership constitutes Trump's most severe condemnation to date against these Western democracies, threatening a definitive rupture with countries like France and Germany, which already have deeply strained relations with the Trump administration.
"I think they're weak," Trump said of Europe's leaders. "But I also think they want to be so politically correct. I think they don't know what to do. Europe doesn't know what to do," the American president underlined, claiming that the Europeans are not contributing to resolving the issue.
It's not my war
"They talk, but they don't do anything. And the war goes on and on. It's been going on for four years, long before I got here. It's not my war. It's Joe Biden's war—from an American point of view. It's very sad.
And the only reason I really care is that I hate to see young, beautiful people killed. That's essentially why I got involved," Trump said, claiming, prompted by a question about the new US National Security Strategy, that Europe is a different place.
Europe is heading for disaster
"If it continues like this, Europe... in my opinion, many of these countries will no longer be viable. Their immigration policy is a disaster. Everything they do with immigration is a disaster. We also had a disaster looming, but I managed to stop it.
You know, no one crosses our border anymore—zero, for seven months now. I mean, who would have thought we would get to zero? We had millions of people—in some months it was millions—and now we've reached zero," the American president noted, stating that in Europe, migrants are coming from all over the world.
"In Europe, they come from all parts of the world. Not just the Middle East, they come from the Congo, in huge numbers from the Congo.
And the worst part: They come from the prisons of the Congo and other countries. And for some reason the Europeans want to be politically correct—which, in my opinion, is the exact opposite of being politically correct.
But they want to be politically correct and not send these people back to where they came from. And Europe is... if you look at Paris: It's a totally different place. I loved Paris. Today it's completely different from before.
If you look at London: You have a mayor there, Kahn. He's a terrible mayor. He's incompetent and he's a terrible, malicious, atrocious mayor. I think he's doing a bad job. London is another place. I love London. I love London. And it hurts me to see this.
You know, my roots are in Europe, as you know. And I hate to see this. This is one of the great places in the world and they just allow people to enter uncontrollably, without any checks, without any verification," Trump claimed.
I don't want to lead Europe
When asked if he intends to get involved in European elections, Trump said: "I want to lead the United States. I don't want to lead Europe. I'm very active in Europe..." "NATO calls me 'dad'. I have a lot to say there.
Look, I raised the percentage of GDP, the GDP target, from 2% to 5%? They weren't paying the 2%, but they're paying the 5%. And they're paying it, because, when we provide something, NATO pays for it—and I guess that goes to Ukraine.
But Europe is being destroyed," the US president underlined, who, when asked whether he would consider getting involved in some of these elections to install leaders he believes are better qualified, replied:
"Well, I've endorsed people. I've endorsed people that many Europeans don't like. I endorsed Viktor Orbán. If you look at South America... in South America, I endorsed Milei in Argentina. He was behind in the polls, but I endorsed him—and he won by a landslide."
However, Trump denied promising Orbán access to a financial protective net from the US worth up to $20 billion.
Hungary and Poland have done a good job on immigration
"I think he's doing a very good job in one area, and that's the area of immigration. His country is surrounded, it's surrounded by land. He has a different situation than many other countries. He doesn't have access to the sea, so he can't bring in ships with energy supplies.
He has a large pipeline from Russia. That pipeline has been there for a long time. It's a different situation he has," Trump said, referring to Orbán, pointing out that the most important thing he has done is immigration, because he... doesn't let anyone into his country. "And Poland has done a very good job in that area. But most European countries... are collapsing. They are collapsing."
Indeed, Trump attacked European leaders, claiming they are destroying their countries...
"And these are people I like. Look, I like them. I get along well with them, you know. But they shouldn't let this happen, and at some point we're going to reach a point where it can't be fixed. We will reach a point—and we are very close to that point..." he characteristically noted, emphasizing that this will mean that they will not be strong countries or they will change.
"They will change their ideology, obviously—because the people coming in have a completely different ideology. But that will that will make them much weaker. They will be much weaker and they will be very different," Trump said, who called on Europe to expel the people who entered their countries illegally.
There are countries making NATO difficult
When asked if there are countries that should not be part of the Alliance, the American president did not mince his words. "There are countries that are making NATO difficult. Not that they shouldn't be members.
I think it's good to have them there. Turkey is an example. Erdogan is a friend of mine. Every time there's a problem with Erdogan, they beg me to call him, because they can't talk to him. He's tough. I really like him a lot.
I think, look, he has built a strong country, a strong military. But they have problems with him, and they beg me to call him. I call him and I always manage to sort it out. We settle it very... really very quickly...
He's very different from many other leaders, but they have difficulties with him. However, they shouldn't have such difficulties with him," the American president underlined.
I want to see a strong Europe, Merkel's mistakes
"You have to understand this: This is my approach to Europe: I want to see a strong Europe. If they allow millions of people to flow into their countries, and many of them commit serious crimes—and I say again: Look at Sweden. I don't want to say anything bad about Sweden. I love Sweden. I love the people in Sweden. But they have gone from a country with almost no crime to a country that now has a lot of crime. Look at Germany. Germany was practically crime-free, and Angela Merkel made two big mistakes: immigration and energy. And those were two really serious mistakes," Trump said, adding:
"I don't have a vision for Europe. All I want to see is a strong Europe. Look, I have a vision for the United States of America—first. It's 'Make America Great Again'. I explain things to Europe, because I think, you know, they consider me a very intelligent man, I can... I have eyes. I have ears. I have knowledge. I have immense knowledge. I see what's happening. I get reports that you will never see. And I find what's happening in Europe to be horrible. I believe it puts Europe, as we know it, at risk. Europe can become a completely different place. And I think the people in Europe need to do something about it."
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