President Donald Trump publicly warned Russian President Vladimir Putin that he is “playing with fire” and that horrible things would have happened to Russia if not for Trump.
Trump took to Truth Social to convey his message to the Russian leader midday Tuesday as he seeks to move Russia and Ukraine toward peace.
“What Vladimir Putin doesn’t realize is that if it weren’t for me, lots of really bad things would have already happened to Russia, and I mean REALLY BAD. He’s playing with fire!” Trump wrote.
Trump has not been shy with his criticism of Putin in recent days. While returning to the White House Sunday from the West Point Commencement, Trump was asked about an “update” on the war, as Breitbart London Bureau Chief Oliver JJ Lane noted.
“Yeah I’ll give you an update — I’m not happy with what Putin’s doing. He’s killing a lot of people,” Trump said.
“I don’t know what the hell happened to Putin… Something happened to this guy, and I don’t like it,” he went on to add.
These comments were followed by another bombshell post on Truth Social, in which Trump referenced that he and Putin have had a strong prior relationship, but the Russian president “has gone absolutely CRAZY.”
“I’ve always had a very good relationship with Vladimir Putin of Russia, but something has happened to him. He has gone absolutely CRAZY! He is needlessly killing a lot of people, and I’m not just talking about soldiers,” Trump wrote.
He then said that if Putin’s end goal is to capture all of Ukraine, it would be Russia’s downfall.
“Missiles and drones are being shot into Cities in Ukraine, for no reason whatsoever. 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!” he wrote.
He also ripped Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky for his rhetoric.
