NEED TO KNOW
- Donald Trump was overheard telling French President Emmanuel Macron the “crazy” reason why he thinks he can sway Russia to stop its invasion of Ukraine
- A hot mic picked up Trump’s private comments during an Aug. 18 summit at the White House
- The recent summit saw seven European leaders gather at the White House to support Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in working towards a peace deal
Donald Trump was accidentally caught sharing his “crazy” logic for thinking that a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine is possible.
In a whispered conversation with French President Emmanuel Macron at a summit with other European leaders on Aug. 18, the U.S. president seemingly shared that he thinks Russian President Vladimir Putin will agree to end the war in Ukraine in order to hand Trump a victory.
The comment was picked up via hot mic, Fox News reported.
“I think he [Putin] wants to make a deal. I think he wants to make a deal for me, you understand that?” he said. “As crazy as it sounds.”
The exchange came during an unprecedented convergence of European leaders at the White House, who gathered on short notice to support Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy amid negotiations to end the land war, which began with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Leaders from NATO, EU, Finland, Germany, Italy and the U.K. were also present at the White House.
The summit came three days after Trump’s meeting with Putin in Alaska, which was also held to discuss peace efforts. Though the two presidents reportedly made progress, Trump said, no deal was reached.
The Aug. 18 summit marked Zelenskyy’s first time back at the White House since Trump and Vice President JD Vance berated him on live TV in February. The Ukrainian president was repeatedly admonished by the American leaders for not wearing a suit and for allegedly not being grateful enough to the United States for its assistance.
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In his recent visit, though, Zelenskyy seemingly kept the White House’s previous sensitivities in mind, wearing a military-style suit and publicly thanking Trump more than 10 times throughout the summit.
With the other European leaders present on Monday, Zelenskyy shared that his private meeting with Trump was productive. The U.S. president added that he’d work to set up a meeting between the Russian and Ukrainian leaders in the coming days.
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