Trump "pissed off" with Putin in NBC News interview
On March 28th, Putin called for a temporary government to be put in place under the U.N. as part of efforts to settle the three-year Russia-Ukraine war, effectively pushing out Zelenskyy.
President Donald Trump stated that he was “very angry” and “pissed off” with Russian President Vladimir Putin for criticizing Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s leadership in an NBC News interview.
“If Russia and I are unable to make a deal on stopping the bloodshed in Ukraine, and if I think it was Russia’s fault — which it might not be — but if I think it was Russia’s fault, I am going to put secondary tariffs on oil, on all oil coming out of Russia,” he said in the interview.
These comments differ sharply from his past actions, as Trump has berated Zelenskyy in the Oval Office and demanded multiple compromises for the past six weeks. Previously stating that he was “sick” of Zelenskyy’s handling of the war and calling him a dictator, he has now seriously threatened Russia with consequences for prolonging the war.
By threatening to impose up to 50% tariffs on countries buying Russian oil if Putin did not agree to a ceasefire, Trump has threatened serious consequences for Russia’s economy. He stated, "New leadership means you're not gonna have a deal for a long time.”
Trump has further threatened Russia’s economy in the event that a failed ceasefire occurred, and he believed it was Putin’s fault. “There will be a 25% tariff on oil and other products sold in the United States, secondary tariffs,” Trump said, saying the tariffs on Russia would come within a month without a ceasefire deal.
Trump said Putin knows that he is angry but said he has “a very good relationship with him” and that “the anger dissipates quickly... if he does the right thing.”
Zelenskyy later wrote on social media that "Russia continues looking for excuses to drag this war out even further", stating that "Putin is playing the same game he has since 2014", which is the year Russia invaded and annexed the Crimean peninsula.
After launching the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Russia now controls roughly 20% of Ukraine’s territory. As of March 31, 2025, the estimated total death count of Ukrainian and Russian soldiers, as well as Ukrainian citizens, has now reached over 158 thousand