President Trump on Tuesday said that if it weren’t for him, “really bad things” would have happened to Russia in what appeared to be a veiled threat aimed at Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“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 on Truth Social.
The post came after Trump vented frustration with Russia’s heavy attacks on Ukraine, which Russian officials have said are a response to Ukrainian drone attacks on Russian territory. A Russian commander said that Putin’s helicopter got caught in a Ukrainian drone swarm over Russia’s Kursk Oblast last week.
The Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday that Trump is considering adding sanctions on Russia and potentially abandoning negotiations for a peace deal in Ukraine if a final push doesn’t work. According to The Kyiv Post, Trump is also “seriously considering” lifting all Biden-era restrictions on Ukraine’s ability to wage war, though it’s unclear what that would mean for the proxy war.
Trump said in a recent post that the conflict in Ukraine was not “Trump’s war,” but he has continued to provide Ukraine with military aid and intelligence support. He briefly paused such support to pressure Ukraine to enter negotiations with Russia, but there’s no indication he’s considering doing so again to force Ukrainian leadership to make concessions to reach a peace deal.
Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, the current deputy of the Russian National Security Council, warned Trump on Tuesday that one of the “really bad things” that could happen between the US and Russia is World War III.
“Regarding Trump’s words about Putin ‘playing with fire’ and ‘really bad things’ happening to Russia. I only know of one REALLY BAD thing — WWIII. I hope Trump understands this!” Medvedev wrote on X.
