Trump says Putin is 'playing with fire' in new warning
President Donald Trump delivered a fresh warning to Russian President Vladimir Putin after the Russians spent the past few days showering Ukraine with missile and drone strikes. '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,' Trump posted to Truth Social Tuesday. 'He's playing with fire!'
Over the weekend Trump grew publicly frustrated with Putin, who he had spoken to on the phone for two hours the previous Monday, coming away from the conversation saying he thought it to be productive. But there was no progress made in concluding the war - with Russia escalating its attacks on Ukraine throughout the weekend, pummeling the country with drone strikes.
Ukrainian officials estimated around 900 drones were launched by Russia in attacks from Friday through Sunday nights, the Associated Press reported. Trump said Sunday that he was 'absolutely' considering more sanctions on Russia in response. On Monday, Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley, the Senate's president pro tempore, encouraged Trump to make that move.
'I've had enuf of Putin killing innocent ppl. Pres Trump Take action AT LEAST SANCTIONS,' the 91-year-old Iowa Republican posted on X. South Carolina's Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham echoed Trump's frustrations with Putin in a post Tuesday - though didn't explicitly call for sanctions. 'I appreciate all that President Donald Trump has done to try to end this terrible war. But to end any war, you must have willing partners. As of yet, Putin is not willing,' Graham said.
'As to Putin: we must remember this is the man who facilitated the Assad Regime in dropping barrel bombs from helicopters on innocent civilians and intentionally targeted hospitals in Syria,' Graham said. 'The same barbaric behavior is playing out in Ukraine. To the Russian people: Putin is leading you into the abyss.' He noted how Russia's economy was now smaller than Italy's, tens of thousands of Russian soldiers are killed and wounded and the country is more 'isolated than ever.'
'This doesn't make Russia great. It makes it a pariah state,' Graham said. 'You, the Russian people and military, can do better.' Trump has yet to make that move. Instead he's engaged in a war of words with the Russian leader. 'I'm not happy with what Putin's doing. He's killing a lot of people,' Trump said at the Morristown, New Jersey airport Sunday evening. 'I don't know what the hell happened to Putin. I've known him a long time. Always gotten along with him. But he's sending rockets into cities and killing people. '
'We're in the middle of talking and he's shooting rockets into Kyiv and other cities. I don't like it at all... I don't know what's wrong with him,' the president complained. In his Truth Social post later Sunday night , Trump charged that Putin had gone 'gone absolutely CRAZY!' '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!' Trump said.
In turn, the Kremlin said the American president was suffering from an 'emotional overload.' Putin said Monday that he wanted to 'throttle' American tech companies, including Zoom and Microsoft, that are still being used in Russia. 'They're trying to choke us, we should respond in kind,' Putin said. A Russian military commander also claimed that Putin survived a massive drone attack while riding in his helicopter last week.
Last Tuesday Putin was visiting the Kursk region when his helicopter was 'virtually at the epicenter of repelling a large-scale attack by the enemy's drones,' said Yury Dashkin, commander of a Russian air defense division, according to the state news agency TASS. 'Therefore, we simultaneously conducted an air defense battle and ensured the safety of the presidential helicopter's flight in the air,' Dashkin said. The Kursk region borders Ukraine, with Moscow claiming that it had driven Ukrainian forces out of the area last month.
The Russians have provided no additional evidence that the near-miss occurred. Trump was asked about the claim Sunday when he left his Bedminster golf resort and said he had no knowledge of it. 'I haven't heard that,' he told reporters. 'I don't know, but I have not heard that,' Trump added. He speculated 'maybe that would be a reason' for Russia's bombardment of drone and missile attacks into Ukraine over the weekend.
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