Speaking to reporters at the White House after announcing a major investment deal with microchip manufacturer TSMC, President Donald Trump was asked what he needed to see from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in order to restart negotiations on the rare earth minerals deal that was supposed to be signed last Friday. After answering that Zelensky “should be more appreciative,” Trump went into more detail about what he was trying to accomplish with the deal: to stop the killing on both sides, to provide a bit of security for Ukraine through having American interests on the ground, and to have a more equitable financial deal for the United States.
Trump’s reply began:
Well, I just think he should be more appreciative, because this country has stuck with them through thick and thin. We’ve given them much more than Europe, and Europe should have given more than us because, as you know, that’s right there. That’s the border. This country really was like the fence on the border. It was very important to Europe.
REPORTER: What do you need to see from President Zelenskyy to restart these negotiations? @POTUS: “I just think he should be more appreciative because this country has stuck with them through thick and thin. We’ve given them much more than Europe… I want all of those young… pic.twitter.com/k8NEem5ter
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) March 3, 2025
He then spoke about the terrible precedent former President Joe Biden had set with just giving money to Ukraine instead of insisting on a secured loan the way Europeans had.
“And I’m not knocking Europe. I’m saying that just — they were a lot smarter than Joe Biden, because Joe Biden didn’t have a clue. He just gave money hand-over-fist. And they should have been able to equalize with us. In other words, if we gave a dollar they should have given — well, we gave $350 billion. They probably gave a hundred. But on top of it all, they get their money back, because they’re doing it in the form of a loan, and it’s a secured loan.
“So when I saw that, which I’ve known about for a little while, I said, ‘It’s time for us to be smart.’ At the same time, it’s great for them because they get us in the country, taking the rare earth [minerals], which is going to fuel this big engine, and especially the engine that we’ve in a very short time created, and we get something. And we’re in the — we’re there. We have a presence there.”
As my colleague Teri Christoph covered, Trump blasted the European Union on Monday for spending more money buying gas from Russia than they do on supporting Ukraine.
READ MORE: Trump Blasts EU’s Hypocrisy: More Money to Russia Than Ukraine!
Trump then got to the main point, which is one we can all agree with – let’s stop the killing of both civilians and soldiers. Not at any price, for sure – nobody’s saying Ukraine should just roll over. But the current situation is unsustainable.
“With all of that being said, I want one thing to happen. I want all of those young people to stop being killed. They’re being killed by the thousands every single week. Last week, 2700 were killed, 2700 young — in this case, just about all young boys from Ukraine and from Russia. And that’s not young people from the United States, but it’s on a human basis. I want to see it stop.
“The money is one thing, but the death — and they’re losing thousands of soldiers a week. And that’s not including the people that get killed every time a town goes down or a missile goes into a town. And we — and I want to see it stop.”
Trump also addressed Zelensky’s comments reported in the Associated Press that the end of the war in Ukraine is “very, very far away,” saying, “He better not be right about that.”
.@POTUS: “President Zelenskyy supposedly made a statement today — He said he thinks the war is going to go on for a long time and he better not be right about that. That’s all I’m saying.” pic.twitter.com/Ndt14mTWgi
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) March 3, 2025
Trump had posted a lengthier response on Truth Social earlier Monday:
It reads:
This is the worst statement that could have been made by Zelenskyy, and America will not put up with it for much longer! It is what I was saying, this guy doesn’t want there to be Peace as long as he has America’s backing and, Europe, in the meeting they had with Zelenskyy, stated flatly that they cannot do the job without the U.S. – Probably not a great statement to have been made in terms of a show of strength against Russia. What are they thinking?
Trump is scheduled to give his first address to a joint session of Congress (since his second inauguration) on Tuesday night; Ukraine will undoubtedly be a major topic. RedState will be live-blogging the speech starting at 8:45 PM Eastern.
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