Despite repeatedly using the identifier, President Donald Trump on Thursday questioned whether he had labeled Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky a “dictator.”
Trump has criticized Zelensky for suspending votes amid Ukraine’s three-year war with Russia, which is permitted under Ukraine’s Constitution. Following Zelensky’s claim that Trump is living in a “misinformation” room in response to his repeated claims that Ukraine started the war and that the United States has spent$ 350 billion since the start of the conflict, that criticism increased. The figure is thought to be about quarter that.
In a , Truth Social post , on Feb. 19, Trump railed against Zelensky as a “dictator without votes”. At the time, Zelenksy refused a deal with the U. S. to give up exposure to the country’s unique earth materials. Trump’s voice changed on Friday as Zelensky and him reached a metal agreement, which he wants, and Zelensky is scheduled to sign it at the White House on Friday.
Trump used the same memory technique when asked by another reporter before his diplomatic conference with Starmer about his opinions during Wednesday’s inaugural , Cabinet , conference that the , European Union was  , being formed to “screw” the U. S.
” Did I use the term you said, or something else?” That terrible word”, he said.
Starmer’s politics before what is anticipated to be a challenging dialogue with Trump was another important takeaway from the diplomatic meeting.
Before the meeting, Trump accepted King Charles II I’s invitation for an “unprecedented” second state visit, an invitation extended through a letter delivered by Starmer.
” That’s rather a personal, isn’t it”? Trump said. ” Beautiful. A lovely man, a great man, and we appreciate … I’ve known him, gotten to know quite well, actually, second term and then second term”.
Trump was asked about his marriage with Starmer, who, despite his personal progressive politics, has established a rapport with the chairman. That approach started, in part, after a mobile phone Starmer made to Trump after the first death effort on his life in Butler, Pennsylvania, before the couple met during the change at Mar-a-Lago and spoke over the phone once after Trump’s opening.
” He loves his country, and I love our country”, Trump said.
However, many reporters’ other questions about Trump centered on Ukraine before Zelensky’s trip to the White House on Friday.
As he negotiates a peace agreement between Ukraine and Russia as well as the rare earth minerals agreement with Zelensky as compensation for the U.S.’s support three years into Russia’s war in Ukraine, Trump was pushed on the possibility of U.S. security guarantees for Ukraine. He is also negotiating with Russia about an energy and natural resources deal.
Given concerns that Russian President Vladimir Putin may simply ignore a peace agreement, Starmer intends to amplify French President Emmanuel Macron‘s requests for security guarantees from Monday.
” The deal, if we get it, is going to be hugely important. I don’t think it would’ve happened if the space hadn’t been created for it by yourself”, Starmer told Trump. ” But if there’s a deal in, we’ve got to make sure it’s a deal that lasts, that is not temporary, that lasts, and that’s why we need to make sure that it’s secure”.
Trump similarly told reporters the U. S. would try to recuperate as much of Ukraine’s territory as possible, but Ukrainian NATO membership was impossible.
US AND UKRAINE WILL SIGN ‘ VERY BIG ‘ MINERALS DEAL, TRUMP CONFIRMS
Trump and Starmer are expected to talk about their economic relationship in addition to Russia and Ukraine in light of Trump’s threat of tariffs and potential cooperation on artificial intelligence.
In contrast to Starmer’s friendly relationship with Trump, the prime minister did not appear to hesitate to disagree with Vice President JD Vance’s assessment of free speech in the UK, a contention Vance brought up during his address to the Munich Security Conference this month.
