FROM NEW YORK POST: A hot mic caught President Trump whispering something he called “crazy” as he, Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky and seven European leaders prepared for a closed-door meeting at the White House to talk about ending Russia’s war in Ukraine.
“I think he [Russian President Vladimir Putin] wants to make a deal,” Trump whispered to French President Emmanuel Macron in the East Room. “I think he wants to make a deal for me, you understand that? As crazy as it sounds.” (See video below)
The remark, suggesting that Trump feels Putin wants to please him, provided further insight into the US president’s assessment of his Friday meeting with the Kremlin tyrant in Anchorage, Alaska.
Both Trump and his special presidential envoy Steve Witkoff say Putin has agreed to US and other NATO forces aiding Ukraine if Moscow breaks the terms of a potential peace deal.
“We sort of were able to … get an agreement that the, that the United States could offer [NATO] Article 5-like protection, which is the first time we had ever heard … the Russians agree to that,” Witkoff said in an appearance on CNN’s “State of the Union” on Sunday.
But Trump ruled out sending US military forces to Ukraine as part of any US security guarantees, while leaving air protection as a possibility.
The Post reports:
Trump insisted that the American public has “my assurance” when pressed in an interview on “Fox & Friends” Tuesday morning that there “won’t be American boots on the ground defending that border” in Ukraine.
“Well, you have my assurance,” the president replied. “I’m president and I’m just trying to stop people from being killed.”
“We’re willing to help them with things, especially, probably, if you could talk about by air, because nobody has the kind of stuff we have,” he said.
“[Europeans] want to have boots on the ground,” Trump revealed. “I don’t think it’s going to be a problem, to be honest with you, I think Putin is tired of it [the war]. I think they’re all tired of it. But you never know. We’re going to find out about President Putin in the next couple of weeks.”
“We’re going to see where it all goes. It’s possible that he [Putin] doesn’t want to make a deal,” he added.
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