U.S. President Donald Trump‘s campaign promise that he could end the Russia-Ukraine war in “24 hours” has eluded him during his first 100 days in office. Even with a U.S.-proposed peace deal that critics say granted nearly all of Russian President Vladimir Putin‘s wishlist — including recognition of Crimea as Russian territory — resistance to ending the war is coming not just from Ukraine but from Putin too.
The Russian resistance has caused the U.S. president such frustration that Trump stopped bashing Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky long enough to demand that Putin cease bombing Ukraine — “Vladimir, STOP!” wrote Trump on social media in an unheeded warning.
(Visiting Rome for Pope Francis’s funeral, Trump and Zelensky met in person, days after Trump Special Envoy Steve Witkoff met with Putin.)
Putin’s gamesmanship is infuriating longtime Russia-hawk Republicans who have seen this act before. On Fox News this weekend, Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA) excoriated Putin and — in the process — essentially said that Trump had been played by the Kremlin.
GOP senator: Putin has “disrespected our president” and we must tell him we can turn him into fish food
— Eric Columbus (@ericcolumbus.bsky.social) April 27, 2025 at 10:13 AM
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“Putin has reneged on every promise that he has made to President Trump. He’s latest proposal is, well, nothing. He wants to keep all the territory that he’s taken. He wants to prohibit Ukraine from joining NATO and he wants America and Europe to stop helping Ukraine. I think that Putin thinks that America has taken the bullet train to chumptown,” Kennedy said.
Kennedy continued, saying Trump had been “jacked around” and threatening Putin with economic devastation: “I think he thinks we’re afraid of him. He has jacked around President Trump at every turn. He has disrespected our president. I don’t think it’s going to get any better until we make it clear to Mr. Putin that we’re willing to turn him and his country into fish food. And I’m not talking about nuclear weapons…I would start with oil.”
GOP LA Sen Kennedy on Fox: Putin has reneged on every promise that he has made to President Trump. His latest proposal is, well, nothing. He wants to keep all the territory that he's taken. He wants prohibit Ukraine from joining NATO, and he wants America and Europe to stop…
— Chad Pergram (@ChadPergram) April 27, 2025
In an increasingly rare accord between Republican and Democratic lawmakers in Washington, Ranking Member of the House Armed Services Committee Rep. Adam Smith (D-WA) portrayed the same Putin-Trump dynamic, saying Trump “let Putin play him for a fool.”
Top Dem on Hse Armed Svcs Cmte Smith on Fox: President Trump screwed up. He let Putin play him for a fool. He came into office acting like Putin was going to end this war. He put all the pressure on Ukraine. He stopped military assistance to Ukraine.
— Chad Pergram (@ChadPergram) April 27, 2025
