Donald Trump swerved the chance to call Vladimir Putin a dictator, just days after he labelled Volodymyr Zelensky one, and Emmanuel Macron couldn’t hide his amusement.
On Monday, French president Macron visited the White House for talks with the president Trump. During his visit, the pair answered questions from the media, and number one on the topics of focus was the war in Ukraine.
European powers have been shaken in recent weeks by Trump’s eagerness to negotiate with Putin and Russia and his remarkable lack of support for Ukraine. Just last week, the Republican labelled Zelensky a dictator, and seemed to blame Ukraine for starting the three-year-long conflict.
Sat alongside Macron in the White House, Trump was asked by a reporter if, after calling Zelensky a dictator, he would “use the same words regarding Putin?”
And Trump did nothing of the sort.
After a brief pause, he replied: “I don’t use those words lightly. I think we’re going to see how it all works out. Let’s see what happens.”
As he spoke, Macron could clearly be seen having a little chuckle with himself, perhaps not surprised that Trump once again refused to condemn the Russian leader.
Quickly changing the subject to a potential peace deal, Trump said: “I think we have a chance of a really good settlement between various countries. You know, you’re talking about Europe, and you’re talking about Ukraine as part of that whole situation.
“The other side has a lot of support also, so let’s see how it all works out. It might work out.”
His word salad continued: “Look, you can never make up lives, the one thing you can’t… You can make up the money but you can’t make up the lives, a lot of lives lost. I think probably a lot more lives than people are talking about.
“It’s been a rough war but I think we’re close to getting it solved.”
Reacting to Trump refusing to call Putin a dictator, one person commented on X: “Ah yes, the strongman whisperer strikes again. Calls Zelensky a dictator, but when it comes to Putin? Suddenly, words are precious and must be used sparingly. Maybe because he’s still waiting on his next batch of love letters from the Kremlin?”
Another said: “‘Lightly’ He will call just about anybody that doesn’t compliment him a dictator.”
A third wrote: “Macron holding on for dear life not to laugh in his face.”
Someone else said Trump was a “global laughing stock.”