President Donald Trump said Thursday that Russian President Vladimir Putin has "let me down" by failing to resolve the war in Ukraine.
"I'm very honored to tell you that we've solved seven wars, wars that were unsolvable, wars that couldn't be negotiated or done," Trump said in his opening remarks in a joint news conference with U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer, vowing the U.S. and U.K. "will always be friends."
"The U.S. has done seven of them."
Trump added, "The one that I thought would be easiest would be because of my relationship with President Putin. But he's let me down. He's really let me down."
Trump applauded the United Kingdom's pledge to spend 5% of GDP on defense.
Still, Trump acknowledged that wars often unfold unpredictably, saying, "You thought you were going to have an easy time or a hard time – and it turns out to be the reverse."
The comments underscore Trump's continued efforts to present himself as a dealmaker on the world stage while also highlighting the limits of his influence over Russia's actions in Ukraine.
Eric Mack ✉
Eric Mack has been a writer and editor at Newsmax since 2016. He is a 1998 Syracuse University journalism graduate and a New York Press Association award-winning writer.