The White House blasted The Wall Street Journal Thursday for falsely reporting that President Donald Trump told European leaders Russian President Vladimir "does not want peace."
"The President did say he believes Putin is winning the war BUT he NEVER said 'Putin isn't ready to end war,'" White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement. "In fact, he said SEVERAL times throughout the call that he believes Putin wants peace and wants the war to be over," she added.
On Thursday, the Journal reported that during a Monday call with European heads of state, Trump reportedly said that Putin believes he is winning the war in Ukraine and is not ready to stop military actions. One of the officials who was on the call told the outlet that Trump began the conversation by saying, "I think Vladimir does not want peace."
The call was attended by Ukrainian President Volodymir Zelenskyy, French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.
Trump also spoke to Putin earlier on Monday and boasted on his Truth Social platform that the call "went very well" and that Russia and Ukraine would "immediately start" negotiating on a ceasefire to end the war.
Trump's interpretations of Putin's intentions appear to run counter to recent efforts by Russia. Last Friday, representatives from Russia and Ukraine met in Turkey to discuss a possible ceasefire. It was the first meeting between the two nations since Russia invaded Ukraine over three years ago. The meeting barely lasted an hour and did not yield any meaningful results according to a Ukrainian representative.
The Trump administration has threated to walk away from participating in negotiations if some form of peace agreement isn't reached soon. Speaking to reporters on Air Force Two on Monday, Vice President JD Vance said, "We're at a point where we're hitting an impasse and that's why the president is talking to him on the phone ... I think honestly that President Putin, he doesn't quite know how to get out of the war."
Democrats, meanwhile, are concerned that Trump is not being tough enough on Putin and instead allowing him to slow-walk negotiations to buy his military time. Speaking at an Axios event on Wednesday, Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., said, "Right now, what Putin is doing is playing President Trump. He keeps extending the time because he sees time as being on the side of Russia."
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