White House principal deputy press secretary Harrison Fields told Newsmax that Russian President Vladimir Putin is trying to use a game of checkers against President Donald Trump, who is "playing chess."

Fields told Newsmax's "National Report" on Monday that Putin apparently hasn't figured out who has the upper hand. "Putin thinks he's playing a good game of chess, but he's not. He's playing checkers. This president is the one playing chess."

Fields said Putin may soon learn more about the president's capabilities. "And he's going to learn very soon that this president is not going to allow him, Putin, to really run the world the way he was doing before under the weak and inept leadership of Biden and Harris."

Trump has proposed that secondary sanctions against Russia may be imposed in short order since it appears Putin has no intention of ending the invasion of Ukraine. He explained that Trump has talked previously with Putin, and the "conversation sounds good. And then he turns on the TV, and then there's a massive bombing. More people are dying. So the president's patience is definitely wearing thin when it comes to Putin."

Fields said Trump is ready to increase the pressure to the point that Putin will feel the impact. "The president wants an end to this war, but both parties at the end of the day also need an end to this war. And the president's going to use whatever levers he has to put pressure on Russia."

But he added, Putin needs to declare an end to the war. "But ultimately, Putin is going to have to make this decision on his own because this killing has to end. It's not Americans who are dying. It's Russians and Ukrainians who are dying."

Trump set a 50-day deadline for an end to the conflict earlier in the month. He said he would be imposing secondary sanctions on Russia and countries that buy Russian energy and product exports if there was no deal by then. But Trump told reporters on Monday he's tired of waiting and has dropped the timeline down to "10 or 12 days from today. There's no reason in waiting."

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