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Friday May 23, 2025
(WASHINGTON) -- President Donald Trump, on the 2024 campaign trail, repeatedly promised voters he personally could end the Russia-Ukraine war on his first day in office -- or even before.
But four months into his term, peace not only remains elusive but he's saying he could soon "back away" from being involved.
His comment came hours after his highly-anticipated phone call Monday with Russian President Vladimir Putin produced no breakthrough -- even though Trump had earlier suggested it could.
Just last week, after Putin snubbed an invitation from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to attend peace negotiations in Istanbul -- something Trump had encouraged -- he told reporters: "Nothing's going to happen until Putin and I get together, OK?"
"I don't believe anything's going to happen, whether you like it or not, until he and I get together, but we're going to have to get it solved, because too many people are dying," Trump said.
After his hourslong conversation with Putin on Monday, though, Trump said that conditions for a ceasefire and an ultimate end to the conflict "will be negotiated between the two parties, as it can only be."
Direct talks between just Ukraine and Russia, Trump said, would begin "immediately" and possibly be hosted by the Vatican. The two sides already began engaging in Turkey last week in what was the first known meeting between representatives of Moscow and Kyiv since spring 2022.
Trump had also previously pushed for an "immediate ceasefire" between Russia and Ukraine, but that was not pushed further in his public comments following his Putin call.
Still, Trump sought to put an optimistic spin on Monday's talks.
"I think something's going to happen," Trump told reporters in the Oval Office. "It's got very, very big egos involved, I tell you, big egos involved. But I think something's going to happen."
"And if it doesn't, I just back away and they're going to have to keep going again," Trump said. "This is a European situation. It should have remained a European situation."
He did not answer whether he would be meeting with Putin -- something he had suggested was likely in the not too distant future.
Trump and various top administration officials had said Trump's personal history with Putin and strongman persona would get results.
In his debate against then-Vice President Kamala Harris in September, Trump said he'd get the Russia-Ukraine war ended "before even becoming president" because Putin and Zelenskyy "respect me."
During an exclusive interview with ABC News on the 100-day mark of his term, Trump posited that, "If it weren't for me, I think [Putin would] want to take over the whole country, personally."
Steve Witkoff, Trump's special envoy, said on ABC's "This Week" this past Sunday that the "president has a force of personality that is unmatched."
"I believe that the president is going to have a successful call with Vladimir Putin," Witkoff said. "They know each other. The president is determined to get something done here. And hopefully, if he can't do it, then nobody can."
Trump said last week he wanted to hold a summit with Putin as soon as possible.
"We have to get together. I think we will probably schedule it. Because I'm tired of having other people go and meet and everything else," Trump told Fox News on May 16. He added, "I think I'm the only one that's going to be able to do that one. And I think we will do it fast, too."
On Monday, Trump said that he'd asked Putin to meet during their phone call, but did not say whether Putin expressed interest in doing so.
"I said, 'When are we going to end this, Vladimir?'" Trump told reporters of their discussion. "I said, 'When are we going to end this bloodshed, this, this bloodbath?' It's a bloodbath. And, I do believe he wants to end it."
Putin, in his own comments to journalists in Sochi after the call, only said he was ready to work on "memorandum on a possible future peace agreement" with Ukraine, but did not elaborate on what that would look like.
Putin showed no signs of making concessions, only saying both sides must "determine the most effective ways of moving towards peace."
Trump and other top officials have said Ukraine will have to forgo NATO membership and likely concede some territory occupied by Russia in order to bring the conflict to an end. They have not made similar public demands of Russia, which started the war when it launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine three years ago.
Trump, at times, has threatened more sanctions on Moscow. On Monday, he suggested trade with the U.S. after the war is over could be a motivator for pursuing peace.
Meanwhile, Russia only ramped up strikes inside Ukraine overnight following the Trump-Putin call.
In late April, Trump wondered aloud if Putin was "tapping me along" as strikes increased. If so, he said, he'd have to be "dealt with differently." Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who spoke with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, said over the weekend that the U.S. was trying to find out if Russia was "tapping us along" and said "we'll find out pretty soon."
Ukraine's Zelenskyy, who Trump also spoke with on Monday, said the negotiation process "must involve both American and European representatives."
"It is crucial for all of us that the United States does not distance itself from the talks and the pursuit of peace, because the only one who benefits from that is Putin," Zelenskyy said.
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(WASHINGTON) -- President Donald Trump is hosting South Africa President Cyril Ramaphosa at the White House on Wednesday amid tensions between the two nations over the U.S. resettlement of white South Africans.
Trump has claimed that a race-based "genocide" is unfolding against white farmers in the country. South African officials, including Ramaphosa, have vehemently pushed back, arguing that is not the case.
Elon Musk, a South African native and a top adviser to the president during his second term, has also been vocal about the plight of South African landowners, amplifying claims of "white genocide."
Musk will be present for Ramaphosa's visit to the White House.
According to a White House official, topics likely to be discussed during Ramaphosa's visit included South Africa's race laws, a trade imbalance between the nations and current economic challenges. The projected trade imbalance with South Africa is $8.8 billion for 2024.
The first flight of Afrikaners arrived at Washington Dulles International Airport last week.
"It's a genocide that's taking place," President Trump said that day. "Farmers are being killed. They happen to be white. But whether they are white or Black makes no difference to me. But white farmers are being brutally killed, and their land is being confiscated in South Africa."
Ramaphosa responded that the individuals who went to the U.S. "do not fit the definition of a refugee" -- someone who is leaving their country out of fear of persecution due to race, religion, political opinion or nationality.
"And I had a conversation with President Trump on the phone, and I -- he asked, he said, 'What's happening down there?'" Ramaphosa said. "And I said, 'President, what you've been told by those people who are opposed to transformation back home in South Africa is not true.'"
The South African government, in a statement last week, said its police statistics on farm-related crimes "do not support allegations of violent crime targeted at farmers generally or any particular race."
The dozens of Afrikaners who arrived in the U.S. last week had their applications fast-tracked under an executive order issued by Trump in February titled, "Addressing Egregious Actions of the Republic of South Africa."
The order contends the South African government passed a law allowing it to "seize ethnic minority Afrikaners' agricultural property without compensation" in a "shocking disregard of its' citizen rights." It instructs that the U.S. will not provide aid or assistance to the nation, and that the U.S. "promote the resettlement of Afrikaner refugees."
The law passed by South Africa cited by the administration aims to address land injustices established during apartheid. It states land can be expropriated in the public interest and in most cases must be subject to compensation, the amount of which must have been agreed to by the owners or approved by court. Experts say the law is comparable to similar legislation around the world regarding eminent domain.
In addition to Trump's executive order, his administration expelled South Africa's Ambassador Ebrahim Rasool from the U.S. earlier this year.
Trump has been scrutinized for prioritizing Afrikaners while moving to restrict immigration from elsewhere, including from Afghanistan, Venezuela and Haiti.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio was asked to defend the administration's position while testifying before a Senate panel on Tuesday.
"I think those 49 people that came strongly felt they were persecuted, and they passed every sort of check mark that needed to be checked off," Rubio said. "The president identified it as a problem and wanted to use it as an example."
Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia said he believed the claim there is persecution of Afrikaner farmers was "completely specious" and noted the U.S. hadn't let in Black South Africans during apartheid.
"I think that the United States has a right to allow into this country and prioritize the allowance of who they want to allow it come in," Rubio responded.
Ramaphosa on Tuesday projected optimism about the upcoming talks with Trump.
"We're always ready and we hope to have really good discussions with President Trump and his fellow government colleagues. Looking forward to a really good and positive meeting, and we're looking forward to a really good outcome for our country, for our people, for the jobs in our country and good trade relations," Ramaphosa told reporters as he arrived at the South African Embassy in Washington.
He said trade is the "the most important, that is what has brought us here" and that they want to strengthen economic ties between the two nations in a video posted to X. Ramaphosa also said he and Trump will discuss Israel as well as Russia and Ukraine.
Ramaphosa didn't mention the United States' prioritization of the resettlement of white South African refugees in the videos posted to social media, though he vowed to protect South Africa's sovereignty.
"We will always do what is best for South Africans," he said.
ABC News' Shannon Kingston contributed to this report.
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