President Trump, in classic fashion, delivered a no-holds-barred press conference at Mar-a-Lago on Tuesday, offering a blunt assessment of the war in Ukraine and signaling that it may be time for the Ukrainian people to reconsider their leadership. With Secretary of State Marco Rubio having just completed high-stakes negotiations with a Russian delegation in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Trump made it clear that momentum toward peace is building—whether Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky likes it or not.
The Ukrainian leader had already expressed frustration at being left out of the Riyadh talks, telling reporters in Turkey, “We were not invited to this Russian-American meeting in Saudi Arabia. It was a surprise for us.” Trump’s response? Ukraine has had a seat at the table for years, and its failure to reach a resolution has only prolonged the devastation.
When asked about his confidence in the ongoing negotiations, Trump didn’t mince words: “Much more confident… Russia wants to do something—they want to stop the savage barbarianism.” He then took direct aim at Zelensky’s leadership, making it clear that the Ukrainian president’s time may be running out.
Wow, Trump is 100% done with Zelensky. Martial law, refusal to seek peace, lack of elections and his 4% approval rating are given as reasons why it’ll only be the US and Russia at the negotiating table. This war is ending. pic.twitter.com/nKdrw3vWo1
— Clint Russell (@LibertyLockPod) February 18, 2025
“I’ve been watching this for three years—it’s a war that would have never happened if I was president. And I’ve been watching these people being killed at levels that you’ve rarely seen… I’m very disappointed.”
Trump then raised a striking point—one that will undoubtedly rattle Kyiv: Is it time for new elections in Ukraine?
“We have a situation where we haven’t had elections in Ukraine, where we have martial law, essentially martial law in Ukraine, where the leader in Ukraine—I mean I hate to say it but he’s down at 4 percent approval rating—and where a country has been blown to smithereens.”
The implication was unmistakable: Zelensky, once seen as the face of Ukrainian resilience, has lost the confidence of his own people, and the war’s destruction is undeniable. Trump made it clear that this was not a demand from Russia but a reality check from the U.S. and other nations watching Ukraine’s trajectory with increasing concern.
The message was unmistakable: Ukraine was not invited to the negotiating table in Riyadh because, in Trump’s view, Zelensky has failed to lead his country to peace.
“Wouldn’t the people of Ukraine have to say, ‘It’s been a long time since we’ve had an election?’ That’s not a Russia thing, that’s something coming from me and coming from many other countries.”
By framing the need for elections as an internal matter rather than a demand from Moscow, Trump underscored his argument that Ukraine’s leadership crisis is now a global concern. With reports of Zelensky’s approval ratings collapsing, the pressure for political change in Kyiv may soon become impossible to ignore.
REPORTER: Are you more or less confident of a deal between Russia and Ukraine after today?
PRESIDENT TRUMP: “Much more confident. They were very good. Russia wants to do something. They want to stop the savage barbarianism… It’s a senseless war. It should’ve never happened.” pic.twitter.com/ypJSP6D5Pd
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) February 18, 2025
Trump reiterated his long-standing position that this war would never have begun if he had been in office, casting blame on “the previous American president, who was grossly incompetent—he had no idea what he was doing.” He painted a bleak picture of Ukraine’s battlefields, comparing them to the blood-soaked landscapes of Gettysburg:
“I see pictures of fields that look just horrible. Looks like Gettysburg. If you see the old pictures of Gettysburg, it’s soldiers lying all over the field, body parts all over the field, they’re all dead—and this is going on, on a daily basis.”
The visual was powerful, underscoring why Trump is pushing so hard for a resolution. His remarks signaled that, unlike the Biden administration, which poured endless resources into Ukraine with no endgame in sight, Trump intends to bring this war to a close—and fast.
