President Donald Trump said Saturday that it is time for Ukraine to get a new president, directing his criticism at Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky for launching strikes on Russian diesel refineries after Trump had asked him to leave them alone.
"I think it's time for Ukraine to get a new president," Trump said, according to remarks carried by @RealAmVoice, @gatewaypundit and @RedState. In a video transcript posted by @RealAmVoice, Trump described the war as one that should never have started, adding, "I suggest they get a new leader who can make a deal, because he could have made many deals that for some reason he never does."
Trump's rebuke followed a Ukrainian attack on a Russian oil export terminal and diesel hub, described by @gatewaypundit as occurring just hours after Trump announced a diesel agreement with Russian President Vladimir Putin. According to @RedState, Trump confirmed he had asked Zelensky to leave the refineries alone and that Zelensky disregarded the request.
'He'd Better Damn Well Stop'
The sharpest language came as Trump spoke with the press on his way to Clarksville, Tennessee. "He can do whatever he wants, but he can't do that because we have a world problem," Trump said, according to @RedState. "And the problem is caused by the lack of refineries for diesel fuel... He'd better damn well stop."
Trump tied the strikes directly to diesel prices paid by Americans. "We said you could do whatever you want to Russia, don't hit the refineries because that's a world problem," he said, per the @RedState account. "And he wants to make problems for the world."
The Gateway Pundit account @gatewaypundit carried similar remarks, quoting Trump saying, "We told him, do whatever you want, but don't hit the diesel fuel because there's a big problem, a big shortage. And what does he do? He goes and hits the diesel fuel."
Trump also returned to a familiar argument about the origins of the conflict. "It's a war that should have never been started," he said, in the transcript posted by @RealAmVoice. "If I were President, you wouldn't have ever had that war." The same account carried a second strand of the remarks: Trump telling listeners that elections have consequences, saying the war "started due to incompetence" and would not have begun had he been in office.
Trump Cites Casualties and Territory
In the video transcript posted by @RealAmVoice, Trump cited casualties and territorial losses as justification for his call. "You wouldn't have lost thirty percent of your country already," he said. "You've lost thirty percent of your country, and you've had over a million people killed between the two of them, over two million people killed." Trump repeated the line twice, "I think it's time for Ukraine to get a new president," before asking whether the assembled press was committed to the question.
The White House has not publicly elaborated on Trump's remarks.
The sequence of events as described across the accounts began with Trump's announcement of a diesel agreement reached with Putin. @gatewaypundit described the arrangement as reopening millions of tons of "newly un-sanctioned Russian diesel" flowing to the United States through an export hub. Ukraine then struck the Russian oil export terminal overnight, setting it ablaze, per the same account.
Zelensky had already criticized the diesel deal before the strike, calling it a "birthday gift" to Putin, according to other coverage of the same subject. That criticism preceded Trump's Saturday remarks.
The reaction circulated quickly. @gatewaypundit published a video clip under the headline "WATCH: Trump GOES OFF on Zelensky After Ukrainian Attack on Russian Diesel Hub — 'He Better Damn Well Stop... Time for Ukraine to Get a New President.'" @RedState followed with "'He Better Damn Well Stop': Trump Calls for New Ukraine President After Zelensky Hits Refinery." @RealAmVoice carried the breakout banner, "BREAKING: TRUMP CALLS FOR UKRAINE TO GET A NEW PRESIDENT," and posted the full video transcript of Trump's remarks. Additional coverage across multiple outlets echoed the same theme, including a report that Trump said Ukraine should elect a new president, slamming Zelensky for not making a deal with Russia.
Trump's tone on Saturday marked a shift from the day before. @gatewaypundit noted that Trump had previously responded to Zelensky on Friday with a softer tone, shrugging off his comments before the latest strike. The diesel agreement with Putin was announced Friday, per the same account.
Next News Network could not independently verify the details of the refinery strike, the diesel agreement, or the accounts of the exchanges described in the posts.
Our Take
Trump has spent months saying the war in Ukraine should never have started and that a deal was available if Kyiv wanted one. Saturday's remarks moved that argument from criticism of strategy to criticism of the man running the country - and he made the case in the language of American pocketbooks, pointing to diesel refineries that supply fuel to farmers and ranchers here at home. The president also returned to a point many conservatives have made since 2022: that the war began under an administration that failed to deter it. What is notable is the audience Trump chose to name. He did not call for sanctions, or a pause, or a pipeline of weapons; he said Ukraine should get a new leader who can make a deal. That is a direct break with the policy of the previous four years, when Washington treated Zelensky as the indispensable face of Ukrainian resistance and treated any talk of negotiation as betrayal. Trump has now said out loud what a growing number of voters on the right have believed for a long time: that endless war without a negotiated end is not a strategy, and that the people paying for it in higher fuel costs and higher prices deserve a president in Kyiv who will at least try to stop it. Zelensky has had years to make a deal. Trump is saying, in plain terms, that he has not.
