In his words: Trump’s rhetoric about Zelenskyy and Putin has evolved

President Donald Trump repeatedly said during his White House campaign that if he won the 2024 election, he would be able to end the war between Russia and Ukraine “in 24 hours.” But in the 10 months since he took office, the road to a peace deal has been fraught with changing dynamics involving the American leader, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Trump’s rhetoric toward both men has evolved. It continues to do so.

At the outset of his second term in January, Trump was conciliatory toward Putin, for whom he long has shown admiration. Over time, Trump expressed increasing exasperation with Putin, while seemingly softening criticism of Zelenskyy after their February blowout in the Oval Office.

Trump’s administration imposed sanctions on Russia and he was suggesting by the fall that Ukraine could win back all territory lost to Russia. That was a dramatic shift from his repeated calls for Kyiv to make concessions to end the war that began with Russia’s invasion in February 2022.

By late November, Trump had endorsed a peace plan favorable to Russia. Some Democratic senators suggested the proposal was a “wish list” that originated with Moscow and they had heard just that from Secretary of State Marco Rubio. The State Department disputed it and Rubio insisted the plan was written by the United States. American allies in Europe nonetheless worried it was too conciliatory to Russia.

Trump had returned to slamming Zelenskyy in ways that recalled how Trump and Vice President JD Vance had hounded the Ukrainian leader out of the Oval Office months earlier. Trump was now suggesting Zelenskyy was not appearing grateful enough for years of U.S. military support. The Republican president also chided European countries for not doing more to put economic pressure on Russa.

Here is a look at what Trump has said this year and how his tone has changed:

“We want to end that war. That war would have not started if I was president.”

Trump said his new administration had already had “very serious” discussions with Russia and that he and Putin could soon take “significant” action toward ending the conflict.

“A Dictator without Elections, Zelenskyy better move fast or he is not going to have a Country left.”

Trump’s harsh words for Zelenskyy on his Truth Social platform drew criticism from Democrats and even some Republicans in Congress, where defending Ukraine from Russian aggression has traditionally had bipartisan support. Zelenskyy said Trump was falling into a Russian disinformation trap. He was quickly admonished by Vance about the perils of publicly criticizing the new U.S. president.

“You’re gambling with World War III. And what you’re doing is very disrespectful to the country, this country that’s backed you far more than a lot of people said they should have.”

Trump and Vance berated Zelenskyy over the war, accusing him of not showing gratitude after he challenged Vance on the question of diplomacy with Putin. The argument in the Oval Office was broadcast globally. It led to the rest of Zelenskyy’s White House visit being canceled and called into question the U.S. support of Ukraine. A few days after the blowup, Trump temporarily paused military aid to Ukraine to pressure Zelenskyy to seek peace.

“I don’t think he’s going to go back on his word. You’re talking about Putin. I don’t think he’s going to go back on his word. I’ve known him for a long time. We’ve always gotten along well.”

Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One, Trump said he trusted Putin to hold up his end of a potential peace deal.

“I am not happy with the Russian strikes on KYIV. Not necessary, and very bad timing. Vladimir, STOP! 5000 soldiers a week are dying. Lets get the Peace Deal DONE!”

In a Truth Social post, Trump reacted to Russia attacking Kyiv with an hourslong barrage of missiles and drones. It was the first of his rare criticism of Putin as Russia stepped up its attacks on Ukraine.

“A lot of his people are dying. They’re being killed, and I feel very badly about it.”

Trump addressed the toll on Ukrainians during an interview with ABC News after he met with Zelenskyy on the sidelines of Pope Francis’ funeral. It was the first time the two leaders had met since the Oval Office spat and it signaled a shift in Trump’s attitude toward the Ukrainian president.

“I’ve always had a very good relationship with Vladimir Putin of Russia, but something has happened to him. He has gone absolutely CRAZY!”

Trump’s Truth Social post made it clear he was losing patience with Putin as Moscow pounded Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities with drones and missiles.

“He was very nice actually. We had a little rough times, sometimes. He was … Couldn’t have been nicer. I think he’d like to see an end to this, I do.”

Trump had a closed-door meeting with Zelenskyy during a NATO summit in The Hague. Trump’s comments to reporters later also opened the possibility of sending Patriot air defense missiles to Ukraine.

“We get a lot of bull—t thrown at us by Putin, if you want to know the truth. He’s very nice all the time, but it turns out to be meaningless.”

Trump also said he was “not happy” with Putin and that the war was “killing a lot of people” on both sides. Trump’s comments during a Cabinet meeting came a day after he said the United States would send more weapons to Ukraine. It was a dramatic reversal after earlier announcing a pause in the delivery of previously approved firepower to Kyiv, a decision that was made amid concerns that America’s military stockpiles had declined too much.

“I am very disappointed with President Putin, I thought he was somebody that meant what he said. He’ll talk so beautifully and then he’ll bomb people at night. We don’t like that.”

Trump’s remarks to reporters came as Russia has intensified its aerial attacks.

“I don’t want to say he’s an assassin, but he’s a tough guy. It’s been proven over the years. He’s fooled a lot of people before.”

Trump pushed harder against Putin during an Oval Office meeting with NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte. Trump said if there was no deal to end the war within 50 days, the U.S. would impose “secondary tariffs,” meaning taxes would target Russia’s trading partners in an effort to isolate Moscow.

Trump and Rutte also discussed a rejuvenated pipeline for U.S. weapons. European allies planned to buy military equipment and then transfer it to Ukraine.

“There’s no deal until there’s a deal.”

Trump failed to secure an agreement from Putin during a summit in Alaska even after rolling out the red carpet for the man who started the war.

Trump had wanted to show off his deal-making skills. Instead, he handed Putin long-sought recognition on the international stage after years of Western efforts to make Putin a pariah over the war and his crackdown on dissent, and forestalled the threat of additional U.S. sanctions.

“Russia has been fighting aimlessly for three and a half years a War that should have taken a Real Military Power less than a week to win. This is not distinguishing Russia. In fact, it is very much making them look like ‘a paper tiger.’ “

Trump posted on social media soon after meeting with Zelenskyy on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly gathering of world leaders.

He also said he believed Ukraine could win back all territory lost to Russia, a departure from Trump’s previous suggestions that Ukraine would never be able to reclaim all the territory that Russia has occupied since it seized the Crimean Peninsula in 2014.

“Stop the war immediately.”

After again hosting Zelenskyy at the White House, Trump implied that Moscow should be allowed keep territory it has taken from Kyiv if doing so could help end the conflict more quickly.

“You go by the battle line wherever it is – otherwise it’s too complicated,” Trump said. “You stop at the battle line and both sides should go home, go to their families, stop the killing, and that should be it.”

Trump had a lengthy phone call with Putin the day before Zelenskyy arrived and announced he soon planned to meet with Putin in Hungary. That meeting never materialized, in part because of a lack of progress on ending the war.

Trump also signaled to Zelenskyy that the U.S. would not be selling Ukraine long-range Tomahawk missiles, which the Ukrainians believed could be a game changer in helping prod Putin to the negotiating table.

“Hopefully he’ll become reasonable.”

Trump made the comment suggesting Putin could be more favorable to a peace agreement after the Treasury Department announced sanctions against Russia’s two biggest oil companies and their subsidiaries. But Trump added, “And, hopefully Zelenskyy will be reasonable, too. You know, it takes two to tango, as they say.”

“He’s going to have to approve it.”

Trump suggested that Zelenskyy would have to accept the U.S. peace plan. Trump pressed Zelenskyy to agree to concessions of land to Moscow, a massive reduction in the size of Ukraine’s army and agreement from Europe to assert that Ukraine would never be admitted into the NATO military alliance.

Trump set a Nov. 27 deadline – Thanksgiving Day in the U.S. – for Zelenskyy to respond to the plan. Trump also said more time could be allotted to Ukraine as long as progress was made to a lasting peace.

“I would like to get to peace.”

Asked if the peace plan was his final offer, Trump said it was not. He did not elaborate. But his comment suggested he would be willing to negotiate past the Nov. 27 deadline and alter the peace plan in ways that Ukraine wants. “We’re trying to get it ended. One way or the other, we have to get it ended,” Trump said of the war.

Senators from both parties who have been critical of Trump’s approach to ending the war said they spoke with Rubio, who told them that the plan Trump was pushing Kyiv to accept was actually a “wish list” of the Russians.

The State Department called that account “false” and Rubio later took the extraordinary step of insisting that the plan was U.S.-authored. But the incident raised still more questions about its ultimate fate.

“UKRAINE ‘LEADERSHIP’ HAS EXPRESSED ZERO GRATITUDE FOR OUR EFFORTS, AND EUROPE CONTINUES TO BUY OIL FROM RUSSIA.”

In a post on his social media site, Trump went after Zelenskyy and the Europeans once more: “With strong and proper U.S. and Ukrainian LEADERSHIP” Russia’s invasion of Ukraine “would have NEVER HAPPENED,” Trump said, again blaming his predecessor, Democrat Joe Biden, for allowing the conflict in Ukraine.