Fresh off bringing the terrorist regime of Iran to heel with a U.S. airstrike targeting its deepest nuclear facilities, President Donald Trump is turning the force of his attention to Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine.
Promising a “major statement” about Russia is coming next week, Trump appeared to be signalling that his frustration with Russian President Vladimir Putin is reaching its limit, and headed for a showdown.
“You’ll be be seeing things happen,” Trump said on the White House lawn on Friday, according to the New York Post.
In an interview on Thursday with NBC’s Kirsten Walker, Trump described a stepped up role for U.S. weaponry in helping Ukraine fight off Russian attacks. It was a deal worked out at the NATO summit in June, he said, according to NBC News.
“We’re sending weapons to NATO, and NATO is paying for those weapons, 100 percent. So what we’re doing is the weapons that are going out are going to NATO, and then NATO is going to be giving those weapons [to Ukraine], and NATO is paying for those weapons,” Trump said, according to NBC.
“We send weapons to NATO, and NATO is going to reimburse the full cost of those weapons,” Trump said.The U.S. has been supplying weapons to Ukraine since even before the Russian invasion in 2022.
But Trump is also considering more aggressive sanctions against Russia as Putin continues to rebuff peace overtures.
At Tuesday’s cabinet meeting, Trump bluntly accused the Russian president of talking “bulls***.”
#PresidentTrump slams #Russian Pres. #Putin: “We get a lot of #bullshit 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 #Russia #RussiaUkraineWar #UkraineRussiaWar #Ukraine️ #US pic.twitter.com/k5ZpiElLIo
— Mark (@cmadsq) July 8, 2025
“We get a lot of bulls*** thrown at us by Putin, if you want to know the truth,” Trump said. “He’s very nice all the time, but it turns out to be meaningless.”
As the New York Post reported Friday:
“The president has openly flirted with stepping up sanctions on Moscow over attacks that have injured and killed Ukrainian civilians — as well as imposing penalties on customers of Russian oil, minerals and other goods.
“Trump also has mentioned potentially sending a new Patriot air-defense system to Ukraine to guard against incoming rockets — a transaction that can be made either directly or indirectly by authorizing a transfer of the US-made equipment by an ally such as Germany or France.”
Do you want to see the U.S. pull out of this conflict entirely – including aid for Ukraine?
So far, Trump has given no indication of direct U.S. military involvement of the kind he authorized against Iran, U.S. bombers taking off from Missouri delivered a stunning precision strike on Iranian nuclear sites, including Fordow, buried deep in a mountain south of the capital of Tehran.
But stepped-up sanctions and weapons deliveries to Ukraine would amount to a much more aggressive posture for the Trump administration to take in a war where Trump has been critical of both Putin and Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Meanwhile, the Senate is considering legislation, sponsored by Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and Sidney Blumenthal of Connecticut, that would mandate a tariff of 500 percent on countries that import oil from Russia — targeting a keystone of the Russian economy.
According to the New York Post, the bill would allow Trump to waive the tariffs twice, but the second waiver would face a congressional vote of approval.
Trump, however, has indicated he views the bill as simply giving him another tool.
“It’s at my option if I want to use it,” he insisted to NBC News.
“They’re going to pass a very major and very biting sanctions bill, but it’s up to the president as to whether or not he wants to exercise it.”
The bill appears to have support to pass in the Senate, according to the Post. However, it would still need to pass in the House in a version Trump would sign before becoming law.
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