Tensions ran high as President Donald Trump met with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte at the White House. When asked how far he would go if Putin escalated the war in Ukraine, Trump fired back: “Don’t ask me a question like that.” He went on to emphasize his desire to end the war, calling for strength through unity and a better-armed Europe.
Trump also announced that the U.S. will manufacture and send “top-of-the-line weapons” to NATO — a move likely to inflame Russia and reshape NATO’s military posture.
Watch the full exchange and breakdown of what this means for Ukraine, NATO, and the path forward in Europe’s most dangerous conflict since WWII.
00:00How far are you willing to go if you can right escalate, send more moms?
00:03Don't ask me a question like that. How far? I don't know. I want to get the war settled.
00:08They're not Americans dying, but there are a lot of people dying on something that should be able to be settled.
00:15Having a strong Europe is a very good thing. It's a very good thing. So I'm okay with that.
00:19When it escalates further, how far are you willing to go in response?
00:23In what? In what?
00:24How far are you willing to go if you can right escalate, send more moms?
00:28Well, don't ask me a question like that. How far? I don't know. I want to get the war settled.
00:34They're not Americans that are dying in it. And, you know, I have a problem. And J.D. has a problem.
00:38It's a stance that he's had for a long time. They're not Americans dying, but there are a lot of people dying on something that should be able to be settled.
00:47And we all agree with that. This group of people that, you know, we want to defend our country.
00:52But, you know, ultimately, having a strong Europe is a very good thing. It's a very good thing. So I'm okay with that. Yeah, please, in the back.
01:01Yeah, yeah. Is there a ceiling on what the Europeans are willing to pay for? And it sounds like, well, are you ruling out the U.S. paying for them from the additional weapons to your job at 40?
01:09Please, yeah.
01:39It's through NATO. Europeans are 100% paying for that. And what we have been doing over the last couple of days is talking with countries.
01:46And I just mentioned to once who in a first wave immediately said, we want to chip in. And then you are really talking about big numbers.
01:54Take Germany visiting today. They are really talking about big numbers.
01:57I will say that I spoke with Germany, spoke with most of the larger countries. And they are really enthusiastic about this.
02:10They want to. And, you know, they're willing to go very far. I will tell you, you know, as per your question, how far would I go? They want to go very far.
02:17They don't want this to happen. That's why I think from Putin's standpoint, it would really be good.
02:22He gets the country, his economy is doing very poorly.
02:24And he's got to get his economy back. He's got to save his economy. He could save his country in a sense.
02:30But the economy can destroy. It's destroyed a lot of countries over the years. He wants to get that economy back.
02:36And, you know, he's got a great country for trading and other things.
02:39If they could use the assets instead of war, he's got some tremendous potential. That's what I would say.
02:45How did you go over this news to Putin? How did you tell Putin this was happening?
02:51I speak to him a lot about getting this thing done. And I always hang up and say, well, that was a nice phone call.
02:58And then missiles launched into Kiev or some other city. And I say, it's strange.
03:04And after that happens three or four times, you say, the talk doesn't mean anything.
03:09My conversations with him are always very pleasant. I say, isn't that a very lovely conversation.
03:15And then the missiles go off that night. I go home. I tell the first lady, you know, I spoke to Vladimir today.
03:21We had a wonderful conversation. She said, oh, really? Another city was just hit.
03:28So it's like, look, he's, I don't want to say he's an assassin, but he's a tough guy.
03:34It's been proven over the years. He's fooled a lot of people. He fooled Bush. He fooled a lot of people.
03:40He fooled Clinton, Bush, Obama, Biden. He didn't fool me.
