President Trump on Tuesday quipped that bringing an end to the war between Russia and Ukraine would help him get into heaven, joking that he heard he’s “at the bottom of the totem pole.”
Trump called into “Fox & Friends” following a meeting a day earlier at the White House with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and seven top European leaders. The group discussed how to end the war in Ukraine, which has been raging since Russian forces invaded in February 2022.
“I want to end it. You know, we’re not losing American lives, we’re not losing American soldiers. We’re losing Russia and Ukrainian, mostly soldiers. Some people, as missiles hit wrong spots or get lobbed into cities,” Trump said on Fox News.
“But if I can save 7,000 people a week from being killed, I think that’s a pretty — I want to try to get to heaven if possible. I’m hearing I’m not doing well,” he continued. “I hear I’m really at the bottom of the totem pole. But if I can get to heaven, this will be one of the reasons.”
Trump and European officials discussed potential security assurances for Ukraine as part of a peace deal that would prevent future Russian aggression. The president provided few details on what that would look like during his appearance on Fox News, other than to note that Europe would likely bear the brunt of those security efforts.
“There’ll be some form of security,” Trump said. “It can’t be NATO, because that’s just not something that could ever, ever happen.”
Trump also indicated Ukraine would likely need to cede some land as part of any final agreement, though he has repeatedly said it will be up to Zelensky to sign off on territorial concessions.
“I hope President Putin is going to be good. If he’s not, that’s going to be a rough situation,” Trump said. “And I hope Zelensky, President Zelensky, will do what he has to do. He has to show some flexibility also. The thing is a mess.”
Trump has said he is helping to arrange a potential face-to-face meeting between Putin and Zelensky in the near future.
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