‘Did I say that?’: Trump tries to deny calling Zelenskyy a dictator in an embarrassing attempt to contradict his claim
After trying to rewrite history to blame Ukraine and its president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, for Russia’s invasion, Donald Trump embarrassingly tried to walk back his unhinged claim that Zelenskyy is a dictator.
Trump promised during his campaign that he would end the Russo-Ukraine War, though many feared what this resolution would mean when he has always been chummy with Russia’s Vladimir Putin and hostile towards Ukraine. His true plans started coming out, as his Secretary of Defense, Pete Hegseth, suggested the door was closed on Ukraine joining NATO and only discussed Ukraine making concessions in peace negotiations. Most recently, Trump outright displayed his desire to rewrite history as he began painting Ukraine as the perpetrator of the war. It’s a beyond absurd allegation to make, considering Russia invaded Ukraine unprovoked. He even tried to twist the facts to claim Zelenskyy is a “dictator without elections.” While it’s true that another presidential election is overdue, the country has been under martial law due to the crisis of Russia’s invasion.
After his ridiculous cries of dictatorship, Trump suddenly insisted he never made that insult against Zelenskyy.
Donald Trump lies about dictatorship comment
Trump recently spoke at an investment conference in Miami, where he made insidious claims about Zelenskyy. In his desperate attempt to fault Ukraine for Russia’s invasion, he attacked Zelenskyy, claiming the President played the Biden administration like “a fiddle.” He followed up by calling him a “dictator without elections” and taunting Zelenskyy that he better “move fast” on peace negotiations or “he’s not going to have a country left.” A few hours later, he doubled down on Truth Social about how Zelenskyy won’t hold elections.
Days later, while speaking to reporters, Trump suddenly insisted he never called Zelenskyy a dictator. When questioned about his comments, Trump responded, “Um … did I say that? I can’t believe I said that. Next question.”
It seemed Trump was likely trying to smooth things over, given that Zelenskyy was due at the White House to sign a mineral agreement with the U.S. Zelenskyy offered America a deal that included access to its critical, valuable minerals in gratitude for the United States aid. With potentially billions on the line, Trump temporarily seemed interested in having good relations with Zelenskyy and denied his comments about dictatorship. However, the backtracking on the dictatorship comments wasn’t a sign of goodwill.
When Zelenskyy arrived for a meeting with Trump and J. D. Vance before signing the contract, it erupted into a shouting match. The pair berated and attacked Zelenskyy, speaking down to him and criticizing him for daring to fight back against Russia’s unprovoked full-scale invasion. Despite his pathetic, brazen lie that he didn’t call Zelenskyy a dictator, Trump isn’t fooling anyone that he’s willing to interact diplomatically and respectfully with Ukraine or its President.
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