President Donald Trump walked right up to the line of calling Volodomyr Zelenskyy a con man on Tuesday, comparing the Ukrainian president to one of history’s most famous hoax-peddlers.
In an interview with Politico, Trump compared the world leader to P.T. Barnum, the 19th-century showman who founded the Ringling Bros. circus.
“He’s a great salesman. I call him P.T. Barnum,” he said. “He could sell any product at any time…doesn’t matter whether it works or not.”
Trump went on to imply that former president Joe Biden was taken in by Zelenskyy, saying in his unique language of winners and losers that the United States was fleeced when they signed on to help Ukraine fight a war.
“He got crooked Joe Biden to give him $350 billion and look what it got him,” he said. “About 25% of his country is missing.”
Trump’s attempts to broker an end to hostilities between Russia and Ukraine have repeatedly failed. A recent peace proposal was widely seen by European leaders as overly favorable to Russia and roundly rejected by Zelenskyy. Trump said Ukrainian officials need to “get on the ball” and be more open to compromise.
“[Russia is] much bigger. They’re much stronger,” Trump said. “At some point, size will win.”
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Trump accused Zelenskyy of prolonging the war to maintain his grip on the presidency, noting that the country hasn’t held an election since the outbreak of hostilities.
“They haven’t had an election in a long time,” Trump said. “You know, they talk about a democracy, but it gets to a point where it’s not a democracy anymore.”
Watch the interview below via YouTube:
