“You’ll See What Happens” — Trump Issues Fresh Warning to Putin Over Ongoing Ukraine War
U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday, September 3, issued a pointed warning when asked about his stance toward Russian President Vladimir Putin over the ongoing war in Ukraine.
“I have no message to President Putin. He knows where I stand, and he’ll make a decision one way or the other,” Trump said from the Oval Office.
“Whatever his decision is, we’ll either be happy about it or unhappy. And if we’re unhappy, you’ll see things happen,” he added, in what appeared to be a veiled threat.
The president grew visibly irritated when pressed on whether his administration had taken sufficient action against Russia.
“How do you know there’s no action? Would you say that putting secondary sanctions on India—the largest purchaser outside of China, almost equal—wasn’t action? That alone cost Russia hundreds of billions of dollars,” Trump retorted.
“You call that no action,” he added. “And I haven’t done phase two yet or phase three,” he said, hinting at further punitive steps.
“If you remember two weeks ago, I did, I said, if India buys, India’s got big problems, and that’s what happens. So don’t tell me about that,” Trump added.
Despite repeated threats, the Trump administration has so far been reluctant to slap further sanctions on Russia in its continued efforts to reach a peace deal.