In a nearly two-hour interview with the New York Times last Wednesday, President Donald Trump described Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky as having "no trump cards" and dismissed the reliability of proposed US security guarantees by conditioning them entirely on his personal belief that Russia would not reinvade.
The transcript, published 11 January, offers the clearest picture yet of how Trump views his leverage over Ukraine — and how little he believes Kyiv can do without him.
"He's only got one thing"
When asked whether Zelensky has any leverage in negotiations, Trump was blunt.
"He really has no trump cards. He didn't have any — he hadn't had any since day one," Trump said. Asked what Zelensky does have, he replied: "He's only got one thing... Donald Trump."
Trump claimed that without his involvement, "Russia would have taken over all of Ukraine" and that the war "could have evolved into a third world war."
Security guarantees hinge on Trump's intuition
The interview revealed how the administration conceptualizes its proposed security commitments to Ukraine. When asked whether the US would go to war to defend Ukraine against a future Russian invasion under the 20-point peace framework, Trump gave a striking answer.
"Well, I feel strongly they wouldn't reinvade, or I wouldn't agree to it," he said.
This formulation — conditioning a security guarantee on Trump's personal belief about Russian intentions — stands in contrast to the binding, automatic nature of NATO's Article 5. When pressed on what happens if Russia does reinvade, Trump declined to answer.
"I don't want to say that. I just don't want to be in a position to say that, because I have an obligation to see if I can save lives," he said.
No commitment to rearm Ukraine
Asked directly whether he would rearm Ukraine if Putin rejects or stalls on the peace plan, Trump again refused to commit.
"I don't want to be in a position to say that," he repeated.
Trump acknowledged that negotiations have stalled, expressing disappointment that a deal was not reached by Thanksgiving or Christmas as he had hoped. He blamed both sides for past failures.
"I've had cases where I had Putin all done and Zelensky wouldn't make the deal, which shocked me," Trump said. "Then I had cases where it was the reverse. I think now they both want to make a deal."
Putin's credibility — and lies
The interview touched on a recent incident in which Putin told Trump that Ukraine had attacked his residence. US intelligence found no evidence this occurred.
"I don't know if it was the truth or not," Trump said when asked why Putin had lied to him. "He did tell me that his home was attacked."
Trump did not express concern about being misled by Putin, instead pivoting to praise of Russia's response to a separate maritime incident: "His ships left awfully quickly today... It's a sign of respect."
"We make money with the war now"
Trump repeatedly emphasized that the US is now profiting from the conflict.
"The war costs us nothing. We make money with the war now," he said, describing how the US sells weapons to NATO at full price, which then go to Ukraine.
He also claimed to have recovered the $350 billion in aid allocated under Biden through a rare earth minerals deal. "I got the money back," Trump said.
Trump cited casualty figures of "25 to 30,000 people a month" between Russian and Ukrainian forces, calling the conflict "the worst war since World War II."
No timeline
Despite expressing urgency about ending the war, Trump offered no timeline for a resolution.
"I don't have the timeline," he said. "If we do the best we can, I just would like to see the war [end]."
