President-elect Donald Trump Criticizes Russia’s War in Ukraine, Says Death Toll Higher Than Reported
President-elect Donald Trump on Monday castigated the human toll of Russia’s war in Ukraine, saying the death toll “on both sides” is likely much higher than has been reported. Trump made the remarks from Mar-a-Lago, stating, “We’re trying to get the war stopped, that horrible, horrible war that’s going on in Ukraine, Russia, Ukraine… We’re going to get a little progress, it’s a tough one, it’s a nasty one, it’s nasty.”
Trump described in graphic detail how Ukraine’s flat terrain is contributing to the high battleground death toll, saying, “People are being killed at levels that nobody’s ever seen. It’s very level fields, and the only thing that stops a bullet is a body, a human body… The number of soldiers that are being killed on both sides is astronomical… What’s happening there is far worse than people are reporting, from both sides, so we’re going to do our best, and we’ve been doing our best, and we’ll see what happens.”
Trump warned that the war in Ukraine will likely see less US support once he assumes office. He also touched on the war in Gaza, stating, “We’re trying to help, very strongly, in getting the hostages back” without providing further details.
Contrary to his statement, Trump has not presented a meaningful peace plan to end the war in Ukraine. The president-elect has repeatedly claimed that there were “no wars” during his tenure as president, a false statement, as at least 65 American troops died in hostile actions during his term. Trump was president during the War in Afghanistan and ordered a drone strike that killed Iranian commander Qasem Soleimani at the Baghdad airport.
