Trump says time for Ukraine ‘to get a new president’ as he clashes with Zelenskyy

Trump links Ukraine's leadership to the failure to end the war

The US president made the remarks on Saturday while speaking to reporters outside the White House before heading to a rally in Tennessee.

He argued that Ukraine's leadership needed to change, claiming Zelenskyy had repeatedly failed to bring the conflict to an end since Russia's full-scale invasion began in 2022.

“It's time for Ukraine to get a new president,” Trump declared.

“I suggest they get a new leader who can make a deal. For some reason he never does,” he added.

His comments came after he was questioned about a reported agreement with Russian President Vladimir Putin concerning diesel supplies to the United States.

The arrangement is intended to ease pressure on American fuel prices ahead of November's midterm elections, as costs have risen amid the US war in Iran.

Trump continued to blame Zelenskyy for the war's continuation, once again claiming the conflict would never have started if he had won the 2020 US presidential election.

“It's a war that should have never been started. If I were president, if the election weren't rigged, I would have been president, and that war would have never started,” he said.

“He better damn well stop!”

Trump then turned his attention to Ukraine's attacks on Russian fuel infrastructure, claiming Kyiv had been warned against striking refineries because of the potential consequences for international energy supplies.

He argued that Russia provides a substantial share of the world's diesel and that damage to its fuel industry could worsen shortages, with knock-on effects for American farmers and ranchers.

“He wants to make problems for our farmers, our ranchers with diesel fuel because Russia supplies a large portion of the diesel fuel throughout the world,” Trump said.

He went on to claim that Ukraine had been warned about the risk of a serious shortage before continuing its attacks.

“And what does he do? He goes and hits the diesel fuel,” Trump said, before issuing a final warning to Zelenskyy: “He better damn well stop!”

The president also claimed that Ukraine had lost 30% of its territory and that more than two million people had died in the conflict. He did not provide evidence to support those figures.

Trump again argued that the war should never have begun and repeated his demand for a change in Ukraine's leadership.

Zelenskyy calls reported deal with Putin a “weak decision”

Trump's latest attack followed a public rebuke from Zelenskyy on Friday evening, when the Ukrainian president questioned the reported diesel arrangement with Moscow and accused Washington of treating Kyiv unfairly.

“Our team is simply being used as a smoke screen, and that is certainly not fair,” he said.

He also described Trump's announcement as a “weak decision”, criticising the prospect of making arrangements with Russia while the war continues.

Zelenskyy later reinforced his objections in a social media post, warning that concessions to the Russian president would not help bring peace or benefit the wider international community.

“Gifts to Putin will not bring peace or any benefit to the civilised world,” he wrote.