President Donald Trump doubled down on Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s comments about how the U.S. will bring about a peaceful resolution to the war in Ukraine during a Thursday press conference.
While addressing an audience at a Ukraine Defense Contact Group meeting in Brussels, Belgium, Hegseth that both Russia and Ukraine “must start by recognizing that returning to Ukraine’s pre-2014 borders is an unrealistic objective” and stressed that the U.S. “does not believe that NATO membership for Ukraine is a realistic outcome of a negotiated settlement.”
Hegseth was lambasted by those who want the U.S. to continue supporting Ukraine in its war against Russia.
While speaking with reporters in the Oval Office, the president reaffirmed Hegseth’s remarks, saying they were an “accurate” representation of his vision for a settlement. “I don’t see any way that a country in Russia’s position could allow [Ukraine] to join NATO. I don’t see that happening.”
Trump criticized former President Joe Biden’s approach to the conflict between the two nations, saying the war started because he “went out and said that they could join NATO, and he shouldn’t have said that.”
As soon as he said that, I said, ‘You know what? You're going to have a war now.’ And I was right about that. This is a war that would have never happened if I were President. I think Biden is incompetent and I think when he said that they could join NATO, I thought that was a very stupid thing to say. I thought when he said, ‘Well, it depends if it's a minor incursion.’ In other words, it's okay if Russia does a minor incursion. I thought that was a very foolish thing to say.
President Trump defends the comments from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth that Ukraine will not join NATO:
— Charlie Kirk (@charliekirk11) February 13, 2025
"I don't see any way that a country in Russia's position could allow them to join NATO. I don't see that happening.
"I believe that's the reason the war started because… pic.twitter.com/bOwvJgk2rh
A reporter asked whether Trump believes Russian President Vladimir Putin truly wants a peaceful solution. “Yeah, I do,” Trump responded. “I believe he wants peace … Yeah, I think he wants peace. I think he would tell me if he didn’t.”
The reporter followed up, asking if Trump trusts Putin. “Yeah, I believe that he would like to see something happen. I trust him on this subject,” Trump answered. “I think it could have happened a long time ago.”
The president further explained that the war should never have started in the first place.
All those beautiful golden towers are knocked down. There's nothing going to replace them. But much more importantly, you lost millions of people, a lot of soldiers, but you lost millions of people. When they knocked down those cities and they're all laying down on the side, they're lying down just in ashes and all crumpled up concrete. They literally look like a world-class demolition site. Many of them, almost all of them, but many of them. This should have been done by Biden years ago.
TRUMP: I believe Putin wants peace. pic.twitter.com/xmHy59pyjZ
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) February 13, 2025
Trump continued, slamming Biden for his handling of the conflict.
This should have never been allowed to happen. I know he's a friend of yours. He's a friend of CNN. That's why nobody watches CNN anymore, because they have no credibility.
TRUMP: "I know he [Biden] is a friend of yours. He's a friend of CNN. That's why no one watches CNN anymore because they have no credibility." pic.twitter.com/ZpU6yZUYE3
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) February 13, 2025
Hegseth’s remarks elicited criticism, especially when he insisted that European nations must do more to protect Ukraine rather than relying on the United States. A senior European diplomat told The Guardian that it “cannot field a force like this right now” but also acknowledged that “we cannot force the US [to commit troops]. So we must accept this and figure out what we can do.”
German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius slammed the Trump administration, accusing it of making “public concessions to Putin before negotiations have even begun,” Politico reported.
Lithuanian Defense Minister Dovilė Šakalienė argued that allowing Trump to negotiate with Putin alone would be a “deadly trap” and that Europe must “embrace our own economic financial, and military capacity” and that it “will be the ones who will be deciding what will happen in Europe and in Ukraine.”
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