18 July 2025

I'm 'disappointed but not done' with Putin, Trump tells BBC


Donald Trump has said that he is disappointed but not done with Vladimir Putin, in an exclusive phone call with the BBC.

The US president was pressed on whether he trusts the Russian leader, and replied: "I trust almost nobody."

Trump was speaking hours after he announced plans to send weapons to Ukraine and warned of severe tariffs on Russia if there was no ceasefire deal in 50 days.

In an interview from the Oval Office, the president also endorsed Nato, having once described it as obsolete, and affirmed his support for the organisation's common defence principle.

The president made the phone call, which lasted 20 minutes, to the BBC after conversations about a potential interview to mark one year on since the attempt on his life at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.

Asked about whether surviving the assassination attempt had changed him, Trump said he liked to think about it as little as possible.

"I don't like to think about if it did change me," Trump said. Dwelling on it, he added, "could be life-changing".

Having just met with Nato chief Mark Rutte at the White House, however, the president spent a significant portion of the interview expanding on his disappointment with the Russian leader.

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