During an interview aired on Thursday’s broadcast of Newsmax TV’s “Finnerty,” President Donald Trump said that the Russia-Ukraine War began “when they made them give up Crimea” under Obama and criticized Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky because “he doesn’t want to settle.”
🤡 Trump is convinced that Crimea is surrounded by ocean on all four sides "Crimea is the most valuable part, by far, of Ukraine. The Black Sea. Four sides of the ocean. Most beautiful piece of land," the US president said in an interview. Crimea is a peninsula connected to the mainland. It is bordered by the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov, not an ocean.
— NEXTA (@nexta_tv) October 16, 2026
Trump said, “Zelensky is not a good guy for us to deal with. … [I]f they’re going to end up with a settlement of some kind, they’re not going to do it with him, he doesn’t want to settle.”
He added, “Look, it really began with Barack Hussein Obama when they made them give up Crimea. Crimea is the most valuable part, by far, of Ukraine.”
Trump concluded, “It should end soon. I think they actually both would like to see it end. But I think — I find Zelensky to be more difficult to deal with than Putin.”
