Donald Trump says Melania helped convince him to give Putin a deadline to stop war on Ukraine

US President Donald Trump revealed that his wife Melania influenced his decision to be tougher on his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin and give him a deadline to end the war on Ukraine.

Trump said from the Oval Office on Monday that he would impose ‘very severe tariffs’ on Russia if Putin does not agree to a ceasefire deal within a set number of days.

‘We’re going to be doing secondary tariffs if we don’t have a deal in 50 days,’ said Trump.

‘It’s very simple, and they’ll be at 100%.’

Trump then said that the first lady was among people who convinced him to change his tune toward Putin.

‘I go home, I tell the first lady, “You know, I spoke to Vladimir today. We had a wonderful conversation.” She said, “Oh, really? Another city was just hit,”’ he said.

Trump told the story again about an hour later, during a luncheon with the White House Faith Office.

‘I’d get home, I’d say, “First lady, I had the most wonderful talk with Vladimir. I think we’re finished.” And then I’ll turn on the television, or she’ll say to me one time, “Wow, that’s strange because they just bombed a nursing home,”‘ he said.

Attendees at the White House State Dining Room laughed.

Melania kept a low profile as first lady, appearing alongside her husband often only on rare occasions. But the president reportedly has long trusted her judgement.

Trump said he was ‘disappointed’ in Putin because he thought a deal would come through two months ago.

‘It’s just the way it is,’ said the US president.

‘I hope we don’t have to do it.’

Trump reiterated his complaints about Putin after blasting his ‘bulls***’ during peace talks last week. The US president said his conversations with his Russian counterpart are ‘always very pleasant’.

‘I speak to him a lot about getting this thing done, and I always hang up say, “Well, that was a nice phone call,”‘ Trump said.

‘And then missiles launched into Kyiv or some other city, and I said, “strange.”

‘And after that happens three or four times, you say, “The talk doesn’t mean anything.”‘

Trump added of Putin: ‘He fooled Clinton, Bush, Obama, Biden – he didn’t fool me.’

The US president also suggested that he does not want to be blamed if Putin does not agree to peace by the deadline.

‘I do want to make one statement again: I said it before, this is not Trump’s war,’ he said.

The Kremlin did not immediately respond to Trump’s message.

But Russian senior lawmaker Konstantin Kosachev did not seem to take Trump’s words seriously.

‘Oh, how much can change both on the battlefield and with the mood of those leading the US and NATO in 50 days,’ he stated.

Trump has warned Russia about sanctions repeatedly but not followed through.

The US president also said he will send Patriot missiles to Ukraine to help in its defense against Russia. The weapons will be ‘quickly distributed to the battlefield’, Trump said.

As Trump issued the threat, seven regions in northern and eastern Ukraine were under air alerts after drones killed four people and injured 21 others in the Kharkiv and Sumy areas.

He announced the threat to Russia during a meeting with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte.

Trump has threatened to hit European imports with 30% sanctions. Denmark’s foreign minister, Lars Rasmussen, called it ‘absolutely unacceptable and unjustified’ and said that Europe does ‘not want a trade war’ with America.

The European Union’s trade commissioner said they are considering retaliatory tariffs if Trump moves forward.

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