U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltz issued a warning to Vladimir Putin on Wednesday, declaring that Trump’s push for NATO allies to shoot down intruding Russian aircraft was no empty threat.
"Putin, the Russians, should take the message from the president [seriously]. He's not messing around," Waltz warned on "Fox & Friends."
"The Iranians learned painfully that he will use sticks as well as carrots… We just brought that message [to] the Russian president just yesterday."
RUSSIA SHIFTS FROM TALK TO ACTION, TARGETING NATO HOMELAND AMID FEARS OF GLOBAL WAR
President Donald Trump points as he boards Air Force One at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland, on September 11 (left). Russian President Vladimir Putin attends talks with the Laotian President at the Kremlin in Moscow on July 31 (right). (Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images (left); Evgenia Novozhenina/POOL/AFP via Getty Images (right))
The former Florida Republican congressman joined Brian Kilmeade the morning after Trump made the suggestion during a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. The two leaders were in New York City for a U.N. General Assembly session on Tuesday.
"Do you think that NATO countries should shoot down Russian aircraft if they enter their airspace?" a reporter asked the president.
"Yes, I do," he replied.
The new U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Mike Waltz, speaks at a Security Council emergency meeting to discuss Russian fighter jet incursions into NATO member Estonia's airspace at the United Nations on Sept. 22 in New York City. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images)
Waltz called Trump's statement "common sense," pointing to repeated Russian airspace violations reported by Romania, Estonia and Poland.
Trump has pushed for an end to the Russia-Ukraine war since returning to office in January, meeting with the leaders of both nations and urging them to negotiate a peace agreement.
When asked if Trump is considering lifting restrictions on U.S. weapons sent to Ukraine, Waltz deferred to the president, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
"The broader piece here is that the president is going to do whatever it takes, and he's going to shift positions if he needs to, to get this war to end," he added.
Trump also signaled in a Truth Social post this week that he believes Ukraine, with European and NATO backing, could regain all its territory, an outlook that surprised and offered hope to Zelenskyy.
"I was very positive about signals from the side that Trump and America will be with us to the end of the war," Zelenskyy told Fox News' Bret Baier.
Fox News' Anders Hagstrom contributed to this report.