President Trump erupted on Wednesday after a reporter asked him why there has been “no action” against Russian President Vladimir Putin to end the three-year war in Ukraine.
Speaking at the White House alongside Polish President Karol Nawrocki, Mr. Trump answered the journalist, “Would you say there was no action that costs hundreds of billions of dollars to Russia?”
The president was referencing the sanctions he slapped on India, one of the largest buyers of oil from Moscow.
“Two weeks ago, I said, ‘If India buys [Russian oil], India’s got big problems, and that’s what happened, so don’t tell about that,” Mr. Trump continued. “Would you say that putting secondary sanctions on India outside of China [would hurt Russia]? They’re almost equal.”
Mr. Trump said he plans to do “phase two or phase three” against Mr. Putin, but didn’t elaborate.
Mr. Trump added that he was “not happy” with Mr. Putin over the war’s rising death toll and plans to call him “over the next few days.”
He also told the reporter, Polish Radio’s Washington correspondent Marek Walkuski, that he “ought to get yourself a new job” because of the question.
Mr. Trump has repeatedly said he will punish Russia and Mr. Putin if Moscow doesn’t agree to peace talks or a ceasefire with Ukraine.
Russia has shown no signs of doing either while stepping up attacks on Ukraine.
Even though Mr. Trump vowed to unleash the extra sanctions on Russia, he has done little outside of slapping the sanctions on India. The Indian oil purchases are helping keep the Russian economy afloat while it wages its war.
Meanwhile, some of Mr. Trump’s deadlines to impose severe consequences on Moscow have lapsed with little impact.
On July 14, Mr. Trump threatened “secondary tariffs” on Russia if Mr. Putin didn’t end the war within 50 days.
Mr. Trump then revised the deadline to 10 to 12 days and met with Mr. Putin last month in Alaska.
Last week, Mr. Trump said Russia had until Sept. 1 to have a meeting with Ukraine or he would take action. That was two days ago.
Over the weekend, French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz reminded reporters of the Monday deadline to establish peace talks.
“If that doesn’t happen by Monday, the deadline set by President Trump, it means that once again President Putin played President Trump,” Mr. Macron said Friday.
The French president said he still hopes for a meeting between Mr. Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, but if it doesn’t happen, European leaders should impose primary and secondary sanctions to pressure Russia to negotiate a peace deal.
• Jeff Mordock can be reached at jmordock@washingtontimes.com.