Trump says he could end Russia’s war “within 24 hours” of negotiation

Former President Donald Trump says he would successfully negotiate an end to the Russia-Ukraine war “within 24 hours.”

Trump, who decades before becoming president was famously credited with authoring The Art of the Deal, which was ghostwritten, argued that his negotiation skills would easily end the conflict in an all-caps post to Truth Social on Thursday. Trump maintained that the war “would never have happened” if he had not been defeated by President Joe Biden in 2020, while asserting that he could still bring a quick end to the conflict as president.

“IF I WERE PRESIDENT, THE RUSSIA/UKRAINE WAR WOULD NEVER HAVE HAPPENED, BUT EVEN NOW, IF PRESIDENT, I WOULD BE ABLE TO NEGOTIATE AN END TO THIS HORRIBLE AND RAPIDLY ESCALATING WAR WITHIN 24 HOURS,” wrote Trump. “SUCH A TRAGIC WASTE OF HUMAN LIFE!!!”

In a Truth Social post earlier on Thursday, Trump warned that the Biden administration’s plan to send 31 M1A1 Abrams tanks to Ukraine could lead to “nukes” from Russia. He claimed that ending the war, which is now in its 12th month, would be “easy.”

“FIRST COME THE TANKS, THEN COME THE NUKES,” Trump wrote. “Get this crazy war ended, NOW. So easy to do!”

Trump loyalist and Republican Congressman Troy Nehls of Texas also touted the prospect of the former president easily solving the conflict earlier Thursday.

Nehls suggested during a Fox News interview that the war would “end” if Biden asked Trump to call Russian President Vladimir Putin.

“If we really want to end this war, Joe Biden, you need to call Donald Trump,” Nehls said. “Donald Trump will call Vladimir Putin and end this war. We must stop this war, and Donald Trump can do it.”

Although Trump and some of his allies have argued that the conflict would easily end under the former president’s leadership, neither Ukraine nor Russia appear willing to negotiate.

This week, Putin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that negotiations between Russia and Ukraine were “now impossible since there are no conditions for them either de facto or de jure.”

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said during a Thursday interview with Sky News that he is “not interested” in negotiating with Putin, arguing that the Russian president also “doesn’t want negotiations because he doesn’t want peace.”

Thursday was not the first time that Trump has offered to step in and quickly bring an unlikely end to the Russia-Ukraine war.

Last year, the former president volunteered to lead negotiations and argued that Ukraine should have voluntarily ceded territory to Russia to secure peace.

Trump has also claimed that U.S. foreign policy under the Biden administration had “taunted” Putin, which he said was “almost forcing” the Russian president to order the invasion of Ukraine.

On January 20, 2021, Biden’s inauguration day, The Washington Post reported that Trump had made a total of 30,573 false or misleading comments during his presidency.

Newsweek has reached out to Trump’s office for comment.