Donald Trump: I'm trying to save Ukraine, otherwise it will be destroyed very soon

On April 29, 2025, US President Donald Trump gave an interview to The Atlantic magazine, in which he made a dramatic statement, claiming that his efforts are aimed at saving Ukraine from imminent defeat in the conflict with Russia. In the Oval Office of the White House, Donald Trump was interviewed by Jeffrey Goldberg from the American magazine.

"I think I'm trying to save this country. I think this country will be completely destroyed soon. Let's face it.“

Goldberg: Let's just get back to the issue of Russia. "Vladimir, Stop it!“ You wrote in Truth Social.

Trump: Yes, I did.

Goldberg: He doesn't seem like the kind of guy who's going to say, "Oh, well, Trump told me he wanted to stop, so I'm going to stop."

Trump: You might be surprised.

Goldberg: Well, if that's the case, I'll go back and say, "You were right. I was wrong." But I think I'm right. He's not the kind of guy who's just going to stop trying to take over all of Ukraine. The question is: if it goes forward, if there are more military successes...

Trump: Which is possible.

Goldberg: Blow up apartment buildings

Trump: Of course.

Goldberg: Do you ever see a situation where you would go in, not with troops, but with more weapons, with full support for Ukraine to maintain its territorial integrity?

Trump: It doesn't have to be weapons. There are many forms of weapons. It doesn't have to be weapons with bullets. It could be weapons with sanctions. It could be weapons with banks. It could be many other weapons.

Goldberg: Is there anything that Putin could do that would make you say, "You know what? I'm on Zelensky's side now.

Trump: Not necessarily on Zelensky's side, but on Ukraine's side, yes. Yes. But not necessarily on Zelensky's side. I had a hard time dealing with Zelensky. You saw that right here when he was sitting in this very chair, when he just couldn't figure it out.

Goldberg: That was one of the strangest things I've ever seen in the Oval Office.

Trump: All he had to do was shut up, you know? He earned his position. He earned his position. But instead of saying, "Okay," when I made the statement, I said, "Well, we're working to resolve it. We're trying to help." He said, "No, no, we need security too." I said, "Security?"

Goldberg: Well, isn't he supposed to stand up for his country?

Trump: Yeah, that's right, but let's sort of solve the war problem first. I actually said, "I don't even know if we're going to be able to end it". You know, then he talked about security. Then. And then he made a statement, something like, they were fighting alone, they had no help. I said, "Well, we helped you with $350 billion, and Europe helped you with a lot less money", which is another thing that worries me.

We'll have to see what happens over the next period of almost a week. There's still the finishing touches. And again, this is Biden's war. I'm not going to put up with it - I don't want to put up with it. This is a terrible war. It shouldn't have happened. It would never have happened, I'm sure of that, as you're sitting there.

Goldberg: So, this scene with President Zelensky here, don't you think it scared Taiwan or South Korea or Japan?

Trump: No. No.
Goldberg: They're not asking themselves, "Is this how he treats allies?"

Trump: Look. Are you ready? The others treat us so badly. We went to South Korea and took care of them because of the war. We took care of them and we never stopped. You know, we have 42,000 troops in South Korea. It costs us a fortune. I actually made them pay $3 billion, and then Biden stopped it. I don't know why. They've gotten very rich. They've taken our cars. You know, they've taken a lot of our businesses, a lot of our technology.

You don't have to feel sorry for these other countries. These other countries are doing very well at our expense, very well. And I want to protect this country. I want to make sure that you have a great country in another hundred years. This is a very important time. This is a very important moment. This is one of the most important periods in the history of our country.

Trump: I really believe that what I'm doing is good for the country, for the people, for humanity.

As you just heard, I was just with the Prime Minister of Norway, and separately, outside, is the head of NATO. Just a few minutes ago, we were with the former head of NATO: Stoltenberg. Great guy; both of them are great people. And they made a statement. They said, "If you don't end this war, it will never end, it will go on forever, and people will be killed for a long time." And, you know, they're losing - I had said 2,500 people a week; now it's close to 5,000 people a week, mostly Russian and Ukrainian soldiers. And if we could stop that, that would be great.

Goldberg: But let me ask you, because the portrait of Ronald Reagan is sitting right over your shoulder.

Trump: Yes.

Goldberg: For 100 years, American presidents have had an innate sympathy for smaller countries and peoples who have been bullied or oppressed by Russia. You don't seem to have that same innate sympathy. It's not just Ronald Reagan. It's Jimmy Carter, JFK, et cetera. Why don't you seem to have the same feeling for these bullied and oppressed peoples that every other American president has?

Trump: I think I know. I think I'm saving this nation. I think this nation is going to be crushed very soon. It's a big war machine. Let's face it. And if it wasn't me - I'm the one who gave them the Javelins that destroyed the tanks. You know, that tank moment was a big moment when the tanks got stuck in the mud, and I gave them a huge number of Javelins.

These are the anti-tank destroyers. And they destroyed all those tanks when they got stuck in the mud. You know, that was a big moment because if those tanks had gone in, they were 71 miles from Kiev and they would have taken Kiev. That was the end of the war, it would have been over in one day.

And that was one of the reasons it went on. I can say that it's a shame that it went on, because a lot of people died. A lot more people died in that war than is being reported. Not just soldiers. That's a lot of soldiers, but a lot of other people. And, you know, I can really prove that I was very good, because I'm saving this country. The Prime Minister of Norway - a very respected man - says that if President Trump doesn't intervene, this war will never end. I think I'm doing Ukraine a great favor. I believe that.

Goldberg: But the Ukrainians don't believe that.

Trump: Well, they don't, because they have pretty good publicity. Look, the war in Ukraine would never have happened if I were president. It would never have happened, and it hasn't happened for four years.