On Friday afternoon, Donald Trump said his administration is currently having “very serious discussions” with Russia about the war in Ukraine, which led to an important follow-up question: “So you’ve already spoken to Vladimir Putin?”
The Republican responded, “I don’t want to say that.”
Asked why he wouldn’t answer the question, the president added, “Well, I just don’t want to say that.”
Trump indicates he's "already talking" with Putin but adds, "I just don't want to say that"
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com) 2025-01-31T22:15:08.713Z
In other words, Trump doesn’t want to talk about this, and he doesn’t want to talk about why he doesn’t want to talk about it.
What’s more, this keeps happening. Two weeks ago, Fox News’ Sean Hannity asked the president whether he had spoken to the Russian leader. Trump replied, “I don’t want to say.”
Similarly, Time magazine asked Trump in a post-election interview, “Have you spoken to Vladimir Putin since your election?” All he had to do was say yes or no. The Republican did neither.
“I can’t tell you,” Trump replied. “I can’t tell you. It’s just inappropriate.”
There is, of course, nothing “inappropriate” about the president disclosing conversations with foreign leaders. In fact, Trump discloses these interactions all the time. There are no external constraints preventing him from acknowledging the discussions — but he keeps refusing, as he has done periodically over the course of the last decade. For those concerned about the president’s relationship with his benefactor in Moscow, this isn’t going to help. As for the other part of Trump’s answer from Friday — the reference to the “very serious discussions” between the United States and Russia — the comment did not go unnoticed in Kyiv. “If there will be direct talks between America and Russia without Ukraine, it is very dangerous, I think,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told Rhe Associated Press the day after Trump’s comments. “They may have their own relations, but talking about Ukraine without us — it is dangerous for everyone.” This post updates our related earlier coverage.
Steve Benen is a producer for "The Rachel Maddow Show," the editor of MaddowBlog and an MS NOW political contributor. He's also the bestselling author of "Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans' War on the Recent Past."
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