Trump whispers ‘crazy’ Putin deal theory to Macron in hot mic moment
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President Donald Trump was heard in a hot mic moment whispering to French President Emmanuel Macron that he believes Russian President Vladimir Putin wants to make a peace deal “for” the U.S. leader — remarking the hunch even sounded “crazy” to him.
“I think he (Putin) wants to make a deal. I think he wants to make a deal for me, you understand that?” Trump was heard telling Macron ahead of a multilateral meeting with European leaders Monday. “As crazy as it sounds.”
Top European leaders converged on the White House Monday, when Trump held his highly anticipated meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the hopes on brokering a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine amid a war that has raged since the winter of 2022.
Trump spoke with the European leaders following his meeting with Zelenskyy, which included discussions on “Security Guarantees for Ukraine, which Guarantees would be provided by the various European Countries, with a coordination with the United States of America,” Trump said on Truth Social Monday of the meeting.
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European leaders who joined the meeting at the White House Monday included Macron, Finnish President Alexander Stubb, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte.
Macron joined NBC News following his White House meeting, and was asked point-blank about Trump’s comments to him.
“What went through your head when he said that to you?” NBC’s Kristen Welker asked Macron after reading a transcript of Trump’s exchange with Marcon earlier that day.
Macron celebrated the exchange as evidence of Trump’s conviction the war between Ukraine and Russia will end.
“At the end of the day, if we have a deal, which is compliant with this long-standing and robust peace, this is a great news,” Marcon said during the Monday interview. “And your president, indeed, is very confident about the capacity he has to get this deal done. Which is good news for all of us, and can break this, I would say, this daily killings.”
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When asked about the hot-mic exchange, a White House spokesperson told Fox News Digital that Trump is the only world leader who has gotten Putin to join the negotiating table for a potential peace deal as war raged for more than three years.
“As President Trump has said, he has a good relationship with President Putin, and only he was able to bring President Putin to the table for a peace deal,” the spokesperson said. “European leaders recognize that after three years of killing and deadlock under weak Joe Biden, there has been more progress towards peace than ever before because of this President’s leadership.”
Trump joined “Fox & Friends” Tuesday morning and said he intends to let Putin and Zelenskyy meet one-on-one before moving forward with peace negotiations, which could include a land swap deal.
“They haven’t exactly been best friends,” Trump said Tuesday.
“Maybe they’re getting along a little bit better than I thought. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have set up the two (of them) meeting, I would have set up a (trilateral meeting).”
Trump added that the negotiations will not include admitting Ukraine into NATO, but said some European nations have agreed to provide NATO-like protections, including security guarantees.
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Trump met with Putin in Alaska Friday, which did not yield a peace deal but opened the door to more in-depth peace talks following Trump’s campaign trail pledge to end the bloody war that began under his predecessor’s tenure.
Trump called Putin following his White House meetings Monday and set the table for a meeting between Putin and Zelenskyy, Trump said in a Truth Social post this week.
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“At the conclusion of the meetings, I called President Putin, and began the arrangements for a meeting, at a location to be determined, between President Putin and President Zelenskyy,” Trump posted to Truth Social on Monday evening of the next steps towards peace. “After that meeting takes place, we will have a Trilat, which would be the two Presidents, plus myself. Again, this was a very good, early step for a War that has been going on for almost four years. Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and Special Envoy Steve Witkoff, are coordinating with Russia and Ukraine. Thank you for your attention to this matter!”
Fox News Digital’s Taylor Penny contributed to this report.