Trump Says He Was a ‘Bit Sarcastic’ When He Promised to End Ukraine War Within 24 Hours of Taking Office

The U.S. president spoke on the phone with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday, March 18, to continue his peace negotiations

Ahead of President Donald Trump’s scheduled call with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday, he admitted to not being entirely truthful in his repeated campaign promises to have the Russia-Ukraine conflict solved in 24 hours of taking office.

“Well, I was being a little bit sarcastic when I said that,” Trump said in a clip from his upcoming Full Measure interview, which airs Sunday. “What I really mean is I’d like to get it settled and I’ll… I think I’ll be successful.”

Prior to taking office for his second term in January 2025, Trump made multiple claims that he could easily resolve the conflict, which officially began when Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022.

In a May 2023 town hall, he boasted that he could have the conflict solved in “one day” if he was re-elected.

“I’ll meet with Putin, I’ll meet with Zelenskyy, they both have weaknesses and they both have strengths, and within 24 hours, that war would be settled,” he said at the time.

He had made similar remarks in a March 2023 interview with Fox News’ Sean Hannity, saying he would “have it solved in 24 hours with Zelenskyy and with Putin.”

Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer.

Then, in his only presidential debate against Democratic nominee Kamala Harris in September 2024, Trump boasted that the Russian occupation of Ukraine was “a war that’s dying to be settled.”

“I will get it settled before I even become president,” he said. “If I win, when I’m president-elect… what I’ll do is I’ll speak to one, I’ll speak to the other, I’ll get them together.”

Despite his remarks about brokering peace, Trump has often expressed his admiration for Putin – who was elected to his fifth term as president of Russia in March 2024.

In fact, just before Russia’s official invasion of Ukraine, Trump praised Putin’s actions in the country as “genius,” while also maintaining that they wouldn’t have happened on his watch.

“By the way, this never would have happened with us,” he told conservative radio hosts Clay & Buckin February 2022. “Had I been in office, not even thinkable. This would never have happened.”

“But here’s a guy that says, you know, ‘I’m gonna declare a big portion of Ukraine independent,’ he used the word ‘independent,’ ‘and we’re gonna go out and we’re gonna go in and we’re gonna help keep peace.’ You gotta say that’s pretty savvy,” Trump added.

Trump’s latest dialogue with Putin comes just a few weeks after his disastrous Oval Office meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

Zelenskyy met with Trump and Vice President J.D. Vance on Feb. 28, with the intent to finalize a natural resources agreement between the two countries and discuss the next steps towards a peace deal with Russia.

However, the meeting turned hostile when Zelenskyy expressed doubt in front of American reporters that Putin could be trusted to honor a peace agreement. Trump and Vance began shouting at Zelenskyy, calling him “disrespectful” and suggesting that he was ungrateful for the United States’ involvement in negotiations.

Trump then abruptly called off the meeting, sending the Ukranian delegation home. Zelenskyy cancelled the rest of his Washington, D.C. schedule and flew to meet with European leaders – many of whom immediately made public statements sharing their continued support of Ukraine.

Days later, after Zelenskyy commented that he end to Ukraine’s war with Russia is still “very, very far away,” Trump temporarily suspended all military aid to Ukraine. He also took to Truth Social to blast the foreign president’s latest comments.

“This is the worst statement that could have been made by Zelenskyy, and America will not put up with it for much longer!” Trump began, citing an article by The Associated Press, an outlet he banned from White House events about two weeks prior.

“It is what I was saying, this guy doesn’t want there to be Peace as long as he has America’s backing and, Europe, in the meeting they had with Zelenskyy, stated flatly that they cannot do the job without the U.S.,” he continued. “Probably not a great statement to have been made in terms of a show of strength against Russia. What are they thinking?”