President Donald Trump has delivered his bluntest assessment yet of Volodymyr Zelensky, telling Newsmax that he is "not a big fan" of the Ukrainian president and that Zelensky is "not a good guy for us to deal with."
In the interview with Rob Finnerty on Wednesday, October 15, Trump said any settlement to end the war would have to come despite Zelensky, not through him. "They're going to end up with a settlement of some kind — they're not going to do it with him," Trump said. "He doesn't want to settle. He says he wants to settle, but he isn't."
Trump added that he finds Zelensky harder to negotiate with than Russian President Vladimir Putin — a striking admission from a president who has made personally brokering an end to the war a centerpiece of his foreign policy.
The president also criticized Ukraine's renewed strikes on Russian oil refineries, arguing that they are driving up energy prices — a cost he has repeatedly tied to what American families pay at the pump.
The remarks did not come out of nowhere. On October 10, Trump told reporters that Ukraine should "get a new president" — a new leader who can make a deal — and warned Zelensky he had "better damn well stop" hitting Russian refineries, comments that came as he announced a U.S.–Russia diesel deal.
Zelensky, for his part, is digging in. On the same day as the Newsmax interview, he told the Financial Times that Ukraine was "done" with the pause on refinery strikes and would resume them, while criticizing Trump's approach toward Russia.
The public friction has now intensified on three fronts at once: the energy strikes, the diesel deal, and the basic question of whether a negotiated settlement is even possible with Zelensky in Kyiv. Trump's message is consistent — he wants the war settled, energy prices down, and a Ukrainian leader willing to make a deal. Whether that pressure moves Kyiv, or hardens it, is the question now hanging over the talks.
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