Donald Trump is privately irritated that he broke his promise to end the Ukraine-Russia war before even taking office.
The Wall Street Journal reported that in recent weeks Trump has ‘privately griped’ to his closest advisers that Russian President Vladimir Putin does not want to end the conflict.
President Trump is also said to have been asking aides if they think Putin has changed since his first presidency, which ended in early 2021.
And Trump is reportedly surprised at some of Putin’s latest war tactics, including bombing areas filled with children, the journal reported.
Publicly, Trump has admitted that negotiating a peace deal with Putin has been difficult because his Russian counterpart wants ‘the whole thing’ – all of Ukraine.
All that is in marked contrast to Trump’s words at a rally in Wisconsin last October.
‘I will settle the war in Ukraine before I even take office,’ he said.
‘I’ll settle it as president elect. …I will end the chaos in the Middle East, and I will prevent World War III, something nobody else can say.’
Meanwhile, Trump’s vow to end the Israel-Gaza war on day one of his presidency in January has also not come to pass.
President Donald Trump (pictured at his inauguration on January 20) made concrete promises to end the wars in Ukraine and Gaza on day one
With both conflicts raging on past the 100-day mark of his second term in office, Trump has grown frustrated behind the scenes, The Wall Street Journal reported. (Trump pictured in the Oval Office on May 9)
The president is said to be pushing hard for the two sides to negotiate an end to the war. A ceasefire established in January crumbled in March, with Trump effectively giving Israel ‘the green light’ to continue bombarding Gaza until Hamas is destroyed.
The war in Gaza was also challenging, Trump recently told a crowd gathered at his Mar-a-Lago country club in Palm Beach, because the two sides have ‘been fighting for a thousand years.’
Trump spokeswoman Anna Kelly told The Journal Team Trump is ‘laser-focused on delivering peace around the world and stopping bad actors from doing harm to Americans and our allies.’
She added: ‘Their approach has been successful—Houthis agreed to a cease-fire, 47 Americans detained abroad have come home, NATO countries are increasing defense spending, China is deterred, and we are closer to peace in the Russia-Ukraine War than ever before.’
Kyle Haynes, a professor of US foreign policy at Purdue University, said Trump has essentially painted himself into a corner.
‘If he hadn’t promised such things repeatedly throughout the campaign it’d be wildly unfair to criticize him for failing to achieve them. But he did,’ Haynes told The Journal.
Putin’s latest outrages have put pressure on Trump.
On April 13, Russian forces hit a trolley bus with a missile strike, killing at least 34 people, including two children, and wounding 117, including 15 children.
Trump’s attitude toward Putin and Russia as a whole mirrors what he said in a Truth Social post on April 26, the same day he had a productive meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Vatican City following Pope Francis’ death.
‘There was no reason for Putin to be shooting missiles into civilian areas, cities and towns, over the last few days. It makes me think that maybe he doesn’t want to stop the war, he’s just tapping me along, and has to be dealt with differently,’ Trump said.
Senior officials in the Trump administration have admitted that Russia is the main barrier to peace after it refused to agree to an unconditional 30-day ceasefire that Ukraine has already supported.
This handout photograph taken and released by the Ukrainian Emergency Service on April 13, 2025, shows a Ukrainian rescuer working at the site of a missile attack that hit a trolley bus. At least 34 people were killed, including two children
Trump and Vice President JD Vance initially viewed Russian President Vladimir Putin as the easier man to work with on a peace deal. That appears to have changed in recent weeks
This represents a remarkable shift for Trump and Vance, both of whom initially focused their ire on Zelensky in an off-the-rails Oval Office showdown on February 28
Vice President JD Vance said this week that Russia was ‘asking for too much’ in its initial peace offer.
‘I wouldn´t say that the Russians are uninterested in bringing this thing to a resolution,’ Vance said. ‘What I would say is right now: the Russians are asking for a certain set of requirements, a certain set of concessions in order to end the conflict. We think they’re asking for too much,’ he said.
This represents a remarkable shift for Trump and Vance, both of whom initially focused their ire on Zelensky in an off-the-rails Oval Office showdown on February 28.
The two men repeatedly accused Zelensky of not being grateful for the well over $100 billion in aid that the United States has given to Ukraine in its war effort against Russia.
Zelensky denied this but angered Trump and Vance when he suggested that the US was divorced from the reality of war because it has ‘a nice ocean’ protecting it from invasions.
‘You’re gambling with World War III,’ Trump bellowed at Zelensky at one point. ”You don’t have the cards. With us, you have the cards. But without us, you don’t have any cards.’
Trump has since restored aid and intelligence sharing to Ukraine, but there’s no denying he still wants the fighting to end.
When it comes to the war in Gaza, the Trump administration is actively working to negotiate an agreement between Israel and Hamas.
A ceasefire between Israel and Hamas crumbled in March, which has allowed the fighting to continue and has led to a full-blown humanitarian crisis within Gaza (Pictured: Hundreds of Palestinians rush to receive hot meals from charity organizations on May 9)
Meanwhile, Trump is still talking about rebuilding Gaza. This comes after he posted a bizarre AI-generated video of a reimagined Gaza Strip with beachfront resorts bearing his name
The conflict began on October 7 after Hamas terrorists invaded Israel and killed murdered 1,200 people.
Israel began bombing Gaza afterwards, with Hamas figures suggesting 50,000 Palestinians have been killed.
Since the cease-fire between the two sides, brokered by departing Biden officials and incoming Trump aides, crumbled in March, Israel has fully resumed attacking Gaza and has also restricted aid into the area.
UNICEF recently warned that more than 9,000 children in Gaza have been treated for acute malnutrition since start of this year.
The Israelis are pressing on though, something that has frustrated certain Trump officials.
However, Trump himself is still talking about rebuilding the area. This comes after he posted a fantastical AI video that depicted a Gaza with a Trump hotel, a giant golden statue of Trump, and a child holding a Trump balloon among resplendent beach-front resort complexes.
Trump’s position appears to be if Hamas doesn’t change course and release all the hostages, he’s content with Israel continuing its military operations.
‘As far as I’m concerned, if all of the hostages aren’t returned by Saturday 12 o’clock – I think it’s an appropriate time – I would say cancel [the ceasefire] and all bets are off and let hell break out,’ Trump told reporters in early February.
