Trump on Putin: He's 'Gone Absolutely CRAZY'

President Trump on Sunday delivered some remarkably harsh comments on the subject of his Russian counterpart. Asked by reporters as he was preparing to board Air Force One from New Jersey back to Washington, DC, for an update on the Russia situation, Trump responded, "Yeah, I'll give you an update, I'm not happy with what [Russian President Vladimir] Putin's doing. He's killing a lot of people and I don't know what the hell happened to Putin." He said he's "surprised at what he's seeing" and that the US may impose new sanctions on Russia, the Guardian reports.

"I've known him a long time. Always gotten along with him. But he's sending rockets into cities and killing people and I don't like it at all," Trump said, noting he was "very surprised" Russia has increased its attacks on Ukraine despite Trump's calls for a ceasefire. "We're in the middle of talking and he's shooting rockets into Kyiv and other cities. I don't like it at all," Trump said. "I don't like what Putin is doing. Not even a little bit. He's killing people. And something happened to this guy. And I don't like it." The Hill calls the remarks some of Trump's "toughest" on Putin to date, and the BBC refers to the moment as a "rare rebuke" from the US president, who has often been quite complimentary of the Russian president. The comments came after Russia launched 367 drones and missiles into Ukraine overnight, the highest number in a single night since Russia first invaded Ukraine.

Later, in a post on Truth Social, Trump expanded, saying Putin "has gone absolutely CRAZY!" He continued, "I've always said that he wants ALL of Ukraine, not just a piece of it, and maybe that's proving to be right, but if he does, it will lead to the downfall of Russia!" Trump also had criticism for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, however, who had criticized the US earlier Sunday for not speaking out against Russia's overnight barrage. Zelensky is "doing his Country no favors by talking the way he does," Trump wrote. "Everything out of his mouth causes problems, I don't like it, and it better stop. This is a War that would never have started if I were President. This is Zelenskyy's, Putin's, and Biden's War, not 'Trump's,' I am only helping to put out the big and ugly fires, that have been started through Gross Incompetence and Hatred." (More Russia-Ukraine war stories.)