President Donald Trump said it might be better to let Ukraine and Russia “fight for a while” before pulling them apart and pursuing peace. In an Oval Office meeting Thursday with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz,

President Donald Trump said Wednesday that Vladimir Putin intends to retaliate “very strongly” against Ukraine for a surprise drone strike on Russian airfields over the weekend, a declaration that provoked alarm in Washington and abroad even as Trump touted his efforts to bring peace to the region.

Donald Trump and his team have spent a fair amount of time recently trying to convince the public that the president’s policy toward Russia’s war in Ukraine is having a positive impact. In mid-March,