Trump says that thanks to Biden, Zelenskyy took money from US like ‘candy from a baby’

President Donald Trump lamented how Ukraine took advantage of the U.S. under the Biden administration by taking money like “candy from a baby.”

The president spoke to Fox News host Maria Bartiromo about the headline-making meeting at the White House with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, emphasizing again that the war-torn nation’s leader was “ungrateful.”

“Let me go back to what happened in the Oval Office the other day. I call it a smackdown of Zelenskyy. It looked really rough, but at the end of the day, you might have your deal back,” the host of “Sunday Morning Futures” said.

“Was that all the art of the deal? What specifically ticked you off?” Bartiromo asked the president.

(Video Credit: Fox News)

“Well, you know, he was able to, it was like taking candy from a baby, what he did,” Trump responded.

“He’s a smart guy, and he’s a tough guy. And he took money out of this country under Biden, like it was so easy with that same attitude,” he said. “I just don’t think he’s grateful. We gave him, in my opinion, $350 billion. Europe is in for $100 billion. We gave him $350 billion, and he’s talking about the fact that they have fought, and they have this bravery because somebody has to use the weapons.”

“But without those weapons, don’t forget, I was the one that gave him the javelins…Obama gave nothing. Look, if I were president, that would have never happened. You wouldn’t have had Russia going into Ukraine,” Trump added.

The US paused all military aid to Ukraine and stopped sharing intelligence after the spat in the Oval Office that ended with Zelenskyy’s abrupt dismissal. Trump was asked if he would consider lifting the pause on intelligence.

“Well, we just about have. I mean, we really just about have, and we want to do anything we can to get Ukraine to be serious about getting something done,” he told reporters aboard Air Force One on Sunday.

He also spoke about continuing to press Ukraine and Russia for a peace deal.

“You know, I say they don’t have the cards. Nobody really has the cards,” Trump told reporters during a gaggle on Air Force One on Sunday evening. “Russia doesn’t have the cards…What you have to do is you have to make a deal, and you have to stop the killing. It’s a senseless war, and we’re going to get it stopped.”

WATCH IN FULL: President Donald J. Trump answers questions aboard Air Force One en route to Washington, D.C. pic.twitter.com/wXTy3GlFBa

— Trump War Room (@TrumpWarRoom) March 10, 2025

The president did not believe Ukraine has shown enough how much it wants peace but was confident that would change.

“I think right now they haven’t, but I think they will be, and I think it’s going to become evident over the next two or three days,” the president said, adding that we have to have peace over anything. “This week, hundreds of people died in cities in Ukraine, and we got to get it stopped. It would have never happened if I was president.”

Senior Staff Writer
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Originally from New York, Powers graduated from New York University and eventually made her way to sunny South Florida where she has been writing for the BizPacReview team since 2015.

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