Fox News chief political analyst Brit Hume said Monday that President Donald Trump had been misled by Russian President Vladimir Putin over the war in Ukraine — and that Trump is only now beginning to realize it.
Speaking to Special Report anchor Bret Baier, Hume said Trump’s recent expression of frustration toward Putin shows that the president was strung along for months by false promises.
“It’s clear, from what the president himself has said — though he wouldn’t frame it this way — that he got played by Putin,” Hume said. “He was led to believe for months that Putin wanted to end the war and was willing to negotiate based on the current state of affairs.”
“But it now seems obvious that Putin had no intention of stopping there,” Hume continued. “He appears to have more ambitious goals — possibly to complete his original mission of fully taking over Ukraine.”
Earlier in the day, Trump publicly stated he was “very unhappy” with Putin for not ending the war and warned of “secondary tariffs” on Russia if a ceasefire isn’t reached within 50 days. He also announced that the U.S. would proceed with the sale of new military equipment to Ukraine.
Hume suggested that Trump’s misreading of Putin’s intentions underscores how the Russian leader exploited diplomatic overtures to buy time — all while preparing for further escalation.
Watch Hume’s analysis here: