President Donald Trump has threatened Russia with tariffs on oil as Russian President Vladimir Putin continues to frustrate efforts to finalize a deal with Ukraine and bring the war to a close.
“If Russia and I are unable to make a deal on stopping the bloodshed in Ukraine, and if I think it was Russia’s fault — which it might not be — but if I think it was Russia’s fault, I am going to put secondary tariffs on oil, on all oil coming out of Russia,” Trump told Meet The Press host Kristin Welker by phone on Sunday morning.
“That would be that if you buy oil from Russia, you can’t do business in the United States,” Trump said. “There will be a 25% tariff on all oil, a 25- to 50-point tariff on all oil.”
🚨 NBC: “Just hours ago, President Trump called me to tell me he is ‘pissed off’ with Russia’s President Putin and threatened to impose secondary tariffs on Russia’s oil.” pic.twitter.com/ikpmFH5t1Q
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) March 30, 2025
Trump told Welker that he’s “very angry” and “pissed off” over Putin’s recent attack on his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky, suggesting that Ukraine should implement a transitional government as any part of a deal, effectively pushing Zelensky out of power.
Trump said that such comments were “not going in the right location” for peace talks, and threatened tariffs on “other products sold in the United States” and “secondary tariffs’ on Russian goods within a month if a ceasefire deal did not materialize.
Trump again stressed his “very good relationship” with Putin and quickly added that “anger dissipates quickly … if he does the right thing,” revealing the two leaders will speak again this week about the matter.
This is a developing story and more information will be added as it becomes available.