]
President Trump slammed H.R. McMaster after his former national security adviser said he is “being played” by Russian President Vladimir Putin, with Trump adding he believes “we should spend less time worrying about Putin.”
“H.R. MCMASTER IS A WEAK AND TOTALLY INEFFECTIVE LOSER!” Trump said Sunday on Truth Social.
“We should spend less time worrying about Putin, and more time worrying about migrant rape gangs, drug lords, murderers, and people from mental institutions entering our Country – So that we don’t end up like Europe!” Trump said in a second post.
Trump’s posts followed McMaster criticizing the president for his volatile Oval Office conversation with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. The two leaders met on Friday to discuss a rare earth mineral deal that would lead to the end of the three-year Russia-Ukraine war, but the meeting ended with Zelensky and Trump in a shouting match.
“[Trump] is being played,” McMaster said on CBS News’s “60 Minutes.” “And he’s being played like other presidents have been played.”
McMaster also said “Vladimir Putin couldn’t be happier.”
“Because what he sees is all of the pressure on Zelensky, all of the pressure on Ukraine and no pressure on him.”
International shock spread after Zelensky and Trump’s meeting, with European leaders quickly assembling a meeting to try and negotiate their own deal without the U.S.
“What they see is something that is just confounding, a discussion that doesn’t reflect the reality of the war in Ukraine, the degree to which this war is a crime against humanity, and they think how can President Trump be berating the leader of Ukraine while he says kind things about Putin?” McMaster said of the allied countries.
The retired Army general also argued that Trump’s rhetoric in recent weeks have delivered a “series of body blows” to the Ukrainian people in a time when they need willpower.
