US President Donald Trump described the war “in Russia” as “primitive” on January 3, 2026, comparing it unfavorably with the US military operation that captured Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro the night before. Trump appeared to be referring to Russia’s war against Ukraine, but his choice of words drew criticism for echoing the Kremlin’s framing of the conflict.
“You know, when I watch that war in Russia going on and on and on and everybody dying. It’s primitive,” Trump said in a phone call with Fox News. He added that the United States “can do it again, too,” and that “there’s nobody that has the capability that we have.”
The Venezuela operation
Overnight on January 2–3, US forces carried out strikes on the Venezuelan capital, Caracas, and captured Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, who were flown out of the country. At a briefing at his Mar-a-Lago residence, Trump said the US would “run the country” until a transition could be secured, calling Maduro a “dictator” and a “drug kingpin.” He said Vice President Delcy Rodríguez had been sworn in and would cooperate with Washington. Russia’s Foreign Ministry condemned the operation as “an act of armed aggression against Venezuela.”
“Not thrilled with Putin”
At the end of the briefing, Trump turned to Russia. He said he was “not thrilled with Putin” and that the Russian leader was “killing too many people.” He called the war in Ukraine a “bloodbath” that “should have never happened,” claimed it would not have started if he had been president, and said progress toward peace was being made, without giving details. He also said both sides had “done some bad things.”
A war launched by Russia
Critics noted that describing the conflict as a war “in Russia” obscures the fact that it is Russia’s war of aggression on Ukrainian soil, now nearly four years into the full-scale invasion. Since early 2025, Trump has tried without success to broker a deal between Moscow and Kyiv, while the Kremlin has signaled it plans to keep fighting, approving a budget that devotes about 40 percent of spending to military needs.
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