US official says Trump's frustration with Zelenskyy is 'multifold' and blasts 'insults' from Ukraine
White House national security adviser Mike Waltz speaks with reporters in the James Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House, Thursday, Feb. 20, 2025, in Washington. Credit: AP/Alex Brandon
A top White House official said Thursday that President Donald Trump’s increasingly tough criticism of Volodymyr Zelenskyy reflects the administration’s growing frustration with what they see as the Ukrainian leader creating roadblocks to finding an endgame to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The comments from White House national security adviser Mike Waltz came a day after Trump described Zelenskyy as a “dictator” and warned that he “better move fast” to negotiate an end to the war or risk not having a nation to lead. Zelenskyy earlier Wednesday had said Trump was living in a Russian-made “disinformation space."
“His frustration with President Zelenskyy that you heard is multifold,” Waltz said Thursday of Trump. “There needs to be a deep appreciation for what the American people and the American taxpayer, what President Trump did in his first term and what we’ve done since. There’s some of the rhetoric coming out of Kyiv, frankly, and insults to President Trump (that) were unacceptable.”
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