President Donald Trump used a Tuesday morning appearance on Fox & Friends to outline his latest maneuver in the Russia-Ukraine conflict, pairing his characteristic bluntness with an unusually candid admission about the personal stakes he attaches to peacemaking.
Trump described a phone call placed Monday to Russian President Vladimir Putin, which came during a White House meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and a group of European leaders. The purpose, he said, was to explore the possibility of a direct meeting between Putin and Zelensky. “They haven’t been exactly best friends,” Trump remarked dryly, adding that he hoped to bring the two together — ideally in a three-way “Trilat” session where he would personally work to “close it up.”
The president cast the war as his most difficult diplomatic challenge to date, wrote Townhall. He insisted he had ended “several wars,” but called the Russia-Ukraine conflict “the toughest one,” urging both sides to show restraint. “I hope President Putin is going to be good and if not, it’s going to be a rough situation, and I hope that President Zelensky will do what he has to do — he has to show some flexibility also, the thing’s a mess,” Trump said.
In one of the more striking moments of the interview, Trump revealed the personal motivation behind his efforts. “If I can save 7,000 people a week from being killed…I want to try to get to Heaven if possible,” he said. “I’m hearing I’m not doing well. I hear I’m really at the bottom of the totem pole, but if I can get to Heaven, this will be one of the reasons.” His remark, half-humorous but deeply earnest, has already drawn notice for its spiritual candor, underscoring how Trump frames his pursuit of peace as both a geopolitical and moral mission.
"I told him that we're going to set up a meeting with President Zelensky, and you and he will meet, and then after that meeting, if everything works out OK, I'll meet and we'll wrap it up," says @POTUS on yesterday's call to Putin.
"It takes, in this case, two to tango." pic.twitter.com/0j4WF6iE92
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) August 19, 2025
The conflict, now in its fourth year since Russia’s invasion in February 2022, remains deadlocked over territory and security guarantees. Trump’s latest call signals a renewed attempt to broker more than a temporary ceasefire, though no date has been confirmed for a potential Putin-Zelensky summit. For now, his words suggest a president as concerned with his place in eternity as with his place in history.
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