President Trump said it is time for Ukraine to get a new president after Volodymyr Zelenskyy criticized a U.S.-Russia diesel agreement meant to ease American fuel costs.
Speaking to reporters Saturday on the South Lawn of the White House, President Donald Trump delivered a blunt assessment of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Trump said Ukraine needs different leadership and warned Kyiv to stop striking Russian oil refineries.
Fox News reported that the remarks came one day after Trump confirmed a Washington-Moscow agreement to suspend restrictions on Russian diesel exports until April 7. Zelenskyy had criticized that deal. Trump then headed to a midterm campaign rally in Clarksville, Tenn.
Trump put the leadership question in plain terms.
"It's time for Ukraine to get a new president"
He tied the demand to what he described as repeated failure to close deals that could end the war Russia launched in February 2022.
Trump accused Zelenskyy of hitting Russian refineries despite clear U.S. guidance. He framed those attacks as a driver of higher global fuel prices that land on American drivers.
He told reporters the United States had already drawn a line.
"We said, 'You can do whatever you want to Russia. Don't hit the refineries' because that's a world problem that's caused"
Trump added a direct warning.
"He'd better d--- well stop"
A photo caption in the same coverage described flames and smoke after a large-scale Ukrainian drone attack on an oil refinery in southeast Moscow on Sept. 20, 2026. Russia and Ukraine have stepped up strikes on energy sites, transportation systems, and other key infrastructure.
On Friday, Trump confirmed the United States had reached an agreement with Moscow to suspend restrictions on Russian diesel exports until April 7. Coverage described the arrangement as freeing millions of tons of diesel for U.S. and global markets.
Trump has said he is seeking ways to lower fuel prices for Americans amid rising energy costs tied to conflict with Iran. Zelenskyy warned the deal could give Russia additional money to buy weapons and continue its war against Ukraine.
No full text of the agreement appeared in the reporting, and Zelenskyy’s exact wording was not quoted. Trump cast the Ukrainian leader as the obstacle to peace talks.
"He could have made many deals and, for some reason, he never does"
The sequence is straightforward. Trump announced and confirmed the diesel arrangement. Zelenskyy criticized it. Trump answered by calling for new Ukrainian leadership and ordering a halt to refinery strikes he links to pain at the pump.
Absolute calendar dates for the Friday confirmation and Saturday White House comments were not stated beyond the relative days. Specific volumes, buyers, and the precise legal mechanism for the diesel release also remain unclear in the available account. What is clear is Trump’s public position: American energy costs matter, refinery hits create a global problem, and he holds Zelenskyy responsible for missing chances to settle the war.
Taxpayers footing energy bills and watching an endless conflict deserve leaders who cut deals that lower prices and end the fighting, not endless excuses while the meter keeps running.
