Russian propaganda outlets circulated claims that U.S. President Donald Trump expressed regret over American assistance to Ukraine, describing the country as «impoverished.» In reality, no such statement was made, and the alleged remarks are a deliberate mistranslation of Trump’s speech aimed at undermining Ukraine’s international support.
Kremlin Telegram channels and social media users circulated claims that US President Donald Trump called Ukraine an impoverished country and regretted the aid previously provided. A video of the American president, allegedly showing these statements with a Russian translation, was published as «evidence.»
«It would have been far more prudent not to provide billions of dollars to this impoverished country. Look at what is unfolding now… This is my own analysis, and you, like me, will witness it very soon. Ukraine will lose this war, Putin will gain enormous influence over Europe and other global developments. From the outset, we supported the wrong side, took the wrong position. We are now aligned with those who lost,» Trump allegedly stated.
The clip circulating in pro-Kremlin channels uses footage from Trump’s September 3, 2025, White House meeting with Polish President Karol Nawrocki, including his remarks to the press. In the manipulated version, only the opening of Trump’s speech—«We’re in a much better position»—is retained; the remainder is cut and replaced with a Russian-language translation. StopFake traced the phrase to an Associated Press broadcast, showing that Trump’s actual remarks diverged sharply from the translated version.
In fact, Trump was responding to a reporter’s question regarding tariffs imposed on several countries and the ongoing consideration of the issue by the U.S. Supreme Court.
«We’re in a much better position. We have trillions of dollars coming into our country. If we didn’t have tariffs, we would be a very poor nation and we would be taken advantage of by every other nation in the world, friend and foe. We’re not going to let that happen. And we have a very, very big case in the Supreme Court,» Trump said.
At no point during Trump’s meeting with Polish President Karol Nawrocki or in any public remarks to the press did he make the statements about Ukraine attributed to him in the Russian translation. The Kremlin-aligned video fabricates the U.S. president’s words, aiming to undermine Ukraine and the international assistance it receives. The doctored clip circulated widely on Georgian-language Facebook, according to fact-checkers at Myth Detector.
StopFake has earlier dismantled similar narratives, including claims that Washington was supposedly «not interested in talks» with Kyiv — another recurring theme in Kremlin disinformation aimed at eroding U.S.-Ukrainian relations.
