NEWSWEEK
OCT 10, 2026
By Hollie Silverman
News Editor
Newsweek is a Trust Project member
President Donald Trump called for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to be replaced Saturday, accusing the Ukrainian leader of repeatedly rejecting opportunities to end the war with Russia and defying his warning against striking Russian oil infrastructure.
“I think it’s time for Ukraine to get a new president,” Trump told reporters in a gaggle outside the White House. “I suggest they get a new leader who can make a deal, because he could have made many deals, and for some reason he never does.”
The comments appeared to be Trump's strongest call yet for Zelensky's replacement. However, Zelensky cannot be legally removed through regular elections while the country remains under martial law.
The criticism came following a Ukrainian strike on a major Russian oil hub hours after Trump reached an agreement with Russian President Vladimir Putin to reduce global diesel prices, escalating tensions over Kyiv’s campaign against the infrastructure supporting Moscow’s energy industry.
Some Republican lawmakers, including Representatives Don Bacon and Michael McCaul, have warned that Trump’s diesel deal with Putin could bolster Russia’s war effort.
The strike also threatened to deepen the divide between Trump and Zelensky after the U.S. president said he had directly warned the Ukrainian leader not to attack Russian refineries.
Trump’s demand for new leadership in Ukraine represents another sharp deterioration in his relationship with Zelensky and aligns with his longstanding claim that the Ukrainian president has obstructed efforts to end the war that began in February 2022.
On Saturday, Trump also said that he had given Zelensky broad latitude to attack other Russian targets but explicitly warned him not to strike refineries because of the potential repercussions for global diesel supplies.
“We said you can do whatever you want to Russia. Don’t hit these refineries because that’s a world problem,” Trump said. “Russia supplies a large portion of the diesel fuel throughout the world.”
The president argued that attacks on Russian refining capacity could harm American farmers and ranchers along with consumers globally.
“And what does he do? He goes and hits the diesel fuel,” Trump said. “He can do whatever he wants, but he can’t do that because we have a world problem, and the problem is caused by the lack of refineries for diesel fuel.”
Newsweek reached out to the White House and Zelensky's office on Saturday for comments.
U.S. President Donald Trump welcomes Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to the West Wing of the White House on August 18, 2025, in Washington, D.C...Read More
Trump Says Ukraine Needs a New President
Trump blamed Zelensky for failing to reach an agreement with Putin, saying the Ukrainian leader had passed up multiple opportunities to settle the conflict.
“Zelensky could have settled this war many times, many, many times, and he chooses not to,” Trump said. “Very difficult. It’s a war that should have never been started.”
Trump also repeated his claim that Russia’s invasion would not have occurred had he been president when the war began, while blaming what he described as incompetence for the conflict.
“If I were president, you wouldn’t have ever had that war,” Trump said. “That war would have never started.”
This is not the first time there has been tension between the White House and Zelensky.
In February 2025, Trump and Vice President JD Vance publicly clashed with the Ukrainian president during an Oval Office meeting. During that meeting, Trump accused Zelensky of being disrespectful and warned that he was “gambling with World War III.” The Ukrainian delegation left without signing a planned minerals agreement, and a joint news conference was canceled.
Days later, Trump said Zelensky “doesn’t want to make a deal” and suggested that a leader who refused an agreement “won’t be around very long.”
The relationship later appeared to improve. During an August 2025 meeting involving Zelensky and European leaders, Trump pushed for a three-way meeting with Zelensky and Putin. Zelensky described that discussion as possibly his “best” with Trump.
The two leaders met again at Mar-a-Lago in December 2025, when both said they had moved “a lot closer” to a resolution of the war.
Trump and Putin Make Oil Deal
On Friday, Trump announced he had reached a diesel agreement with Putin intended to bring down fuel prices.
Hours later, Ukraine struck a major Russian oil hub. The attack appeared to defy Trump’s warning to leave Russian refineries alone, although the available reporting did not establish whether Kyiv had formally agreed to the terms discussed by Trump and Putin.
Trump said Saturday that he had personally addressed refinery strikes with Zelensky.
“I said to him, ‘Do what you want. Don’t hit refineries,’” Trump said. “And he went out, and he hit.”
The Ukrainian government has maintained that Russian energy infrastructure is a legitimate target because oil revenue and fuel supplies support Moscow’s war effort.
The Associated Press previously reported said Kyiv had intensified its long-range campaign against Russian oil facilities as part of an effort to take the war into Russia and pressure Putin.
“He’s not going to affect our farmers, and he’s not going to affect our ranchers, and he’s not going to affect the rest of the world,” Trump said about Zelensky on Saturday. “He’s better damn well stop.”
Seton Hall University professor Margarita Balmaceda, an expert in energy economy told Newsweek, that the deal appears to benefit Russia more than the U.S.
"As I see it, this deal has the potential to do much to help Russia—and to help Russia pursue its war against Ukraine—but not so much to help ease the diesel and gasoline crunch, the causes of which lie largely in the continued tensions around the Strait of Hormuz [in the Iran war]," she said in a statement emailed to Newsweek Saturday.
She added: "It also reminds me of long-standing Russian tactics of gaining an upper hand over other states through 'low price' sales, what I have called a 'natural gas Trojan Horse,' and in this case, a 'diesel Trojan horse.' Moreover, Russia's ability to deliver on this deal is called into question by the continued damage to Russian refineries by Ukrainian drones."
Mike Pence Condemns Trump’s Russia Deal
Former Vice President Mike Pence, who served in the first Trump administration, sharply criticized Trump’s decision to ease sanctions on Russian fuel, arguing that the move could strengthen Putin as Moscow continues its war against Ukraine.
“America should not be throwing a lifeline to Putin’s war machine,” Pence wrote in the statement on X. “Now is the time to stand strong against Russian aggression as we did during the first Trump administration.”
He also invoked the late Senator Graham, a staunch supporter of Ukraine, calling the decision “a betrayal of the legacy and leadership” of the senator and urging Trump to reverse course.
“Putin doesn’t want peace. Putin wants Ukraine,” Pence said, before calling on the administration to “rescind this deal immediately” and impose tougher penalties on countries purchasing Russian energy.
Trump and Putin’s Relationship
Trump’s relationship with Putin has faced scrutiny for years, particularly over Russia’s alleged interference in the 2016 U.S. election and Trump’s repeated efforts to improve relations with Moscow.
Trump has repeatedly presented his personal relationship with Putin as an asset in negotiations, even as the Russian leader has continued the war and resisted efforts to secure a lasting ceasefire.
At their 2018 summit in Helsinki, Trump appeared to give weight to Putin’s denial of election interference rather than unequivocally backing U.S. intelligence agencies. The AP described the exchange as the summit’s “defining moment.”
Following a two-hour phone call in May 2025, Trump said he wanted to meet Putin in person as soon as possible. The two discussed peace negotiations, U.S.-Russian trade and even first lady Melania Trump, whom Putin reportedly complimented during the call.
Trump later welcomed Putin to Alaska for an August 2025 summit. Although the meeting ended without a ceasefire, Trump rated it “10 out of 10” because he and Putin had gotten along well.
He also said the leaders had “largely agreed” on possible territorial exchanges involving Ukrainian land. Zelensky was not invited to the summit.
Afterward, Trump said it was “really up to President Zelensky to get it done,” shifting the burden of securing an agreement toward Ukraine despite Russia having launched the full-scale invasion in February 2022.
Trump has continued engaging with both sides, but his Saturday remarks again placed responsibility for the war’s continuation on Zelensky.
What Happens Next
Trump did not specify how he believed Ukraine should replace Zelensky, whose political future is a matter for Ukraine’s constitutional and electoral processes.
His comments are likely to intensify questions about Washington’s position toward Kyiv and whether future U.S. support could be tied to halting Ukrainian attacks on Russian energy infrastructure.
The immediate durability and precise scope of the reported diesel agreement with Putin also remain unclear.
Newsweek’s reporters and editors used Martyn, our AI assistant, to produce this story. Learn more about Martyn here. Contact Newsweek editors for this story: Steve Mollman and Anthony Murray.
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