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President Donald Trump shared a tender exchange with a Ukrainian journalist who told him during a press conference at the conclusion of the NATO summit that her husband was fighting in the war in their home country.
The reporter, who said she was working for the BBC, shared that her husband is a soldier in Ukraine and that she currently lives with their children in Warsaw, Poland, more than three years after the Russian invasion.
Calling on reporters in The Hague, Netherlands, Trump granted a question to the woman after noticing she was “all excited.”
“Where are you from?” Trump asked.
“I’m from Ukraine,” she told an inquisitive Trump. She asked the president if the U.S. is ready to sell more anti-air missile systems, known as Patriots, to Ukraine.
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“We know that Russia has been pounding Ukraine really heavily right now,” she added.
Trump asked the reporter, “Are you living yourself now in Ukraine?”
“My husband is there,” she said.
Noticing her emotion, Trump interjected, “Wow. I can see you’re … you know, it’s amazing.”
The woman added, “And me with the kids, I’m in Warsaw, actually.”
Trump continued to ask the woman about her personal connection to the news she was reporting on. She responded that her husband was indeed a solider currently in Ukraine, drawing an audible reaction from Trump.
“Wow. That’s rough stuff, right? That’s tough,” Trump said. “Let me just tell you, they do want to have the anti-missile missiles, as they call them, the Patriots. And we’re going to see if we can make some available.”
“You know, they’re very hard to get. We need them too,” Trump said. “We were supplying them to Israel, and they’re very effective. 100% effective. Hard to believe how effective. And they do want that more than any other thing, as you probably know. That’s a very good question. And I wish you a lot of luck. I mean, I can see that it’s very upsetting to you.”
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“Say hello to your husband. Okay?” Trump added.
Trump met with Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy on the sidelines of the NATO summit earlier Wednesday and suggested that increased spending by the trans-Atlantic alliance could help prevent future Russian aggression against its neighbors.
At the press conference, Trump laced into CNN and the New York Times over their coverage of the U.S. strikes on Iran, but he displayed warmth to the Ukrainian journalist and her question about Patriot missiles.
Over the course of the war, the U.S. has routinely pressed for allies to provide air defense systems to Ukraine, but many are reluctant to give up the high-tech systems, particularly countries in Eastern Europe that also feel threatened by Russia.
NATO members agreed to raise their spending targets by 2035 to 5% of gross domestic product annually on core defense requirements as well as defense-and security-related spending. That target had been 2% of GDP.
Trump said that the Ukraine crisis “has also highlighted the urgency of rebuilding our defense industrial base, both in the United States and among the allied nations.” He said the U.S. cannot be dependent on foreign adversaries for critical minerals.
Shortly after seeing Zelenskyy, Trump said he would soon meet with Russian leader Vladimir Putin. He cited having difficulties dealing with both leaders.
Trump was asked by a different reporter if the United States would contribute any more money to Ukraine’s defense this year in addition to the $5 billion that allies are giving.
“As far as the money going, we’ll see what happens,” Trump said. “Look, Vladimir Putin, really end that war. People are dying at levels that people haven’t seen before for a long time.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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