US President Donald Trump has declared that Ukraine has the potential to reclaim its entire territory, a stark reversal from his earlier stance on the war with Russia.
Posting on his Truth Social platform on Tuesday, Trump said Kyiv could restore “the original borders from where this war started” with backing from Europe and NATO, citing mounting economic strain on Moscow. He went further, suggesting Ukraine might “maybe even go further than that,” though he stopped short of clarifying what he meant.
His comments followed a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in New York, shortly after Trump’s address to the UN General Assembly.
For months, Trump had insisted that ending the war would likely mean Ukraine surrendering some land, an outcome Zelensky has consistently rejected. The new statement marks one of the clearest shifts in Trump’s foreign policy since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
“Putin and Russia are in BIG Economic trouble, and this is the time for Ukraine to act,” Trump wrote, calling Russia a “paper tiger.”
Zelensky welcomed the change, describing it as a “big shift” in Washington’s approach. Speaking inside the UN headquarters, he noted that the US was now open to providing security guarantees once the war concludes. While he admitted there were no concrete details yet, he suggested they could involve additional weapons, air defense systems, and drones.
Later, in an interview with Fox News, Zelensky said Trump’s post caught him by surprise but offered a “positive signal” that America intends to stand by Ukraine until the war’s end.
“I think the fact that Putin was lying to President Trump so many times also made a difference between us,” Zelensky remarked.
Trump Pushes NATO to Respond to Russian Airspace Incursions
Earlier the same day, Trump urged NATO allies to consider shooting down Russian aircraft violating their airspace. His comments came after Estonia, Poland, and Romania, three NATO members, reported separate breaches by Russian jets and drones in recent weeks.
Asked if the US would back such actions, Trump replied it would “depend on the circumstance” but applauded NATO’s decision to increase defense spending to 5% of GDP by 2035.
Still, he criticized member states that continue to buy Russian energy, warning they are “funding a war against themselves.”
A Reversal From Past Positions
Trump’s latest remarks contrast sharply with his earlier views. In February, during a tense White House meeting with Zelensky, he warned Ukraine did “not have the cards right now” to withstand Russia in a war of attrition. Just weeks ago, reports suggested he was considering pressing Zelensky to surrender the eastern regions of Donetsk and Luhansk in exchange for a frozen front line, a proposal floated by Russian President Vladimir Putin during talks in Alaska.
Despite threatening tougher measures on Russia, Trump has so far refrained from imposing new penalties even when the Kremlin ignored deadlines and warnings. His unpredictability has long defined his foreign policy approach, raising questions about whether this latest shift signals a new negotiating tactic or a lasting policy change.
The most telling part of Trump’s Truth Social post may have been his closing line: an assurance that the US would keep supplying arms to NATO, leaving the alliance free to transfer them to Ukraine.
While it falls short of the open-ended commitments made under President Biden, it still represents a firmer backing of Ukraine than Trump had previously offered.
“I think Ukraine, with the support of the European Union, is in a position to fight and WIN all of Ukraine back in its original form,” Trump wrote, marking one of his strongest endorsements of Kyiv’s fight to date.
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