Donald Trump ramps up Ukraine row as senior diplomat backs 'dictator' jibe

Asked at CPAC if he agreed that Volodymyr Zelensky was a dictator, special envoy Rick Grenell indicated that he did - after Elon Musk accused Ukraine's president of 'sending people to the meat grinder for money'

Donald Trump ratcheted up tensions over Ukraine again today - as a senior member of his diplomatic team indicated he agreed that Volodymyr Zelensky is a dictator.

The US President gave an interview to Fox News Radio, ranting that he was "tired" of hearing people say the war was the fault of Vladimir Putin.

Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron head to Washington DC next week for crunch talks with Trump over the future of the conflict.

Already facing anger for freezing Kyiv out of talks with Russia in Saudi Arabia last week, President Trump fanned the flames by branding the country's president a "dictator". And speaking at the pro-drum CPAC conference in Washington, Rick Grenell, his Special Envoy for Special Missions, indicated he agreed.

"I think the American people are very frustrated with Zelensky," Grenell said. "I think there's a big frustration that he's not making great choices for peace. And when the American people are spending hundreds of billions of dollars there's a frustration."

He claimed "a whole bunch" of the money America has given to Ukraine is "missing - so mismanagement of funds". Asked if he thought President Zelensky was a dictator - as President Trump had claimed on social media last week - Grenell indicated he did.

He said: "Well, when you reject having elections and you're not moving towards that way, people get very angry." Asked if he thought Vladimir Putin was a dictator, he said: "Yeah, of course."

Trump continued his criticism of Zelenskyy - saying US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent’s trip to Kyiv last week to try to secure a deal to access Ukraine’s minerals was “a wasted trip.”

“Frankly I wish he didn’t go there, waste all of his time like that,” Trump said in an interview on The Brian Kilmeade Show on Fox Radio.

He started to criticize Zelensky for his leadership as his country was destroyed by war. Host Brian Kilmeade said, “That’s Putin’s fault,” and Trump said: “I get tired of listening to it, I’ll tell you what.”

Trump continued complaining about Zelensky and said he “doesn’t think he’s very important to be at meetings” and that he’s been negotiating “with no cards, and you get sick of it.” He said Putin wants to make a deal and added: “He doesn’t have to make a deal. Because if he wanted, he would get the whole country.”

At the same conference on Thursday evening, Elon Musk baselessly accused Zelensky of corruption and prolonging he Ukraine war "for money."

Speaking from the stage of the Washington DC conference, the erratic tech billionaire turned Trump advisor claimed: "The amount of money that has been taken in graft and bribery is disgusting.

"And so what's actually happening is that those poor guys are being sent into a meat grinder for money. That's what's actually going on. And it needs to stop."

And Mike Waltz, Trump's National Security Advisor, insisted President Zelensky will sign up to a deal to repay the tens of billions of dollars the US has given to Ukraine's defence effort by giving America access to mine the country's rare earth minerals.

"This is the Presidency of peace. He's going to end the war in Europe," he said at CPAC. "You know what, by the end of this all we're going to have the Nobel Peace Prize sitting next to the name of Donald J Trump."