President Trump threatened to cancel a planned meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin due to the Kremlin’s “aggression” against Ukraine.
Trump told The Washington Post on Tuesday that he is waiting for a “full report” from his national security team on the Russian seizure of three Ukrainian naval ships in the Black Sea.
“That will be very determinative,” Trump said about the report. “Maybe I won’t have the meeting. Maybe I won’t even have the meeting… I don’t like that aggression. I don’t want that aggression at all.”
The two world leaders planned to have a sit down during a summit in Paris later this month. Russia seized the Ukrainian vessels over the weekend.
Also during the interview, Trump slammed Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome “Jay” Powell and dismissed government reports on both climate change and the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
“So far, I’m not even a little bit happy with my selection of Jay. Not even a little bit,” Trump said about the Fed chief. “And I’m not blaming anybody, but I’m just telling you I think that the Fed is way off-base with what they’re doing.”
The president is upset with the bank chairman’s decision to raise interest rates, something he claims was unnecessary.
“They’re making a mistake because I have a gut and my gut tells me more sometimes than anybody else’s brain can ever tell me,” he said about raising the rates.
Trump also said he disagrees with a dire report about global warming from his administration, claiming: “You look at our air and our water and it’s right now at a record clean.”
About the CIA determination that Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman ordered the killing of Khashoggi, Trump said, “Maybe he did and maybe he didn’t.”
Khashoggi was brutally murdered inside the Saudi’s Istanbul embassy last month.
Trump has cited numerous factors, including large defense contracts, when asked about whether the Saudi kingdom is responsible for his death.