Fox’s Brit Hume Flat Out Says Trump ‘Got Played by Putin’

Fox News Chief Political Analyst Brit Hume offered a blunt assessment of President Donald Trump’s approach to Russia.

Trump, who has long expressed an affinity for Russian President Vladimir Putin, has sounded increasingly frustrated in recent weeks as Putin continues to wage war in Ukraine. On Monday, it was reported that Trump is expected to announce a NATO-supported initiative to green-light offensive weapons systems that are capable of striking deep inside Russian territory. Also on Monday, Trump threatened secondary sanctions on countries that buy Russian oil.

On Monday’s Special Report on Fox News, Bret Baier aired a clip of Trump’s tariff threat and asked Hume to weigh in.

“Look, it’s clear from what the president himself has said, although he wouldn’t put it this way, that he got played by Putin and dragged on for months,” Hume said. “And he was being jollied along under the impression that Putin had obviously given him that Putin wanted to end the war and was prepared to negotiate from where we are. And it’s pretty clear now that Putin didn’t want to end the war where we are. He had more conquests in mind and perhaps wanted his whole original purpose of… taking Ukraine to be fulfilled.”

Hume said that at the beginning of Trump’s term, the president was reluctant to give Ukraine additional weapons “because he thought that would simply escalate the conflict.”

“I think he’s now changed his mind about that and is prepared not only to add weapons to Ukraine’s forces through Europe, he’s also prepared, it seems, to impose some sanctions that really might make a difference to Russia,” Hume concluded. “Secondary sanctions on countries buying oil from Russia could be serious for the Russian economy.”

Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022 in what many expected would be a rout by the Russians. However, Ukrainians proved to be quite resilient and have been well-equipped by the U.S. and several European powers.

Watch above via Fox News.