Trump Says He Doesn’t Remember Calling Zelensky a Dictator When Confronted in Oval Office: ‘Did I Say That?’

President Donald Trump on Thursday acted as though he had no recollection of calling Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky a “dictator.”

Trump in recent days has levied harsh criticism against Ukraine for its multi-year war with Russia. In addition labeling Zelensky a dictator, Trump has also implied that Ukraine started the war — which began with Russia’s invasion — and that country could have done more to end it.

Those comments have been heavily scrutinized. During a recent meeting at the White House, French President Emmanuel Macron went against that narrative when, sitting right next to Trump, he plainly stated that Russia was the aggressor in the conflict.

On Thursday, Trump met with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer. While fielding questions from the media, Trump spoke about his ongoing efforts to put an end to the war.

“The relationship between President Zelensky and President Putin is not a good one,” Trump said. “You noticed, right? It’s not a good one, not a good relationship. And we’ll have to try to work something out. Sometimes that happens. I get along with both. I have a very good relationship with President [Vladimir Putin]. I think I have a good relationship with President Zelensky. Now, we’re doing the deal and we’re gonna be in there. We’re gonna be actually in there digging our hearts out, and hopefully — you know, we need the rare earth [minerals]. We have some here, but we don’t have enough. Our economy is very strong, and we need a lot of things that, in some cases, we don’t have here. So I think we’re gonna have a very good relationship, but the relationship between them is not the best.”

A reporter then asked Trump if he still thought Zelensky was a dictator.

“Did I say that?” Trump asked. “I can’t believe I said that. Next question.”

Watch above via Fox News