By Muhammet Nazım Tasci
ISTANBUL (AA) – Donald Trump Jr., the eldest son of former US President Donald Trump, has criticized Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, saying a leader who received billions of dollars in US aid has no right to comment on his father.
Trump Jr. responded to an interview with The New Yorker magazine in which Zelenskyy questioned the ability of the former president, who is seeking a return to the White House, to end the conflict between Ukraine and Russia.
“A foreign leader who has received billions of dollars in funding from American taxpayers, comes to our country and has the nerve to attack the GOP (Republican) ticket for President?” Trump Jr. wrote incredulously on X.
Referring to a recent assassination attempt on former President Trump in Florida, Trump Jr. said Zelenskyy made his comments “right after a pro-Ukraine zealot tried to assassinate my father? Disgraceful!”
In the interview, Zelenskyy also criticized Ohio Sen. JD Vance, the Republican nominee for vice president, suggesting his approach to ending the war could mean Ukraine giving up its territory.
Separately, during a rally in Pennsylvania, former President Trump said, “He (Zelenskyy) wants them (the Democrats) to win this election so badly, but I would do it differently, I will work out peace.”
The former president also mocked Zelenskyy for receiving substantial US financial aid, calling him “the greatest salesman in history.” He added, “Every time he comes into the country, he walks away with $60 billion.”
In a controversial 2019 phone call, when he was still president, Trump pressed Zelenskyy to announce an investigation into Trump’s then-rival and future President Joe Biden, seemingly conditioning US military aid to Ukraine on such an investigation.
Trump has repeatedly praised Russian President Vladimir Putin and Russia’s war in Ukraine, which it began in 2022, also claiming that it would never have happened if he had still been president and saying he would be able to end it quickly if he is voted back into power.
Trump last Friday said he had a “very good phone call” with Zelenskyy, who is in the US for the UN General Assembly.