VIDEO Will Trump capture Putin like Maduro, as Zelenski suggested? The US President's response
President Donald Trump walks from Marine One to Air Force One, Friday, Jan. 9, 2025, at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland. photo source: Julia Demaree Nikhinson / AP / Profimedia
US President Donald Trump was asked by a journalist whether the United States would take measures against Russian President Vladimir Putin similar to the recent operation to capture Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro.
Fox News White House correspondent Peter Doocy quizzed the US leader on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's cryptic message suggesting Putin could be next after Maduro's arrest.
“Would you ever order a mission to capture Vladimir Putin?” Trump was asked at a meeting with oil industry executives on Friday.
President Donald Trump hasn't completely ruled out capturing Russian President Vladimir Putin in the same way, according to The Daily Beast.
“Well, I don't think it will be necessary,” Trump replied ambiguously. “I've always had a great relationship with him,” said Trump, who invited the Kremlin leader to US soil for the first time in a decade in August, where he failed to seal a deal to end the war in Ukraine.
Reporter: Would you ever order a mission to capture Vladimir Putin?
Trump: Well, I don't think that's going to be necessary. pic.twitter.com/gcZwzJm3s0
— Clash Report (@clashreport) January 9, 2026
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Trump, “disappointed” by Putin
Trump also told Doocy that he was “disappointed” that the war in Ukraine was not as easy to solve as the “eight” wars he claims he has already solved.
“I thought this would be one of the easiest,” the American leader said.
He lamented the loss of life on the Ukrainian front. “In the last month they have lost 31,000 people, many of them Russian soldiers, and the Russian economy is doing badly. I think we will be able to solve the problem,” Trump said.
During the 2024 election campaign, Trump promised that he would be able to “solve” the war in Ukraine “on day one.” He later retracted his statement, claiming it was “a bit sarcastic”.
Venezuela is willing to “expand” diplomatic relations with the US, a week after the capture and detention of former president Nicolas Maduro
Zelensky was suggesting the capture of Putin
Reacting to the January 3 overnight raid by US elite troops on the Venezuelan leader's residence, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said with a laugh: “Well, what I can say is, if you can do this with dictators, then the United States knows what to do next.”
Since the US operation in Venezuela, after months of pressure, the Trump administration has made threats to invade or overthrow the governments of Cuba, Mexico, Colombia and to annex the Danish territory of Greenland by force if necessary.
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Trump: “I don't need international law”
“I don't need international law. I don't want to hurt people,” Trump said in a recent interview with The New York Times when asked about the limits of his powers.
He further stated that the only thing that can stop his global interventions is “my own morality”.
“My own mind. It's the only thing that can stop me,” the 79-year-old president said.
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