For years, Donald Trump criticized presidents for empty threats. He often pointed to then-President Barack Obama failing to enforce his “red line” on Syria using chemical weapons. During his first term in 2017, Trump called it a “blank threat” that cost us “in many other parts of the world.”

"I like the concept of a ceasefire for one reason, because you'd stop killing people immediately... But we can work a deal where we're working on a peace deal while they're fighting." President Trump walked back on his previous comments where he suggested "severe consequences" for Russia if Russian President Vladimir Putin didn't agree to a ceasefire before a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and other European and NATO leaders.