Trump thinks Russia’s Putin wants all of Ukraine: WH staff chief Susie Wiles

“The experts think that if he could get the rest of Donetsk, then he [Putin] would be happy,” Wiles told Vanity Fair in August, according to a report published Tuesday. “Donald Trump thinks he wants the whole country.”

Trump’s side has been urging Ukraine to let go of portions of the Donbas, which remains the main sticking point in the discussions. They’re also trying to persuade Russia to accept the proposed peace framework. Moscow hasn’t yet agreed to the terms, and the Ukrainians are reluctant to cede any land without solid security guarantees from the United States.

For months, Trump has insisted that Putin wants to seize an entire Ukraine, even though advisers suggested that capturing the eastern Donbas would suffice. Wiles hinted that this mindset is still driving Trump’s strategy.

A senior U.S. official told The Post at the start of last month’s latest push for a peace plan. When asked what Russia would have to concede, the official said the core demand was that Russia accept it can’t annex all of Ukraine.

“I mean, look, everyone knows Vladimir Putin wants to take the whole country,’’ the official said of the Russian dictator. “That’s his been his long-sought goal. That is something he’s made quite clear. The president is very aware of that.”

Trump is not the only one holding this belief, according to the Vanity Fair report. Secretary of State Marco Rubio reportedly suspected in October that even a maximal settlement over parts of the Donbas—areas Russia has failed to secure in more than eleven years of war—would not satisfy Putin’s ambitions.

“There are offers on the table right now to basically stop this war at its current lines of contact, okay?” Rubio said to Vanity Fair. “Which include substantial parts of Ukrainian territory, including Crimea, which they’ve controlled since 2014. And the Russians continue to turn it down.”

“And so … you do start to wonder, well, maybe what this guy wants is the entire country,” he added.

While other U.S. officials said on Monday that they expected Russia to approve the 20‑point peace plan that has been refined with Ukraine, Moscow has not yet confirmed its approval.

The response to Wiles’ remarks has been sharp. Some foreign‑policy experts and Ukrainian supporters question why anyone would think Putin would back down if Ukraine merely yielded its eastern zone.

“@realDonaldTrump is right. He should lead and push the Europeans to rebuild and buy American weapons for Ukraine to hold the line while bolstering NATO’s eastern front to deter further aggression,” Hudson Institute fellow and foreign policy analyst Rebeccah Heinrichs posted to X. “And crush Russia even more economically while backing Euros interdiction of the shadow fleet.”

“DEAR GOD IN HEAVEN! What ‘experts’ are saying Putin would be happy with just Donetsk?” wrote RT Weatherman Foundation President Meaghan Mobbs, who is also the daughter of Special Presidential Envoy Gen. Keith Kellogg. “POTUS is 100% right – Putin does want the whole country.”

“Which of his advisors or ‘experts; are undercutting POTUS’ instincts and running their own foreign policy track on his back?” she added on X.

Despite the criticism, senior U.S. officials remained upbeat during a Sunday news call, stating that Trump’s peace plan aims to bring a definitive end to Russian advances westward.

“Under President Bush, Russia moves west. Under President Obama, Russia moves west. Under President Biden, Russia moves west,” an official said. “President Trump really wants to see this as an agreement that ends that for good.”