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Donald Trump has said he was “very angry” and “pissed off” after Vladimir Putin criticised the credibility of Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, in a phone call with Sky News’ US partner network, NBC News.

Mr Trump said the Russian president’s recent comments, calling for a transitional government to be put in place in Ukraine in a move that could effectively push out Mr Zelenskyy, were “not going in the right direction”.

He told NBC’s Kirsten Welker: “If I feel we’re in the midst of a negotiation, you could say that I was very angry, pissed off, when Putin said yesterday that – you know, when Putin started getting into Zelenskyy’s credibility, because that’s not going in the right direction.”

It is a rare move by Mr Trump to criticise Mr Putin, whom he has generally spoken positively about during discussions to end the war in Ukraine.

Last month, he also released a barrage of critical comments about Mr Zelenskyy’s leadership, calling him a “dictator” and making unfounded claims that he had “poor approval” ratings in Ukraine.

The president added that if Russia is unable to make a deal on “stopping bloodshed in Ukraine” – and Mr Trump felt that Moscow was to blame – then he would put secondary tariffs on “all oil coming out of Russia”.

“That would be that if you buy oil from Russia, you can’t do business in the United States. There will be a 25% tariff on all oil, a 25 to 50-point tariff on all oil,” he said.

‘Industrial language’ shows Trump in two-way negotiation

Industrial language from the US president.

“Very angry” and “p***ed off” he said he was with Vladimir Putin.

What’s upsetting him is an intervention by the Russian leader at the end of last week.

Mr Putin questioned Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s legitimacy – he said a peace agreement brokered by the Ukrainian president could be challenged by future governments.

Donald Trump didn’t like that and doesn’t see that as productive in terms of progress towards peace.

A rare rebuke from Mr Trump for Mr Putin on the face of it, the like of which we have not heard from the president for a while.

Remember that Mr Trump himself has undermined the credibility of Mr Zelenskyy in the past, so clearly Trump is in the middle of a two-way negotiation.

This has the sound, at least, of an even-handedness, that for most outside Moscow has been lacking on the part of the US president up until now.

Mr Trump said Mr Putin knows he is angry, but added that he has “a very good relationship with him” and “the anger dissipates quickly… if he does the right thing”.

He said he plans to speak with the Russian president again this week.

In the wide-ranging interview with NBC, Mr Trump also discussed:

• The possibility of seeking a third term in office;
• Imposing secondary tariffs on Iran;
• Not ruling out military rule to annex Greenland;
• Confirmed no one will be fired over Signal group chat blunder.

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‘Not joking’ about seeking a third term

When asked if he will seek to stay in the White House for a third term, which is prohibited by the Constitution under the 22nd Amendment, Mr Trump told NBC: “A lot of people want me to do it.”

He added: “I basically tell them we have a long way to go, you know, it’s very early in the administration. I’m focused on the current.”

The president said he liked working, and would be interested in staying in the role for another four years after his second term comes to an end in 2028.

“I’m not joking,” he said, when asked to clarify. “But I’m not – it is far too early to think about it.”

Mr Trump said one method in which a third term could be possible is by Vice President JD Vance running for office and then handing the responsibility over to him. He refused to share details on other methods he claims exist.

FILE PHOTO: U.S. President Donald Trump waves as he walks before departing for Florida from the South Lawn at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., March 28, 2025. REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein/File Photo
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Trump at the White House on Friday. Pic: Reuters

Threatening Iran with bombing and tariffs

Mr Trump said if Tehran did not make a deal with the US to ensure it did not develop a nuclear weapon, there could be bombing and secondary tariffs.

The tariffs would affect buyers of the country’s goods. It comes after he signed an executive order last week authorising such tariffs on buyers of Venezuelan oil.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said on Sunday that Iran had rejected direct negotiations with the US, but left open the possibility of indirect negotiations with Washington.

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Marjorie Taylor Greene lashing out at Sky’s Martha Kelner

No one will be fired over Signal group chat blunder

Addressing the national security blunder, which saw a journalist mistakenly added to a Signal chat group discussing planned strikes on Yemen, Mr Trump confirmed no one will be fired.

It was revealed this week that national security adviser Michael Waltz accidentally added The Atlantic’s editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg to a group chat with senior members of the Trump administration who were discussing plans to strike Houthi militants earlier this month.

Read more from Sky News:
Could the US really become a Commonwealth member?

JD Vance felt the cold in Greenland – and it wasn’t just the weather

The president said he doesn’t fire people “because of fake news and because of witch hunts”, adding that he still had confidence in Mr Waltz and defence secretary Pete Hegseth, who was also in the Signal chat.

Military option to annex Greenland not off the table

Mr Trump also discussed his commitment to annexing Greenland – a semi-autonomous territory which is part of the Kingdom of Denmark – and said that using military force was “not off the table”.

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Why does the US want Greenland?

“We’ll get Greenland. Yeah, 100%,” the president said. He added: “[There’s a] good possibility that we could do it without military force. [But] I don’t take anything off the table.”

Greenland Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen responded to Mr Trump’s comments by reiterating that the US will not take control of the Arctic territory, and that it “controls its own future”.

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Stock markets slump for second day running after Trump announces tariffs – in worst day for indexes since COVID

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Stock markets slump for second day running after Trump announces tariffs - in worst day for indexes since COVID

Worldwide stock markets have plummeted for the second day running as the fallout from Donald Trump’s global tariffs continues.

While European and Asian markets suffered notable falls, American indexes were the worst hit, with Wall Street closing to a sea of red on Friday following Thursday’s rout – the worst day in US markets since the COVID-19 pandemic.

As it happened: Worst week’s trading in five years

All three of the US’s major indexes were down by more than 5% at market close; The Dow Jones Industrial Average plummeted 5.5%, the S&P 500 was 5.97% lower, and the Nasdaq Composite slipped 5.82%.

The Nasdaq was also 22% below its record-high set in December, which indicates a bear market.

Read more: What’s a bear market?

Ever since the US president announced the tariffs on Wednesday evening, analysts estimate that around $4.9trn (£3.8trn) has been wiped off the value of the global stock market.

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Mr Trump has remained unapologetic as the markets struggle, posting in all-caps on Truth Social before the markets closed that “only the weak will fail”.

The UK’s leading stock market, the FTSE 100, also suffered its worst daily drop in more than five years, closing 4.95% down, a level not seen since March 2020.

And the Japanese exchange Nikkei 225 dropped by 2.75% at end of trading, down 20% from its recent peak in July last year.

Pic: Reuters
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US indexes had the worst day of trading since the COVID-19 pandemic. Pic: Reuters

Trump holds trade deal talks – reports

It comes as a source told CNN that Mr Trump has been in discussions with Vietnamese, Indian and Israeli representatives to negotiate bespoke trade deals that could alleviate proposed tariffs on those countries before a deadline next week.

The source told the US broadcaster the talks were being held in advance of the reciprocal levies going into effect next week.

Vietnam faced one of the highest reciprocal tariffs announced by the US president this week, with 46% rates on imports. Israeli imports face a 17% rate, and Indian goods will be subject to 26% tariffs.

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Do Trump’s tariffs add up?

Read more:
Markets gave Trump a clear no-confidence vote
There were no winners from Trump’s tariff gameshow

China – hit with 34% tariffs on imported goods – has also announced it will issue its own levy of the same rate on US imports.

Mr Trump said China “played it wrong” and “panicked – the one thing they cannot afford to do” in another all-caps Truth Social post earlier on Friday.

Later, on Air Force One, the US president told reporters that “the beauty” of the tariffs is that they allow for negotiations, referencing talks with Chinese company ByteDance on the sale of social media app TikTok.

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Tariffs: Xi hits back at Trump

He said: “We have a situation with TikTok where China will probably say, ‘We’ll approve a deal, but will you do something on the tariffs?’

“The tariffs give us great power to negotiate. They always have.”

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Financial markets were always going to respond to Trump tariffs but they’re also battling with another problem

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Financial markets were always going to respond to Trump tariffs but they're also battling with another problem

Global financial markets gave a clear vote of no-confidence in President Trump’s economic policy.

The damage it will do is obvious: costs for companies will rise, hitting their earnings.

The consequences will ripple throughout the global economy, with economists now raising their expectations for a recession, not only in the US, but across the world.

Tariffs latest: FTSE 100 suffers biggest daily drop since COVID

Financial investors had been gradually re-calibrating their expectations of Donald Trump over the past few months.

Hopes that his actions may not match his rhetoric were dashed on Wednesday as he imposed sweeping tariffs on the US’ trading partners, ratcheting up protectionism to a level not seen in more than a century.

Markets were always going to respond to that but they are also battling with another problem: the lack of certainty when it comes to Trump.

More on Donald Trump

He is a capricious figure and we can only guess his next move. Will he row back? How far is he willing to negotiate and offer concessions?

Read more:
There were no winners from Trump’s tariff gameshow
Trade war sparks ‘$2.2trn’ global market sell-off

These are massive unknowns, which are piled on to uncertainty about how countries will respond.

China has already retaliated and Europe has indicated it will go further.

That will compound the problems for the global economy and undoubtedly send shivers through the markets.

Much is yet to be determined, but if there’s one thing markets hate, it’s uncertainty.

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Court confirms sacking of South Korean president who declared martial law

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Court confirms sacking of South Korean president who declared martial law

South Korea’s constitutional court has confirmed the dismissal of President Yoon Suk Yeol, who was impeached in December after declaring martial law.

His decision to send troops onto the streets led to the country’s worst political crisis in decades.

The court ruled to uphold the impeachment saying the conservative leader “violated his duty as commander-in-chief by mobilising troops” when he declared martial law.

The president was also said to have taken actions “beyond the powers provided in the constitution”.

Demonstrators who stayed overnight near the constitutional court wait for the start of a rally calling for the president to step down. Pic: AP
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Demonstrators stayed overnight near the constitutional court. Pic: AP

Supporters and opponents of the president gathered in their thousands in central Seoul as they awaited the ruling.

The 64-year-old shocked MPs, the public and international allies in early December when he declared martial law, meaning all existing laws regarding civilians were suspended in place of military law.

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Highs and lows of Five-Year Keir
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More on South Korea

The Constitutional Court is under heavy police security guard ahead of the announcement of the impeachment trial. Pic: AP
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The court was under heavy police security guard ahead of the announcement. Pic: AP

After suddenly declaring martial law, Mr Yoon sent hundreds of soldiers and police officers to the National Assembly.

He has argued that he sought to maintain order, but some senior military and police officers sent there have told hearings and investigators that Mr Yoon ordered them to drag out politicians to prevent an assembly vote on his decree.

His presidential powers were suspended when the opposition-dominated assembly voted to impeach him on 14 December, accusing him of rebellion.

The unanimous verdict to uphold parliament’s impeachment and remove Mr Yoon from office required the support of at least six of the court’s eight justices.

South Korea must hold a national election within two months to find a new leader.

Lee Jae-myung, leader of the main liberal opposition Democratic Party, is the early favourite to become the country’s next president, according to surveys.

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