Russian President Vladimir Putin has taken a page out of President Donald Trump’s own playbook.
According to White House sources who spoke to the Wall Street Journal, Putin rambles for hours during phone calls with Trump, leaving the president “impatient and anxious to chime in.” Trump himself has come to be known for rambling at length in interviews and at campaign rallies, going off on tangents about everything from sharks to his own “beautiful” body.
“Putin does this very methodically,” John Bolton, who served as Trump’s national security adviser, told the Journal. “He’s very knowledgeable, he knows what he’s talking about. When he wants to try and influence somebody, he just talks and talks and talks.”
Trump—who entered office in January bragging that he could end the conflict in Ukraine within 24 hours—will leave negotiations believing the two have made progress, only for Putin to continue his assault on Ukraine.
“We thought we had a deal numerous times. I get home, I’d say, ‘First Lady, I had the most wonderful talk with Vladimir. I think we’re finished,’” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office last month. “And then I’d turn on the television or she’ll say to me one time, ‘Well that’s strange because they just bombed a nursing home.’”
Former Fox News host Tucker Carlson has also remarked on Putin’s extended monologues.
During a highly publicized interview with Carlson last year, the Russian president rambled for two hours, speaking at length about Russian history.
“Putin went on for a very long time, probably half an hour, about the history of Russia going back to the eighth century,” Carlson said in a video posted on X. “We thought this was a filibustering technique and found it annoying and interrupted him several times, and he responded. He was annoyed by the interruption.”
But Putin’s diversionary tactics may be losing their efficacy.
After months of stalled negotiations, Trump has taken a harder stance, accusing the Russian president of stringing him along. On July 14, he gave the Kremlin an ultimatum: Agree to a ceasefire in Ukraine within 50 days or face 100 percent tariffs. He has since shortened the deadline, which expires today.
Trump and Putin have agreed “in principle” to hold a face-to-face meeting next week as the president seeks to put his much-vaunted “dealmaking” prowess to the test. Trump has pushed for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to be included in the meeting, but the Kremlin has yet to agree to do so.
