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Inside Politics

Trump Calls Putin "Crazy" After Renewed Strikes On Ukraine; Trump On Zelenskyy: "Everything Out Of His Mouth Causes Problems"; Democrats Deal With Narrowing Coalition, 2024 Fallout. Aired 12:30-1p ET

Aired May 26, 2025 - 12:30   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

[12:30:14]

DANA BASH, CNN ANCHOR: Absolutely beautiful to hear that as we remember America's fallen soldiers. We're going to sneak in a quick break. We'll be right back.

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[12:35:08]

BASH: It was just a week ago that President Trump and President Putin had what the American president described as an excellent two-hour phone call about ending the war in Ukraine. President Trump said he still believed that President Putin wanted peace.

But after yet another weekend of Russian strikes, including the single largest missile assault on Ukraine in three years, President Trump says, maybe the man he's spent a decade praising has changed.

(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I'm not happy with what Putin's doing. He's killing a lot of people. And I don't know what the hell happened to Putin. I've known him a long time. We're in the middle of talking and he's shooting rockets into Kyiv and other cities. I don't like it at all.

(END VIDEOCLIP)

BASH: And he added last night on Truth Social, quote, "Something has happened to him. He has gone absolutely crazy".

I'm joined by a terrific group of reporters, CNN Manu Raju and Eva McKend, also with CNN. Shelby Talcott of Semafor and CNN's Kylie Atwood. Hello, everybody.

Kylie, needless to say, or maybe I do need to say it, Vladimir Putin has not changed.

KYLIE ATWOOD, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: No, not at all.

BASH: He's been like this for a very long time. You start with your reporting and then I'll put some -- I'll give some examples to our viewers.

ATWOOD: Yes, so throughout the course of what has been the Trump administration's effort to broker an end to the Ukraine (ph) war, Putin has continued assaulting Ukraine. And that is what he did over the weekend in a very pronounced way, which appears to be the reason for Trump saying that he has gone crazy and, you know, something is wrong with him.

But as you set the table, it's not like he's doing anything new. However, what is important here is that this is a very distinct shift in tone from President Trump, coupled with the fact that he also said absolutely he would potentially support new sanctions on Russia.

Just a week ago, he and his secretary of state were both saying that now is not the time to do that. So that's the space to watch here. It's not just what he's saying about President Putin, but it is what the White House decides to do about it.

If they talk with the Senate and actually get this legislation going that would add additional sanctions on Russia, that would be significant. But we really have to watch and see where this all goes.

BASH: Yes, no, that's an important point. And, you know, look, he's pissed. And it's obvious from not only what he's saying, but how he's saying it. However, here is some of the history, just some of the history of what Vladimir Putin has done in recent years and throughout the decades.

In Mariupol in 2022, we're going to show you some images. This is March of 2022. Russia struck a maternity and children's hospital there. Then go to Aleppo in 2016. We have some drone footage from Amnesty International showing the damage from Russian warplanes aiding Assad's forces and pummeling Aleppo, Syria.

Then let's go to 2006. So we're talking almost 20 years ago. You're looking at a photo of Alexander Litvinenko, that's three days before he died. He was a Russian, a former Russian security agent. He was poisoned in 2006. And a U.K.-based inquiry concluded that Vladimir Putin likely approved his killing.

Manu?

MANU RAJU, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, look, he's had a long history of brutality. Is Trump the last person to realize that Trump has -- that Putin has been like this for so many years and decades, which is why there's been so much outrage about Putin on both sides of the aisle?

Trump has taken a much different tone along the way. If you're Vladimir Putin, though, what is your incentive to cut a deal at this point? There's real concern that the Ukrainians are lacking the resources to fight back against the ballistic missiles that are coming into Ukraine.

And there's concern about whether the U.S. support will continue to be there, in no small part because Trump and his administration of -- and a lot of Republicans on Capitol Hill no longer support the idea of funneling tens of billions of dollars to Ukraine. So that could be part of the calculation as well.

But Kyle is absolutely right. There is growing bipartisan pressure for sanctions. There's more than 80 co-sponsors of a Senate bill that would do that. I mean, there's a veto-proof majority to put primary and secondary sanctions on Russia.

If they don't engage in these good faith negotiations, the question will be if John Thune, the Senate majority leader, puts that on the floor. And he'll only do that if Trump wants him to do that.

BASH: And what a moment that we're in that this is being seriously considered, given, and Shelby, you cover the Trump White House, what we have heard from President Trump now, what we heard from him -- not now, but like going into the last couple of weeks, what we heard from him in the four years that Joe Biden was president about the fact that he believed that he believed that his relationship with Vladimir Putin would make everything better.

(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)

[12:40:07]

TRUMP: People didn't really know what President Putin's thoughts were, but I think I can say with great confidence he wants to see it ended also.

I know him very well. Yes, I think he wants peace. I think you would tell me if he didn't.

I believe him. I believe him. I think we're doing very well with Russia.

I think he wanted the whole country.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You've said for months that --

TRUMP: And because of me, I do believe that --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, yes.

TRUMP: -- he's willing to stop the fighting.

(END VIDEOCLIP)

SHELBY TALCOTT, WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT, SEMAFOR: Yes, he, I mean, he genuinely believes that he has this special relationship with Vladimir Putin and that that will somehow push this over the edge. What's becoming clear, I think, to President Trump is that that is not the case. And that's been clear to a lot of White House officials.

You know, I've talked to White House officials who have said at the end of the day, they can only do so much. And we've heard a little bit of that publicly, sort of threats that they're going to have to walk away. But I think Manu raises a great point. There's no incentive for Putin to really end this. He sees that U.S. support for Ukraine is on slippery ground. He sees that the American president is reluctant to issue more sanctions. So he sees all of this and he's most likely sitting back and thinking, OK, well, they haven't done it yet. Why would I stop?

EVA MCKEND, CNN NATIONAL POLITICS CORRESPONDENT: And President Trump set the tone of the relationship a long time ago, right, back in 2018, when he believed Vladimir Putin over our own intelligence officials. So this is no surprise, really, that we have arrived at this point.

But there are specific things, according to the top Democrat on the Intelligence Committee, Jim Himes, that we could -- that America could be doing, in addition to the uptick in sanctions. He says, stop the export of oil, pressure India to stop buying Russian oil, and then, of course, keep arming Ukraine.

The question now is, is there the political will amongst both Republicans and Democrats to do these things?

BASH: Kylie, there is his newfound frustration, public frustration, with Vladimir Putin. But he definitely also wants to make clear somehow that he's trying to still be a negotiator in the middle. So he kind of feels the need to, when he criticizes Putin, to also criticize Zelenskyy of Ukraine.

And this is what he said -- also said in his Truth Social post. "Likewise, President Zelenskyy is doing his country no favors by talking the way he does. Everything out of his mouth causes problems. I don't like it, and it better stop."

ATWOOD: He's giving almost equal size frustration to both sides in that post. But what we've seen over the past few months is that most of that frustration was targeting Zelenskyy and giving no credence to the facts of the matter, which was that Russia invaded Ukraine and they started this war.

And you've seen administration officials even back away from, you know, any questions about calling Putin a war criminal. Secretary of State wouldn't do that when he was on the Hill last week, which was, of course, notable given his past remarks on this.

So the people around Trump have also been giving Russia sort of a pass over the last few weeks. What we're going to see now is if that shifts. And I also think it's really interesting that after Trump came out and said this, Russia continued its assault on Ukraine overnight, its largest drone and missile attacks happening on Sunday night after Trump expressed his frustration, indicating that they sort of think that they can play President Trump.

BASH: Which is exactly the point that you were making which, Shelby, which is the fact that Vladimir Putin is very well aware, and he always has been, about what goes on internally in people's domestic politics, but he's also very well aware of the promises that President Trump has made to make a deal with Putin. And he's taunting him, basically. TALCOTT: Yes. And I also think, you know, he said absolutely he would consider sanctions. He's threatened additional sanctions before. So Putin is probably thinking of this and saying, OK, well, you've done this four or five times already.

He could have gotten off that plane theoretically and called up, you know, his Cabinet and decided in that moment, OK, we're going to go ahead with some of these sanctions, we're going to push for them. It is notable that he said absolutely I would consider it.

BASH: Yes, quick.

RAJU: But that's a risk too for Trump to go that route because that could deepen this conflict.

BASH: Yes.

RAJU: And Trump promised to end this in 24 hours.

MCKEND: Yes, Putin has Trump right where he wants him, clearly.

BASH: All right, everybody stand by. I want you to look at a map that we're going to show you. Each of the arrows represents a county that got more Republican in 2016, again in 2020, and again in 2024. We're talking about 1,443 counties.

So how can Democrats fight those trend lines? That's next.

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[12:49:34]

BASH: It's been six months since the 2024 election and Democrats are still picking up the pieces. But what's becoming clear is that the 2024 race was not a one-off. Voters have been shifting toward President Trump in the last three presidential elections. Yes, even when Joe Biden won in 2020.

Look at this analysis from The New York Times. These are counties that moved toward President Trump in each election he was on the ballot. There are 1,433 of them.

[12:50:06]

And now look at this. Here is the really paltry by comparison map of the counties that shifted towards Democrats in the last three presidential cycles. Only 57 counties. The clear takeaway is that Democrats have a lot of work to do.

My panel is back and we are joined by Politico's Sophia Cai. Thank you so much for being here. What are you hearing from the Democrats as they continue to soul search?

MCKEND: So there is a widespread recognition that there has to be fundamental change in approach and even governing strategy in majority Democratic communities, communities led across the country by Democrats. But also, you know, when you speak to members like Jasmine Crockett, for instance, which I have, she'll say that if Democrats ever do regain power, they have to be more bold, that the rules of engagement have changed.

We see President Trump bulldozing over our institutions in service of his desire for what he wants America to look like. And historically, you have heard Democrats say time and time and again, they just can't do it. They can't put farmworkers, for instance, on a pathway to citizenship because they're beholden to the Senate parliamentarian.

They can't raise the federal minimum wage because they need to work in concert with Republicans. Well, there's a recognition from Democrats that this process argument is no longer sufficient for voters. They have to stand 10 toes down in what they believe, even if they have to buck process, even if they get pushed back.

SOPHIA CAI, WHITE HOUSE REPORTER, POLITICO: Yes, I mean, I totally agree with Eva. There's been a lot of moping around after the election, a lot of, you know, sitting on the couch. I think now we're a little more than a year away from the midterms, and it's sort of this moment of reckoning, like let's get off the couch and figure out our messaging.

I think that the chart that you showed tells the story of this great realignment of the Republican Party becoming a little bit more multicultural, a little bit more working class, and the Democratic Party becoming a little bit more elite and more white.

I mean, the question among Democrats is how do you stop that? And right now we're seeing a bunch of different ideas.

BASH: So you mentioned some of the sort of demographic and geographic shifts. I want to dig in on one of them right now, which is new voters. And I want you to listen to what Dan Pfeiffer, who, of course, is one of the hosts of "Pod Save America" and a longtime Obama aide, said.

(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)

DAN PFEIFFER, CO-HOST, "POD SAVE AMERICA": Democrats lost new voters for the first time. Obama got 58 percent of new voters in 2012. Biden and Clinton got 55 percent. Kamala Harris only got 49.5 percent of new voters.

The message I take from this is anyone who thinks that we can get away with just tinkering around the edges, just hoping that Donald Trump becomes unpopular, they nominate some Yahoo in 2028, or we're going to ride the wave of tariffs and inflation to a narrow house victory, is just rearranging the dictators on the Titanic.

(END VIDEOCLIP)

TALCOTT: Yes, and I think that's one of the big things -- one of the big takeaways of the 2024 election. There are a lot of reasons that I think new voters came over to Donald Trump's side. But one of the reasons was because of sort of the unique social media approach that his campaign did really well.

You'll talk to Democrats, they'll admit it. You'll talk to Republicans, they always mention it. He would go to UFC fights. He would go on sort of these new podcasts, which are not traditionally political. And that's how he gained a lot of his voters. And you're seeing Democrats try to replicate that.

You've seen Gavin Newsom sort of come out and do this new political podcast. You're seeing them try to find ways to replicate that. But I think one of the problems that Democrats have is they don't yet have a core belief system. They're still fighting over what they should believe in going forward and what they should stand for almost.

BASH: Or they do. It's just a lot of what that is doesn't seem to be resonating beyond the coast. And that's a big issue. So we mentioned new voters, which is also young voters, another way to say that. And now I want to talk about men.

And here's something from The New York Times. This is written by our friend of the show, Shane Goldmacher. "The prospectus for one new $20 million effort obtained by The Times, aims to reverse the erosion of Democratic support among young men, especially online. It is code- named SAM, short for Speaking with American Men, a strategic plan, and promises investments to study the syntax, language and content that gains attention and the virality in these spaces. It recommends buying advertisements in video games, among other things."

So you're the man here. I will not mansplain you. All I will say is, duh.

RAJU: Yes, I know. Look, they should have probably recognized this a couple of cycles before when this trend was growing very apparent.

[12:55:05]

This was a huge problem for them in the past election cycle. And they need to figure it out. Because right now, the Democratic message is really all over the place. What do they exactly stand for as they head into the midterm elections?

Right now, it's a hope, really, among the Democratic leaders that voters will recoil what they view as overreach from the Trump administration. They will make the argument that they need to be a check on Trump's power and to use the Trump's push to move ahead with this so-called big, beautiful bill, which rail about the tax cuts and for -- that do benefit wealthy taxpayers, also other taxpayers too, but that does have an impact for them.

And the impact on lower-income, working-class voters, the health care cuts that they can face. Can they make that effective argument to win back the majority? We'll see.

BASH: We're going to have to leave it there, unfortunately. Thank you so much for being here on this holiday.

Thank you for watching Inside Politics. Stay tuned for CNN News Central. It starts after a quick break.

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