U.S. President Donald Trump holds an umbrella before boarding Air Force One as he departs for Israel at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland, October 12, 2025.
Evelyn Hockstein | Reuters
President Donald Trump warned Russia on Sunday that he could send long-range Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine if Moscow does not settle its war there soon – suggesting he may be prepared to increase pressure on Vladimir Putin’s government using a key weapons system.
“I could say, ‘Look: If this war doesn’t settle, I’m going to send them Tomahawks,'” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One as he flew to Israel. “The Tomahawk is an incredible weapon, very offensive. And honestly, Russia doesn’t need it.”
Trump said: “I could tell them that if the war isn’t settled, we very well can.” He added: “We can’t do it, but we can do it. I think it’s appropriate to talk about it.”
His comments came after Trump spoke by phone earlier Sunday with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, and Trump said he mentioned the possibility of sending Tomahawks during that conversation.
“Do they want the Tomahawks to go in that direction? I don’t think so,” Trump said of Russia. “I think I could talk to Russia about it.” He added that “the Tomahawks represent a new stage of aggression.”
His suggestions follow Russia’s attack on Ukraine’s power grid overnight, part of an ongoing campaign to cripple Ukraine’s energy infrastructure before winter. Moscow also expressed “extreme concern” about the possibility of the United States supplying Tomahawk cruise missiles to Ukraine.
Putin himself has already suggested that the supply of long-range missiles by the United States to Ukraine would seriously damage relations between Moscow and Washington.
For his part, Zelensky called his latest call with Trump “very productive” and said the two discussed strengthening Ukraine’s “air defense, resilience and long-range capabilities” as well as “details related to the energy sector.”
In recent weeks, Trump has taken a noticeably tougher tact with Putin, after the Russian leader refused to engage in direct negotiations with Zelensky on easing the fighting.
Last month, Trump announced that he now believed Ukraine could regain all territory lost to Russia — a stark change from the Republican’s repeated calls for kyiv to make concessions to end Russia’s war in Ukraine.
But the US president, at least so far, has resisted Zelensky’s calls for the Tomahawks. This weapons system would allow Ukraine to strike deeper into Russian territory and exert the kind of pressure on Putin that Zelensky says is necessary to get the Russians to seriously engage in peace talks.
Trump said aboard Air Force One about the war: “I really think Putin would look great if he settled this thing” and that “it wouldn’t be good for him” if he didn’t.
