The US president nevertheless doubled down on his claim that the Russian military has little success to show for its efforts in Ukraine
US President Donald Trump has said he will not describe Russia as a “paper tiger” ever again, after he used the term on Tuesday in a Truth Social post.
In the same post from Tuesday, Trump also said that Russia had failed to defeat Ukraine in three and a half years of fighting and suggested that the country is “in big economic trouble.” He further claimed that Kiev stands a chance to “win all of Ukraine back.”
However, speaking during a meeting with his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, at the White House on Thursday, Trump said that he was “not going to ever call anybody a paper tiger.” Despite somewhat moderating his rhetoric, he appeared to double down on his previous assessment of the Russian military, claiming that it had “gained virtually no land” of late, despite expending considerable material and human resources.
By contrast, Russia’s Defense Ministry has been reporting steady advances in recent months, particularly in the Donetsk People’s Republic. Russian forces have taken control of 3,500 square kilometers and 149 settlements since March, Chief of the General Staff General Valery Gerasimov reported in late August.
Commenting on Trump’s original remark on Wednesday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov quipped: “Russia is not a tiger. Russia is more often associated with a bear. There are no such things as ‘paper bears,’ and Russia is a real bear.”
According to Peskov, the Russian economy has demonstrated remarkable adaptability in the face of sweeping Western sanctions, though certain “problems” exist.
The Russian economy has recently showed signs of slowing down, compared to growth of 4.1% in 2023 and 4.3% in 2024. It is still expected to grow at 2.5% this year.
In an article on Wednesday, the New York Post, citing anonymous White House sources, claimed that Trump’s latest “dramatic pronouncement” vis-à-vis Russia was a “strategic move” to draw Russia to the negotiating table.
Since taking office in January, the US president has actively engaged in diplomacy with Moscow over the Ukraine conflict. The White House has since initiated numerous rounds of talks with Russian officials, which culminated in a summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska in mid-August.
