WATCH: Trump Clumsily Sidesteps Answering Whether Putin Is a Dictator

When asked point-blank during a press conference whether Russian President Vladimir Putin is a dictator, Donald Trump ignored the question with a clumsy, evasive response. Earlier this week, Trump called Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky a “dictator” in a scathing Truth Social post that blamed Ukraine for its war with Russia. Trump seemed unwilling to apply that same “dictator” label to Putin, however, when a reporter asked him about it during a press conference on Friday. “I think President Putin and President Zelensky are going to have to get together, because, you know what, we want to stop killing millions of people,” Trump said, rather than answering the actual question. Zelensky, who was democratically elected in 2019, hasn’t faced elections during Ukraine’s three-year-long war with Russia, in line with his nation’s constitution. Putin, meanwhile, has maintained an iron grip on Russia since 1999. Nearly all of his political opponents are dead, in jail, in exile, or barred from running against him. In addition to his attacks on Zelensky, Trump has entered peace talks with Russia to end the conflict, but has sidelined Ukraine from these conversations.