In a recent interview with Tucker Carlson, President Donald Trump’s Special Envoy to the Middle East, who has been moonlighting as his de facto envoy to Russian President Vladimir Putin, revealed two things Putin did that were clearly designed to win Trump over—offering him gifts and prayers.
In the 90-minute interview recorded for Carlson’s podcast, the two discussed Steve Witkoff’s work as special envoy to both the Middle East and Russia, including revealing that during his second visit to Russia, Putin presented Witkoff with a very special gift for Trump in the form of a portrait of Trump that Putin had commissioned.
In addition, Putin shared with Witkoff that after Trump was shot at a campaign stop in Butler, Pennsylvania last year, he prayed for Trump, “not because he could become the president of the United States, but because he had a friendship with him and he was praying for his friend.”
Witkoff shared that Trump was “clearly touched” by the gift of the painting and the revelation that Putin had prayed for him. In a seeming effort to head critics off at the pass, Witkoff dismissed those who regard Putin “as a bad guy” and described the Russian invasion of Ukraine as a “complicated situation,” adding that it’s “never just one person” and that they were “going to figure that out.”
Other revelations in the interview include Witkoff claiming that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has agreed to hold presidential elections—without providing any details or evidence supporting this claim—and that it is “largely accepted” that NATO membership is not an option for Ukraine.
Witkoff also described the status of Crimea and the four Ukrainian regions occupied by Russia as the “elephant in the room” during peace talks, though he seemingly struggled to name them all, leading Carlson to step in and assist. Of the regions, Witkoff said, “They’re Russian-speaking,” adding, “There have been referendums where the overwhelming majority of the people have indicated that they want to be under Russian rule.”
As various outlets have reported, voting in the Russian-occupied territories has previously been carried out at gunpoint.
Witkoff previously indicated that Putin had signaled his willingness to accept a 30-day ceasefire with Ukraine, but has also failed to name a single concession Russia might make as part of any potential peace deal. The argument Witkoff began mounting on Carlson’s podcast—which is the same argument that has long been made by Putin’s supporters—would appear to be setting up a scenario in which the Ukrainian regions currently occupied by Russia are ceded to Russia as part of a peace deal negotiated by the Trump administration, despite Zelensky’s continued pushback against the idea.
