Trump Reveals Melania’s Advice Led To Game-Changing Decision After Putin Call

President Donald Trump admitted on Monday that he may have misjudged Russia’s President Vladimir Putin as a “brilliant” dealmaker who sought fair terms for an end to war with Ukraine. His mind changed, however, only after First Lady Melania Trump intervened.

Shortly after announcing new sales of U.S. arms to NATO allies, some bound for Ukraine, Trump revealed that Melania was the better judge of character after listening to him retell his last call with Putin. She pointed to Putin’s reneging on promises he made to her husband over the phone, something that Trump said became obvious to him after weeks of negotiations.

“I go home. I tell the first lady, ‘You know, I spoke to Vladimir today. We had a wonderful conversation.’ She said, ‘Oh, really? another city was just hit,'” he told reporters in the Oval Office.

“There’s times I’d get home. I’d say, ‘First lady, I had the most wonderful talk with Vladimir. I think we’re finished.’ And then I’ll turn on the television, or she’ll say to me one time, ‘Wow, that’s strange because they just bombed a nursing home,'” Trump said, recalling another conversation. “I’d say, ‘What?’”

Moscow has repeatedly blitzed Ukraine with missiles following calls between Trump and Putin.

Trump last week appeared to reach a breaking point when he public chastised Putin for “killing a lot of people.”

Trump on Monday tasked NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte with fulfilling arms sales to European nations, including Germany, which is expected to quickly shuttle both offensive and defensive resources to Ukraine. Some will include long-range ballistic missiles capable of striking deep into Russia, even Moscow.

“This is again European nations standing up,” Rutte said, Fox News reported. “I’ve been in contact with many countries. I can tell you at this moment Germany, massively, but also Finland and Denmark and Sweden and Norway — we have the Kingdom of the Netherlands, Canada — they all want to be part of this.”

“And this is only the first wave. There will be more,” Rutte confirmed. “So what we will do is work through the NATO systems to make sure that we know what Ukrainians need.”

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told ABC News that Putin would ultimately make a decision about how to respond to Trump’s arming of Ukraine.

“The U.S. president’s statements are very serious,” Peskov told reporters during a daily briefing. “Some of them are addressed personally to President Putin. We definitely need time to analyze what was said in Washington.”

Dmitry Medvedev, the former Russian president who filled in between the administrations of Putin, was more forthright on social media, accusing Trump of issuing a “theatrical ultimatum.”

“The world shuddered, expecting the consequences,” wrote Medvedev, an ally of Putin and someone perceived to be a smoke-signaler of the Russian autocrat. “Belligerent Europe was disappointed. Russia didn’t care.”

The Kremlin also dismissed reports that Trump reportedly asked Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy if his forces had the training and capability to strike Moscow or St. Petersburg.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed that the matter was discussed.

“President Trump was merely asking a question, not encouraging further killing,” she said in a statement to the outlet. “He’s working tirelessly to stop the killing and end this war.”