Trump threatens tariffs targeting Russia without deal to end Ukraine war in 50 days

President Trump said Monday that the U.S. will impose 100% tariffs on countries that do business with Russia if there is no peace deal to end the war in Ukraine within 50 days, unveiling his plans to implement secondary sanctions as his frustration with Russian President Vladimir Putin grows.

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"We're going to be doing secondary tariffs if we don't have a deal within 50 days. It's very simple," Mr. Trump said in the Oval Office, alongside NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte. "And they'll be at 100%." 

"We are very unhappy, I am, with Russia," the president explained. 

Mr. Trump also said the U.S. has reached a deal to sell weapons to NATO nations, and Rutte said those countries will in turn send weapons to Ukraine to replenish their depleted stockpiles. The Pentagon paused shipments of some weapons shipments to Ukraine earlier this month, but Mr. Trump reversed course last week, saying Ukraine must be able to defend itself.

"We've made a deal today where we're going to be sending them weapons and they're going to be paying for them," Mr. Trump told reporters in the Oval Office. "We, the United States, will not be having any payment made. We're not buying it, but we will manufacture it, and they're going to be paying for it."

"This is really big," said Rutte, who said Mr. Trump called him last week to inform him of his decision. "And the decision is that you want Ukraine [to have] what it needs to have to maintain to be able to defend itself against Russia, but you want Europeans to pay for it, which is totally logical." 

Mr. Trump on Monday expressed frustration with Putin following his multiple calls with the Russian leader since taking office in January. 

"I always hang up, say, 'Well, that was a nice phone call.' And then missiles are launched into Kyiv or some other city and I say, 'That's strange.' And after that happens three or four times, you say, the talk doesn't mean anything," he said.

"He's — I don't want to say he's an assassin, but he's a tough guy," Mr. Trump said of Putin, adding that Putin has fooled other presidents, "but he didn't fool me." 

"Ultimately, talk doesn't talk, it's got to be action, it's got to be results," Mr. Trump said. 

Some in Congress have pushed for even higher secondary sanctions on Russia as the war grinds on. Sen. Lindsey Graham is pushing legislation in the Senate that would give the president the ability to impose tariffs of up to 500% on any country that helps Russia. He told "Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan" on Sunday that these sanctions would give Mr. Trump a "sledgehammer" to end the war.

"We're going after the people who keep Putin in business, and additional sanctions on Russia itself," Graham said. "This is truly a sledgehammer available to President Trump to end this war."

Graham called this a "turning point" in the war that started when Russia invaded Ukraine in Feb. 2022. 

Graham, a close ally of Mr. Trump's, told "Face the Nation" that the U.S. has "given Ukraine a lot. We give them the money, we give them military aid." But he noted that there could be a "plan where America will begin to sell to our European allies tremendous amounts of weapons that can benefit Ukraine."

Republican Rep. French Hill, who spearheaded legislation during the Biden administration giving the president authority to seize foreign assets, said on "Face the Nation" on Sunday that now is the time to act.

"I think it's time for the president to convert those seized assets to a trust account for the benefit of Ukraine," Hill said. 

No American president has ever seized the sovereign central bank assets of a country that the U.S. is not at war with. Former U.S. officials told CBS News that the Biden administration declined to use that authority because of European opposition related to the unintended consequences on their own banking systems and economy that might result from seizing those state assets.

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President Trump is set to meet with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte this week on the heels of the U.S. leader announcing plans to sell NATO allies weapons that it can pass on to Ukraine.

In a statement, NATO said Rutte will be in Washington on Monday and Tuesday and will also meet with Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and members of Congress. 

CBS News reached out to the White House for additional comment.

Sen. Lindsey Graham confirmed on "Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan" that he and Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal will be meeting with Rutte on Monday. 

"A turning point regarding Russia's invasion of Ukraine is coming," Graham said. 

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte. Markus Schreiber / AP

While NATO's statement did not state a reason for Rutte's trip, it comes after Mr. Trump teased last week that he would make a "major statement" on Russia on Monday, as Ukraine struggles to repel massive and complex air assaults launched by Russian forces. 

The president also hinted that his administration will send more defensive weapons to Ukraine amid its war with Russia, days after pausing some weapons shipments.

More from CBS News >>> Trump teases "major statement" on Russia as he continues slamming Putin

"We're going to send some more weapons. We have to. They have to be able to defend themselves," Mr. Trump told reporters during a White House event with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday night.

Mr. Trump told reporters Sunday the U.S. would be sending more Patriot missiles to Ukraine, but that he hadn't yet decided how many.

Graham said on "Face the Nation" to "stay tuned for a plan where America will begin to sell to our European allies tremendous amounts of weapons that can benefit Ukraine."

"The idea of America selling weapons to help Ukraine is very much in play," Graham said. "We've given Ukraine a lot. We give them the money, we give them military aid. We now have a minerals agreement with Ukraine that's worth trillions of dollars. So, I don't want to get ahead of the President, but stay tuned about seized assets. The Europeans want to limit the interest on the assets to go to Ukraine." 

Rubio said Friday that some of the U.S.-made weapons that Ukraine is seeking are deployed with NATO allies in Europe. Those weapons could be transferred to Ukraine, with European countries buying replacements from the U.S., he said.

"It's a lot faster to move something, for example, from Germany to Ukraine than it is to order it from a (U.S.) factory and get it there," Rubio told reporters last week during a visit to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Mr. Trump is also facing calls from Republicans and Democrats, as well as European allies, to support legislation in the Senate that aims to cripple Russia's oil industry and hit Moscow with U.S. sanctions for its ongoing invasion of Ukraine. The legislation, in part, calls for a 500% tariff on goods imported from countries that continue to buy Russian oil, gas, uranium and other exports. It would have an enormous impact on economic behemoths China and India, which account for roughly 70% of Russia's energy trade.

Graham said he and Blumenthal have support for "congressional sanctions with a sledgehammer" that will "go after" Russian President Vladimir Putin's economy and "all those countries who prop up the Putin war machine."

"This congressional package that we're looking at would give President Trump the ability to impose 500% tariffs on any country that helps Russia, and props up Putin's war machine," Graham said. "He can dial it up or down. He can go to 0%, to 500%. He has maximum flexibility. But we're going after the people who keep Putin in business and additional sanctions on Russia itself. This is truly a sledgehammer available to President Trump to end this war."

Blumenthal said this is a "critical moment" for these sanctions and "bringing down this sledgehammer at this moment was emphasized by all of the European allies who were at the meeting that Sen. Graham and I attended in Europe."

Elsewhere, multiple diplomatic sources told CBS News that Mr. Trump is considering authorizing fresh funding for Ukraine for the first time since he took office in January.

The sources indicated the new funding could be intended to send a message to Russia. U.S. officials told CBS News Mr. Trump has $3.85 billion in leftover Biden-era presidential drawdown authority sitting at his fingertips, which could be used to send American military equipment to Ukraine. Former officials also told CBS News the president has the authority to seize around $5 billion in foreign Russian assets and direct the funds to Ukraine, though neither he nor former President Joe Biden has used that power.

Congress has been prepared to act on the legislation, sponsored by Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and Democrat Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut, for some time.

The bill has overwhelming support in the Senate, but Republican leadership has been waiting for Trump to give the green light before moving ahead with it. The White House had expressed some reservations about the legislation.

Margaret Brennan contributed to this report.

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