Fact check: Did trump actually state that Ukraine started the war with Russia?

1. Summary of the results

Yes, Trump did explicitly state that Ukraine started the war, specifically saying "You should have never started it" at Mar-a-Lago on February 18, 2025 ^{[1] [2]}. However, this statement has been thoroughly debunked by multiple sources, as Russia definitively initiated the conflict with its full-scale invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022 ^{[3] [4]}. The International Court of Justice has explicitly rejected Russia's claims about Ukraine starting the conflict ^[5].

2. Missing context/alternative viewpoints

Several crucial contextual elements are missing from the original question:

• Russia's aggression didn't start in 2022 - they had previously annexed Crimea in 2014 and backed proxy forces in eastern Ukraine ^[2]
• Trump's statement was made after US-Russia talks that notably excluded Ukrainian representatives ^[1]
• This was the largest military operation in Europe since World War II ^[6]
• Trump has a documented history of promoting various unsubstantiated conspiracy theories about Ukraine ^[7]

3. Potential misinformation/bias in the original statement

The claim about Ukraine starting the war aligns with and amplifies Russian propaganda narratives:

• The Kremlin has repeatedly tried to push this false narrative about Ukraine initiating the conflict ^[2]
• Multiple fact-checking organizations have rated Trump's claim as "Pants on Fire" false ^[4]
• The statement contradicts well-documented evidence of Russian troops and tanks entering Ukraine while people were sleeping ^{[4] [4]}

This misinformation benefits:

• The Russian government, by supporting their narrative of the conflict
• Political figures who seek to minimize Russia's responsibility for the invasion
• Those who aim to undermine international support for Ukraine by questioning its victim status in the conflict