'Revealing': CNN reporter flags 2 'key words' in Trump's hot mic moment
President Donald Trump appeared to make an admission about his relationship with his Russian counterpart that caught the eyes of a CNN analyst on Monday.
Trump was caught on a hot mic saying Russian President Vladimir Putin may want to "make a deal" to end the Ukraine war for Trump's sake. The statement happened during a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and European leaders at the White House.
"I think he wants to make a deal," Trump said. "I think he wants to make a deal for me. As crazy as that sounds."
The comments caught the attention of CNN reporter Jeff Zeleny, who responded to them on CNN's "The Arena with Kasie Hunt," hosted by Dana Bash on Monday.
"A couple of key words in there are 'for me,'" Zeleny said. "It's not altogether surprising that Trump thinks this. Whenever there is a hot mic moment, we are always slightly more interested than it's something that he would have just said."
"It's not all that dissimilar from things he's said throughout the campaign," he continued. "But what's different about it now, the whole comment there, 'he wants to make a deal for me,' that was at the root of President Trump's entire argument that 'I can end this on day one.'"
During his campaign, Trump promised to end the war in Ukraine within the first 24 hours. However, it's been about eight months since Trump took office, and fighting in the war has only intensified.
"There has been zero evidence that President Putin is using his relationship with Donald Trump to do anything for Trump," Zeleny said. "To end it for Trump. So I think it was a window into President Trump's mindset there. And perhaps not that surprising, but revealing."