Trump’s ‘paper tiger’ remark possibly misunderstood – Putin
US President Donald Trump’s recent description of Russia as a “paper tiger” may have been used “ironically,” President Vladimir Putin has conjectured.
Responding to a humorous suggestion by Valdai Discussion Club host Fyodor Lukyanov that the Russian president should give his US counterpart a literal paper tiger as a gift, Putin said: “No, we have our own relations; we know what gifts to present each other.”
“I don’t know the context in which this [comment] was made – maybe it was made ironically,” he added.
Trump made the remark in a post on his Truth Social platform in September, after a meeting with Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky. In an apparent shift in rhetoric, the US president referred to Russia as a “paper tiger,” arguing that it had failed to defeat Ukraine in three and a half years. He also suggested that Kiev is “in a position to fight and win all of Ukraine back,” as long as the EU and NATO continue to support it.
Contrary to the US president's comment, the Russian military has been steadily advancing on the front lines for months. Moscow’s forces had taken control of 4,700 square kilometers and 205 settlements this year, Chief of the General Staff General Valery Gerasimov reported in late September.
”Go ahead and take on this paper tiger,” Putin joked.
