Son of president who shut down US corruption watchdogs slams Ukraine for corruption
Donald Trump Jr., son of U.S. President Donald Trump, said on Dec. 7 that his father may walk away from Ukraine if Kyiv does not strike a peace deal with Russia and slammed Ukraine for corruption.
Trump Jr.'s remarks come amid his father's latest diplomatic push to end the war in Ukraine and a major corruption scandal in Kyiv — a scandal that has seen several high-level officials, including former head of the Presidential Office Andriy Yermak, resign from their positions.
While Trump Jr. holds no official role in the U.S. administration, he has reportedly taken part in backchannel talks with Ukrainian politicians alongside Special Envoy Steve Witkoff. He has also repeatedly lashed out against American support for Kyiv, at times mimicking Kremlin talking points.
During the Doha Forum in Qatar on Dec. 7, Trump Jr. was asked if he believed his father was going to walk away from Ukraine.
"I think he may," Trump Jr. said.
"What's good about my father and what's unique about my father is you don't know what he's going to do. The fact that he's not predictable. ... And so that forces everyone to actually deal in an intellectually honest capacity which has not happened in far too long."
In his remarks, Trump Jr. railed against corruption in Kyiv, saying that Ukraine "was a far more corrupt country than Russia" before the war and accusing President Volodymyr Zelensky of being "one of the greatest marketers of all times."
Trump Jr. suggested Ukraine's corruption issues make it unreasonable for the U.S. to support Kyiv with military and financial aid. He also said sanctions against Russia "did nothing to actually help."
Although Trump Jr. had harsh words for corruption in Kyiv, he has not applied the same rigorous commitment to ethics and transparency to his father's administration. Since taking office again in January 2025, Trump has systematically dismantled anti-corruption guardrails and watchdog groups in the U.S. government.
A week after his inauguration, Trump fired 15 inspectors general, officials tasked with providing oversight of federal agencies and investigating cases of possible fraud, waste, and abuse of power. This included purges of IGs at the State and Defense Departments, who played a role in tracking U.S. military aid to Ukraine throughout Russia's full-scale invasion.
A delegation of watchdogs from the U.S. Defense and State departments visited Kyiv in 2023 and 2024 to hold meetings with Ukrainian officials. The inspections did not find any evidence of military aid theft in Ukraine.
Trump also shut down Foreign Influence Task Force, an FBI team established to combat foreign interference in elections from countries including Russia and China. Trump's Attorney General, Pam Bondi, also disbanded Justice Department groups that seized the assets of Russian oligarchs.
Trump himself has been indicted on multiple charges, including racketeering, falsifying business records to cover up hush money payments, and attempting to overturn election results.
The Trump administration has also not shied away from accepting lavish gifts from foreign governments, including a $400 million luxury "jumbo plane" offered by the government of Qatar — where Trump Jr. delivered his recent diatribe against corruption.
