WASHINGTON — On Wednesday, President Trump dismissed rumors swirling around CIA Director John Ratcliffe’s unexpected journey to Moscow, clarifying that the visit was not about warning President Vladimir Putin against testing NATO’s resolve or making threats towards England. Ratcliffe’s unannounced four-hour meeting on Tuesday had set off a flurry of speculations.
During a conversation with radio host Glenn Beck, Trump was asked whether Ratcliffe’s visit was centered on discussions about Iran sanctions or delivering a cautionary message to Putin.
“None of the above,” Trump responded. “He’s there on what you might call a semi-routine mission. I hate to let people down with that,” he added.
The president hinted that Ratcliffe’s discussions might have been related to the long-standing efforts to resolve the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
“We are eager to see the end of the war in Ukraine. It’s a conflict that should never have begun, Glenn,” Trump elaborated.
“If I were president … you wouldn’t have had the war with Ukraine, and you wouldn’t have had 25 million people coming into our country like they did. Just come in like we were a bunch of fools. It was so sad,” Trump said.
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“John Ratcliffe is a fantastic guy. He’s the head of the CIA, and he is not in there for any of the things that you said. Now something may come out, you know, out of it. We’re working very hard to get that war ended, and frankly, they both want to see it ended at this point.”
Ratcliffe’s visit was the first known trip to Russia by a CIA director since William Burns visited in late 2021 as US intelligence indicated Russia intended to invade Ukraine, which it did the following February.
That history spurred speculation that the US might be warning Russia against some looming action.
There also were theories that Ratcliffe wanted to discuss the newly launched Operation Economic Outcast, which aims to sever Iran’s economic ties with countries such as China and Russia to force a nuclear deal to end that war.
Ratcliffe is one of Trump’s most trusted advisers and has been heavily involved with the Iran conflict, winning the president’s praise for secretive CIA operations in the early phase of fighting.
Russia-Ukraine peace efforts have been, to date, handled primarily by special envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump son-in-law, who traveled to Moscow to meet with President Vladimir Putin in January.
Speculation over Ratcliffe is heightened due to secrecy around Trump’s departure from the annual NATO conference in Turkey last month — with a publicly announced plane swap purportedly to let US troops tour the new Air Force One followed by a second secret transfer due to intelligence on Iranian threats.