Donald Trump is sticking with longtime friend and special envoy for peace missions, Steve Witkoff, even as a report late Tuesday appeared to portray Witkoff as coaching an aide to Russian President Vladimir Putin on how to approach the U.S. president.
Bloomberg News published the transcript of an Oct. 14 telephone call in which Witkoff reportedly told Yuri Ushakov they should work together on a ceasefire plan for Ukraine and that Putin should raise it with Trump.
For the White House, this new development comes after nearly a week of confusion and criticism over a framework for a peace plan seen by Ukraine’s allies.
The leak of the original U.S.-led plan entailed Ukraine capping the size of its military and swearing off any plans for future NATO membership, while Russia would gain more territory than it currently controls after launching its invasion in February 2022.
Ushakov told reporters in Moscow on Wednesday that some of what was leaked was “fake,” without elaborating, and he would not comment on the rest because the call was confidential. Leaking a discussion of a serious issue was “of course unacceptable,” he added.
House Republican Don Bacon called on Witkoff to be removed from the negotiating team in the wake of the Bloomberg report.
“For those who oppose the Russian invasion and want to see Ukraine prevail as a sovereign [and] democratic country, it is clear that Witkoff fully favours the Russians,” said Bacon. “He cannot be trusted to lead these negotiations. Would a Russian paid agent do less than he? He should be fired.”
Bacon, an Air Force veteran who is not running for a sixth term in 2026, is a centrist who has occasionally criticized his party as it has moved further to the right.
More pointedly, Rep. Ted Lieu of California characterized Witkoff on social media as an “actual traitor.”
Ushakov miffed by leak
The White House did not dispute the veracity of the transcript. En route to his Florida estate Tuesday on Air Force One, Trump described Witkoff’s reported approach to the Russians in the call as “standard” negotiating procedure.
Trump said Witkoff would soon meet Putin and that Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner was also involved. Witkoff and Kushner both helped negotiate the deal that brought about an uneasy ceasefire in the Gaza war between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas.
The Kremlin confirmed Wednesday that Witkoff will travel to Moscow next week with other senior U.S. officials for talks with Russian leaders about the peace plan.
Ushakov said he will get in touch with Witkoff before then.
“About the leak? We will exchange opinions by phone,” he replied.
While Trump has criticized Putin for Russian drone and missile strikes that have killed Ukraine civilians, the Bloomberg report has raised more questions about the administration’s alignment with the Kremlin. In his first term, Trump appeared to side with Putin over American intelligence sources on the subject of alleged Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. election.
During his first term, Trump was impeached by the House of Representatives after appearing to pressure Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on a phone call to help damage Democratic rival Joe Biden in exchange for military aid. While Trump was subsequently acquitted in the Senate, he made claims about alleged Ukraine interference in the 2016 U.S. election that have been dismissed by neutral observers.
After Trump capped his remarkable political comeback, which included pledges on the campaign trail to quickly end the Russia-Ukraine war, his approach to Ukraine and Zelenskyy has veered from conciliatory to combative. Just this week, he accused Ukraine’s leaders of displaying “zero gratitude” for U.S. efforts to end the war.
From ‘megadonor’ to envoy
Although he had little experience in diplomacy, Witkoff was made White House’s special envoy for peace missions, a role that didn’t require confirmation from the Republican-led Senate. His relationship with Trump stretches back decades.
In 2021, ProPublica cited Witkoff as being part of “a new set of mega-donors” who “increased their political contributions at least tenfold since 2015,” the year Trump launched his first presidential campaign. Witkoff, the investigative outlet reported, had given more than $2 million US to Trump and Republican causes, and served as an informal adviser on tax cuts and opioids.
The latter issue became personal for Witkoff after his 22-year-old son, Andrew, suffered a drug toxicity death at a sober living house in 2011.
WATCH | Listen to our June podcast on Witkoff, with Atlantic reporter Isaac Stanley-Becker:
Witkoff has received credit from many Middle East analysts for his efforts to bring about an end to fighting between Israel and Hamas, which began while working in conjunction with American officials from the outgoing Joe Biden administration late last year.
But Witkoff has come in for severe criticism for his diplomatic efforts on the Russia-Ukraine file, Atlantic reporter Isaac Stanley-Becker, who wrote a profile of the envoy, told CBC News in June.
For example, Witkoff met with Putin and other Russian officials this year without career U.S. diplomats and without a translator, among other unconventional practices.
Last week, Reuters was the first to report of a meeting involving Witkoff, Kushner and Kirill Dmitriev, who heads an Russian sovereign wealth fund, in Miami last month. Few inside the State Department and White House were briefed on that encounter, two sources familiar with the matter told Reuters, and it informed a 28-point peace plan to end the war in Ukraine that roiled Ukraine and its allies.
The plan drew from a Russian-authored paper submitted to the Trump administration in October, Reuters said in new reporting on Wednesday, based on three sources familiar with the matter.
In the wake of the Bloomberg report, House Republican Brian Fitzpatrick questioned why Secretary of State Marco Rubio was not leading the diplomatic efforts, adding that “these ridiculous side shows and secret meetings need to stop.”
Since then, Ukraine and its allies have scrambled into action to make amendments to the plan, though it is not clear how amenable Russia will be to the changes.
“I do think we are moving in a positive direction and indications today that in large part the majority of the text, [Ukraine] is indicating, can be accepted,” said British Prime Minister Keir Starmer.
Canada was among the participants on a virtual call Tuesday led by European leaders of the so-called “coalition of the willing” for Ukraine.
