Stephen A. Smith Rips Trump For Failing To Secure Putin Peace Deal

Stephen A. Smith has joined in the widespread criticism of President Donald Trump’s failure to secure a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine following his repeated promises to do so.

“The reality is, and excuse my language, he opened his mouth and deposited checks his ass can’t cash,” the radio host said of Trump on Monday while appearing on NewsNation’s “Cuomo.” “That’s really what it comes down to.”

“You got to be able to end this war,” Smith continued. “You talked a lot of stuff about ending this war and how you would end it in one day. Now, we recognize that that’s hyperbole. We understand that something like that is not going to end in one day.”

Nonetheless, Smith said, Trump did suggest he would be able to make progress with Russian President Vladimir Putin in a way his predecessors couldn’t.

“What I care about is the fact that you promised a ceasefire or severe consequences before the meeting, and in the immediate aftermath of the meeting, there was no ceasefire agreement,” Smith said.

“And as a matter of fact, you seem damn near friendly towards [Putin], acting like the meeting was productive. Well, where’s the evidence? We don’t see any as of yet.”

After the summit with Putin, Trump met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and European leaders on Monday at the White House. He later discussed plans to coordinate a summit between Putin and Zelenskyy.

But in the meantime, Smith told host Chris Cuomo, the “likelihood” is that the Russian leader is “going to continue to kill more Ukrainians.”

Trump opponents like Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) have remarked that Putin “got everything he wanted” from the summit, including a “photo-op” with Trump.

Smith shared similar sentiments, adding that Putin “got a chance to be on American soil, and he avoided having to agree to a ceasefire or anything else.”

“So it was a pretty damn good day for Putin, as far as we can tell, good day for an authoritarian leader,” he said. “How’s that a good day for us?”

Watch Smith’s appearance on “Cuomo” below.