Fox News’ Peter Doocy asks Trump if he would ‘ever order a mission to go and capture Putin’
WASHINGTON, DC: Fox News’ senior White House correspondent Peter Doocy confronted President Donald Trump with an eyebrow-raising question on Friday, January 8.
During a Rose Garden scrum with Trump, Doocy invoked Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s cheeky comment about the US raid that nabbed Nicolas Maduro and asked, “Would you ever order a mission to go and capture Vladimir Putin?”
Doocy was referring to Zelensky’s earlier remark. When asked about the Maduro operation, the Ukrainian leader quipped, “If dictators can be dealt with in this way, then the United States of America knows what it should do next,” without naming names.
President Zelensky reacts to Maduro’s capture, suggesting Putin should be next:
— Republicans against Trump (@RpsAgainstTrump) January 3, 2026
If it is possible to deal with dictators like that, just like that, then the United States of America knows what to do next. pic.twitter.com/IbJjqBu0B7
“Sounds like he wants you to go and capture Vladimir Putin,” Doocy said. “Would you ever order a mission to go and capture Vladimir Putin?”
Trump rules out Putin capture, shifts focus to Ukraine war casualties
The president didn’t take the bait. “Well, I don’t think it’s going to be necessary,” Trump said. “I’ve always had a great relationship with him. I’m very disappointed.”
Even as US forces hauled Maduro to US soil on d*ug charges, Trump made it clear that he’s not planning anything similar for Putin.
Instead, Trump pivoted to the grinding Ukraine war.
“I settled eight wars,” the president reminded reporters. “I thought this would be in the middle of the pack or maybe one of the easier ones.”
But the numbers tell a bloody tale.
DOOCY TIME: “President Zelensky said that he was watching with the rest of the world as you made this order to go and capture Nicolas Maduro and he said, ‘if that's how it works with dictators, then the United States knows what to do next.’ Sounds like he wants you to go and… pic.twitter.com/5U7eIMX8K4
— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) January 9, 2026
“Last month they lost 31,000 people, many of them Russian soldiers, and the Russian economy is doing poorly,” he said. “I wish we could have done it quicker because a lot of people are dying.”
“When you have 30,000, 31,000 soldiers dying in a period of a month, 27,000 the month before, 26,000 the month before that. That’s bad stuff,” he added.
Trump touts Ukraine aid profits as Russia launches fresh strikes
Trump also took aim at the Biden administration’s handling of Ukraine aid.
He claimed the US has sent roughly $350 billion to Kyiv and insisted America isn’t footing the bill the way critics say. “We’re not losing any money. We’re making a lot of money,” Trump said, pointing to arms sales to NATO allies.
He also touted NATO’s pledge to hike defense spending to 5 percent of GDP by 2035, well above the old 2 percent mark, as proof that Washington is scoring economic wins even in wartime.
All of this comes amid a new round of attacks in Ukraine. Russia claimed it fired its nuclear-capable Oreshnik hypersonic missile in an overnight barrage, a claim Kyiv disputes.
Ukrainian officials said the strike involved hundreds of drones and missiles hitting energy infrastructure, killing at least four civilians. Zelensky has been urging the US and its allies to hit back harder, insisting Moscow must face consequences for attacks targeting ordinary people.
