Sean Hannity with an image of Ukraine behind him

Andrea Austria / Media Matters

Research/Study Research/Study

Sean Hannity moves the goalposts to cover for Trump’s failure to quickly end the war in Ukraine

Written by Isabella Corrao

Research contributions from Helena Hind

Published

President Donald Trump has failed to fulfill his campaign promise to end the war in Ukraine within 24 hours, and Fox host Sean Hannity is attempting to shield Trump from criticism and deflect blame as the war continues.

Hannity’s take on Trump’s ability to end the war has shifted over time. It began to change with Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s April 18 announcement that the U.S. might “move on” from attempting to secure a peace deal if progress was not made in the next few days. Less than a week later, Putin ramped up deadly attacks against Kyiv, and Trump posted about it on Truth Social, telling Putin to “STOP!” 

Hannity, who had initially claimed Russia “feared” Trump and that he would successfully end the war, adjusted his strategy to cover for Trump’s failure.

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  • Trump repeatedly promised to end Russia’s war in Ukraine, including during a town hall with Hannity

    • At a town hall airing on Hannity in June 2023, Trump declared: “I'll stop that war in 24 hours.” He elaborated on his campaign promise: “Within 24 hours that whole thing will be settled. It’ll be settled. And you need the power of the Oval Office. You do. You can't just walk in and say, oh, I'm going to settle the deal. You need the power of the presidency.” [Fox News, Hannity, 6/1/23]
    • CNN: Trump promised 53 times that he would either end the war in 24 hours or before he even took office. [CNN, 4/25/25]

  • 2023-24: Hannity said Russia didn’t attack Ukraine with Trump as president because “they feared him and they respected him” and suggested things were changing after his election

    • Hannity argued that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine “didn't happen when Donald Trump was president. Why? Because they feared him and they respected him.” [Premiere Radio Networks, The Sean Hannity Show, 9/18/23]
    • Hannity said of the war: “A lot of this is happening because he [Russian President Vladimir Putin] saw weakness on the world stage when Joe Biden became president.” He continued, “As a consequence of projecting such weakness and being so weak, this is the type of thing that you can expect.” [Premiere Radio Networks, The Sean Hannity Show, 12/14/23]
    • Hannity suggested that if Putin were trying to interfere in the 2024 U.S. presidential election, “you have to wonder whether he’d want to go back to the guy who prevented him from taking an inch of new territory when he was president … or stay with the administration that is pretty much allowing him to invade Ukraine with no consequences.” [Fox News, Hannity, 9/5/24]
    • Hannity exclaimed: “Look at the comments of Putin. … All of a sudden now the world has changed dramatically and they’re looking for peace deals, according to reports. Is that the Donald Trump effect?” [Fox News, Hannity, 12/2/24]
       

  • Late 2024-February 2025: Hannity touted Trump’s promise to end the war

    • After the United States allowed Ukraine to use U.S. missiles to prevent Putin from seizing Kursk, Hannity complained that Biden was trying to “box Trump in with his later authorization” while knowing that the incoming president “wants to end this war.” He continued, “Biden is actively undermining Trump's chances of success while simultaneously increasing the odds of a broader conflict in Europe.” [Fox News, Hannity, 11/18/24; CNN, 11/18/24]
    • Hannity: Biden “knows what the incoming president's policies are. He knows that he wants to deescalate this conflict and he wants a resolution to this and an end to this.” [Premiere Radio Networks, The Sean Hannity Show, 11/20/24]
    • Hannity said: “We know Donald Trump — even The New York Times said this — he vowed to end this war, and there are going to be different peaceful options put on the table.” [Premiere Radio Networks, The Sean Hannity Show, 11/25/24]
    • Hannity claimed that Russia has “got every country in Europe now on pins and needles and frankly waiting for Donald Trump to get in office.” [Premiere Radio Networks, The Sean Hannity Show, 12/4/24]
    • Hannity: “Trump was very clear with a post yesterday that threatened Russia with tariffs to force Putin to end this war.” [Premiere Radio Networks, The Sean Hannity Show, 1/23/25]
    • Hannity said both Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Putin are “expressing that they want a negotiated settlement” and said of Putin’s comment that “everything will fall into place,” “You can see that is now beginning to happen.” He added: “Wow, what a difference. You know, he’s only begun his fourth week in office.” [Premiere Radio Networks, The Sean Hannity Show, 2/12/25]
    • Hannity bragged about Trump: “He is working diligently to end war in Europe.” He elaborated: “He's the first guy to get Putin to sit down at the table. … So the timing could not be any better for the strength that Donald Trump has to offer, but he's not an idiot, and he negotiates. And you need to wait for the final outcome before you can render your judgment.” [Premiere Radio Networks, The Sean Hannity Show, 2/26/25]

  • March 2025: After Trump, Vance, and Zelensky met in the Oval Office, Hannity moved the goalpost to praising Trump for negotiating

    • Trump and Vice President JD Vance attacked Zelensky in an Oval Office meeting, saying he wasn’t grateful for U.S. aid, and threatened to stop supporting Ukraine. [The New York Times, 2/28/25]
    • Hannity reacted to that meeting: “Zelensky and Europe now are on their own." [Premiere Radio Networks, The Sean Hannity Show, 2/28/25]
    • Hannity criticized Democrats for calling Trump a “Putin puppet,” saying that “after a peace — a negotiated settlement — is eventually achieved,” Hannity would “remind them of how stupid they are” for not understanding that Trump “is in a perpetual state of negotiation.” He added, “Donald Trump really does want to end the war, stop the killing, and end the destruction.” [Premiere Radio Networks, The Sean Hannity Show, 3/3/25]
    • Hannity said “a negotiated settlement” is what “President Trump is very fixated on.” Hannity emphasized Trump’s campaign promise: “This is what he ran on. This is what every poll shows 70-plus percent of the American people support. They want a negotiated settlement. They want an end to this.” [Premiere Radio Networks, The Sean Hannity Show, 3/7/25]
    • Hannity announced: “Everything that the president had planned for the process of peace with Ukraine and Russia is now coming to fruition.” He continued, “It looks like we'll have, you know, a ceasefire, and then the hard part will be the negotiations.” [Premiere Radio Networks, The Sean Hannity Show, 3/7/25]
    • Hannity emphasized negotiations as central to the end of the war: “This is all negotiation. I mean, you got to understand. Just like the tariff thing, it's all negotiation. Just like when Zelensky and the meeting in the White House blew up, that was all a negotiation in the end. It was the beginning of a negotiation, and it ended well.” [Premiere Radio Networks, The Sean Hannity Show, 3/13/25]
       

  • April-May 2025: Hannity credited Trump for trying to end Russia’s war in Ukraine and claimed he’s gotten closer than ever

    • Hannity spoke on the negotiations to end the war in Ukraine: “If this doesn’t work — and maybe it won’t in the end; the president seemed cautiously optimistic today — but if it doesn’t work, there won’t be a Ukraine left,” also noting, “I blame a lot of this on Biden and Obama.” [Premiere Radio Networks, The Sean Hannity Show, 4/24/25]
    • Hannity on Trump: “He's asked by Time magazine today, well, why – you said you'd bring peace to Europe in a day. Why didn't you get it done? He's been in office three months. The answer to your question is, it didn't get done, but he's been on it since day one, and we're as close as we've ever been.” [Premiere Radio Networks, The Sean Hannity Show, 4/25/25]
    • Hannity downplayed Trump’s role: “The damage was done under Biden and under Obama and Biden; Trump inherited this mess.” He also ignored concessions that would ultimately benefit Russia: “You get a deal, as imperfect as it is, and whatever’s left of Ukraine you let the Ukrainians run, with more security guarantees and a rare earth mineral deal that will enrich Ukraine so they can start the process of building back their country and bringing back populations that are left in droves. That's pretty much your options here. ‘That means Putin wins.’ No. It doesn't mean Putin wins. It means that the world wins because this ends.” [Premiere Radio Networks, The Sean Hannity Show, 4/25/25]
    • Hannity downplayed Trump’s promise to end the war on day one: “This war’s been going on for years. When he said he's going to get on it from day one and he's going to resolve this, he's committed to resolving it. He's doing his level best.” He added: “Ukraine doesn't really have a hand to play here. So Donald Trump's got to figure out how to thread that needle with somebody that has no cards in the game.” [Premiere Radio Networks, The Sean Hannity Show, 4/25/25]
    • Hannity asserted that “the reality is President Trump was not responsible” and “if you think you're going to get a clean landing as it relates to Russia and Ukraine and Europe, good luck to you, because I don't think that's in the cards.” [Premiere Radio Networks, The Sean Hannity Show, 4/25/25]
    • Hannity: “I can't predict what's going to happen with war in Europe. I do think that it is an untenable position, but you need to understand the history here.” He continued to shift blame: “It's been 11 years. It was 2014 when Russia and Putin annexed Crimea, and neither Biden or Obama lifted a finger to do a thing about it.” Premiere Radio Networks, The Sean Hannity Show, 4/28/25]
    • Hannity: “I give a lot of credit to President Trump for trying to resolve this. If he can pull this off, it’ll be miraculous. … It’s not going to be a great deal for Ukraine, but they don’t have any cards to play here.” Hannity blamed Biden: “If you look at what happened three years ago, that happened under Joe Biden. And Joe Biden had an opportunity, as Putin was amassing troops, and he didn't take advantage of it.” [Premiere Radio Networks, The Sean Hannity Show, 4/28/25]
    • Hannity: “Peace between Russia and Ukraine is finally, at least it's within reach, and for once a real possibility.” [Fox News, Hannity, 4/29/25]
    • Hannity praised Trump for volunteering to “take on the issue of peace in Europe” because “no one is willing to do it” and “it’s a heavy lift.” [Premiere Radio Networks, The Sean Hannity Show, 5/2/25]
    • Hannity: “The president is moving full force to try to get this deal in Europe done, and now that the minerals deal has been signed with Ukraine, well, now we have Vladimir Putin to deal with. And the question is whether or not he's serious.” [Premiere Radio Networks, The Sean Hannity Show, 5/5/25]
    • Hannity: “Crimea happened on your watch. The invasion happened on your watch. The war happened on your watch, and he's cleaning up, you know, your Adam Schiffhole that you left behind.” [Premiere Radio Networks, The Sean Hannity Show, 5/8/25]