Mike Waltz Bristles at Jacqui Heinrich Question on Trump

President Donald Trump’s National Security Advisor, Mike Waltz, did not seem to appreciate a question — during a Sunday morning interview on Fox — about the prospect that the U.S. president is “being played” by his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin.

In an interview on Fox News Sunday, fill-in anchor Jacqui Heinrich asked Waltz whether “the ball is in Russia’s court” to agree to a ceasefire deal with Ukraine.

“It sounds to me like the administration doesn’t have the answer yet,” Heinrich said. “It doesn’t know whether Russia is delaying or not. The U.S. said the ball is in Russia’s court. Is it still in Russia’s court?”

“Look, you had President Putin go to a press conference before he sat down with Special Envoy [Steve] Witkoff and it was not a no,” Waltz said. “It was here are some things and we’re going to talk about some things that that they need to see and they’re very focused on how this whole thing ends and we are very focused on making it permanent.”

Heinrich then brought up a Washington Post report about a document prepared by a Russian think tank for the Kremlin — which is essentially a playbook for how Russia could “boost its negotiating position by exacerbating tensions between the US and both China and the European Union.”

“How do you know President Trump isn’t being played right now by Putin?” Heinrich asked.

The national security advisor bristled at the question.

“That’s almost laughable!” Waltz said. “I’ll take President Trump in dealing with the likes of Xi [Jinping]… Kim Jong Un, Putin and others, certainly ahead of his predecessor. And really, as both President Putin and Zelensky said on our first call just a few weeks ago, only President Trump could drive this to an end.”

Waltz went on to argue that Trump and the U.S. are under no illusions about “who we’re dealing with” in Vladimir Putin.

“We know who we’re dealing with on all sides,” Waltz said. “And we are going to engage in diplomacy. We are engaging in diplomacy. And that will involve both carrots and sticks to get both sides to the table, but to also resolve this in a way that is permanent and enduring.”

Still, Heinrich questioned Waltz about whether the U.S. dealings with Putin are more carrot and less stick.

“Sir, he punished Zelensky when they wouldn’t agree to an unconditional ceasefire, withholding military aid and intelligence sharing,” Heinrich said. “And a lot of people are asking, is the president going to punish Putin too?”

Waltz replied by taking a swipe at Zelensky.

“All options are on the table, Jackie, absolutely,” Waltz said. “But I think that’s a bit of a spin in the sense that President Zelensky had an opportunity to bind our economies together for the foreseeable future — the U .S. and Ukrainian people in terms of growing the pie in their economy and their natural resources in a way that would completely redefine our assistance.”

Watch above, via Fox.