Donald Trump is reportedly preparing to launch a “Ukraine Victory Fund” financed by sweeping new tariffs on Chinese imports, The Telegraph reported on October 16.
According to the publication, the US president instructed Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to present the plan to European officials ahead of Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s visit to Washington this Friday.
Echoing Trump’s tone, US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth told NATO counterparts that the United States was prepared to back Kyiv “in ways that only the United States can do” if Russia continues to reject peace talks.
Talks in Brussels centered on supplying Ukraine with long-range Tomahawk missiles and securing sustained funding for Ukraine’s armed resistance as the war nears its fifth year.
“President Trump has instructed the ambassador and myself to tell our European allies that we would be in favor of whether you would call it a ‘Russian oil tariff’ on China or a ‘Ukrainian victory tariff’ on China,” Bessent said in Washington on Wednesday.
“But our Ukrainian or European allies have to be willing to follow. We will respond if our European partners will join us.”
Under the plan, Chinese imports would face a massive 500 percent levy, with proceeds redirected to arm Ukraine’s military. According to The Telegraph, the measure aims to exert maximum economic pressure on Putin—whose war machine remains dependent on Chinese support—and push him toward direct negotiations with Trump and Zelenskyy.
Sources in Washington told The Telegraph that similar efforts to sanction China for buying Russian oil have previously met resistance from European governments. While NATO states have called Beijing a “decisive enabler” of Russia’s war, most alliance members—including the UK—have stopped short of labeling China an outright adversary.
Earlier, Trump emphasized Ukraine’s request for Tomahawk cruise missiles as he prepared to meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the White House.
“I know what he has to say. He wants weapons. He would like to have Tomahawks,” Trump said, adding that the US has “a lot of Tomahawks” and could send them if the war is not resolved.
Trump also expressed frustration with Russian leader Vladimir Putin for not ending the war.
