It has been been approached for comment.

Zelensky later accused Trump of "living in a disinformation space" created by Russia.BBC Verify has fact-checked Trump's claims.

Trump initially drew attention to the fact that Ukraine has not held a presidential election since 2019, when Zelensky - previously a comedian with no political base - swept to power.He repeated the claims in a Truth Social post in which he accused the Ukrainian leader of being a "dictator without elections".Zelensky's first five-year term of office was due to come to an end in May 2024. However, Ukraine has been under martial law since the Russian invasion in February 2022, which means elections are suspended.

Ukraine's martial laws were drafted in 2015 - shortly after Russia annexed the Crimean Peninsula and years before Zelensky and his Servant of the People party came to power.Independent observers from the OSCE said the 2019 election

in the second-round run-off.

Zelensky has vowed to hold a new election once the conflict ends and has yet to confirm that he intends to stand. Some experts have observed that holding elections in Ukraine before the conflict ends would be practically impossible, as Russian attacks on many cities persist and millions of citizens are displaced abroad or living under Russian occupation.Writing on social media, Trump said he planned to impose a 25% levy on goods from Canada and Mexico and "an additional 10% tariff, above any additional tariffs" on imports from China.

The post followed his campaign pledge to impose across-the-board tariffs of at least 10% on all imports coming into the US, and 60% or more on goods from China - many of which already face steep duties left over from actions taken during his first term as president.Some experts have said that Trump's policies may ultimately prove less aggressive than promised, and that his statements should be understood as opening salvos in bigger negotiations of migration and drug policy.

But regardless of how policy shakes out, the threats are already having economic consequences, as firms like MinkeeBlue start to stockpile, shift supply chains, re-work contracts and take other steps to guard against the possible impact.Chris Caton, managing director for global strategy and analytics at warehouse giant Prologis, said his firm had already seen an uptick in activity "on the margin" as businesses respond to possible tariffs by looking for space to stock up.