Trump calls for new Ukrainian leader after diesel-deal criticism
Yamiche Alcindor's Sunday TODAY report draws an unusually large early audience for the program's short-form coverage.
TODAY
Story of Why this story? The video opened at a pace of 142,955 views a day, 29 times a normal first day on this channel (4,932).
Trump Says Ukraine Needs a New Leader After Zelenskyy Clash
A dispute over Russian diesel fuel is at the center of TODAY's report on Donald Trump's call for Ukraine to replace its president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
NBC's Yamiche Alcindor reports that Zelenskyy criticized Trump's deal to release Russian diesel into the global market. Trump responded by saying Ukraine needs a new leader. The short, titled "Trump Says Ukraine Needs a New Leader After Zelenskyy Clash", reached about 117,000 views in its first 16 hours, far beyond the audience a typical TODAY Short attracts over a full first day.
Alcindor's report also covers Trump's statement that he will decide whether to proceed with livestreaming a military execution by firing squad.
It was not the only Sunday TODAY news report drawing an unusually large audience. Raf Sanchez's coverage of an attack on a passenger terminal at Riyadh's airport attracted almost the same early view count. Saudi authorities said an American was among those killed. Alongside those international reports, Kristen Welker joined Willie Geist to discuss her Michigan reporting, where she said voters across political divisions shared one leading concern: the economy.
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- Channel
- TODAY
- Subscribers
- 5,110,000
- Channel views, last 7 days
- 9,469,024
- Channel views, pace per day
- 2,331,168 (on a normal day: 1,202,812)
- Video published
- October 11, 2026
- Video views so far
- 116,656 (less than a day online)
- Video views, pace per day
- 142,955
The numbers
The Trump report and the Riyadh airport report drew similarly large early audiences, well above TODAY's usual start for Shorts.
