Trump might’ve gotten kicked off of every social media platform, but we sure still do hear a lot from him. The former President shared his thoughts about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and admiration for Russian President Vladamir Putin on the right-wing radio show The Clay Travis & Buck Sexton Show.
The former President, who was impeached for allegedly threatening to withhold aid to Ukraine unless it could hurt Biden, praised Putin for his military strategy while saying that none of this would have happened if he was still President.
“Here’s a guy who’s very savvy … I know him very well,” Trump said about Putin. “Very, very well. By the way, this never would have happened with us. Had I been in office, not even thinkable. This would never have happened.” Trump praised the Russian President for declaring two regions in Eastern Ukraine independent and calling the invasion a “peacekeeping” operation.
“I said, ‘This is genius.’ Putin declares a big portion of Ukraine, Putin declares it as independent. Oh, that’s wonderful,” Trump said. “So, Putin is now saying, ‘It’s independent,’ a large section of Ukraine. I said, ‘How smart is that?”
The White House responded to Trump’s remarks during a daily press briefing.
“As a matter of policy, we try not to take advice from anyone who praises President Putin and his military strategy, which I believe is what happened there, [or who] expresses an openness to lifting sanctions about the seizing of territory in Crimea, or at any point in time, told leaders of the [Group of Seven nations] that Crimea is a part of Russia, regardless if they are a former president,” Press Secretary Jen Psaki said.
