Donald Trump says Ukraine crisis could have been averted if he was President

Former US President Donald Trump on Tuesday said that if he was still in the White House, Russian President Vladimir Putin would not have dared to invade Ukraine. He also threatened Taiwan, claiming that Chinese President Xi Jinping would act shortly.

Team Newsable

Washington D.C., First Published Feb 23, 2022, 1:31 PM IST

"I knew he had a thing for Ukraine. I used to discuss it with him. "You can't do it. You're not going to do it," I replied. But I could see he wanted it. I used to inquire of him. We used to go on and on about it. "I don't think anyone understands him better than me," Trump remarked in an interview with Clay Travis and Buck Sexton.

He also lauded Putin for recognising the rebel-held eastern areas of Luhansk and Donetsk, calling it a wise decision. "This is brilliant. Putin proclaims independence for a large section of Ukraine. Oh, that's fantastic," Trump exclaimed.

"No, but consider it. Here's a person who knows what he's doing... I'm pretty familiar with him. Very nicely, indeed. By the way, this would never have happened to us. It would never have occurred to me if I had been in office," he continued.

During his visit on the show, Trump also threatened that Taiwan would be next in line. "I became acquainted with President Xi. China is going to... It's almost like twin sisters right here because you have one that, I believe, wants Taiwan just as desperately as you do," Trump remarked.

He also said North Korea has not 'acted up' in the previous four years. This is debatable, considering Kim Jong Un abandoned the self-imposed moratorium on missile launches that year while Trump was still in power following his summit with Trump in 2018. During Trump's presidency, Xi pushed six aeroplanes into Taiwan's defence zone.

Trump also opted to disregard the reality that Russia was fueling an insurgency in Donetsk and Luhansk while he was in office, despite hostilities between the two countries beginning in 2014, while previous US President Barack Obama was in power.

When Trump was in power, he also delayed congressionally authorised military aid to Ukraine, telling Ukrainian President Zelensky that he would release it if Zelensky began investigations into Biden and his son Hunter over spurious charges of corruption. Trump drew bipartisan ire when he sided with Putin, suggesting that his own intelligence officers were incorrect in charging Russian meddling in the 2016 elections.

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Last Updated Feb 24, 2022, 9:49 AM IST