-
Donald Trump blamed the US and its leaders for “almost forcing” Vladimir Putin to invade Ukraine.
-
When he appeared on Real America’s Voice, Trump accused the US of taunting Putin with “stupid” rhetoric.
-
Trump reiterated an unfounded claim that the war between Ukraine and Russia would not have happened if he was still president.
Former President Donald Trump blamed the US for “almost forcing” Russian President Vladimir Putin to invade Ukraine, Newsweek first reported.
During a Saturday morning interview on Real America’s Voice, a right-wing network, the former president accused the US and its leaders of inciting Putin to launch a failed invasion of Ukraine on February 24.
“They actually taunted him, if you really look at it, our country and our so-called leadership taunted Putin,” Trump said. “I’d listen, I’d say, you know, they almost force him to go in with what they say. The rhetoric was so stupid.’
Trump gave no examples of how the US or President Joe Biden “taunted” Putin or what the supposedly “dumb” rhetoric was.
Earlier in the interview, the former president claimed that the war between Russia and Ukraine would never have happened if he had won the election and served a second term.
“Ukraine and Russia would not fight,” Trump claimed. “It doesn’t mean they would love each other, but there’s no way they’d fight, and there’s no way Putin would have actually gotten into it.”
In the run-up to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Trump made the same unfounded claim that Putin would not have invaded if he was still in power. He mentioned his positive relationship with the Russian leader.
“I knew Putin very well. I got on well with him. He liked me. I liked him,” Trump said during an appearance on the “Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show” on Feb. 22. “I mean, you know, he’s a tough cookie, got a lot of great charm and a lot of pride, and he loves his country.”
Trump also controversially described Putin’s justification for the invasion as “clever” and “genius”.
Read the original article on Business Insider
