Donald Trump Says Vladimir Putin Did Not Invade Ukraine on His Watch as They Get Along 'Great,' Threatens Russia With Nuke Attack
Former President Donald Trump bragged that he has something to do with why Russia's President Vladimir Putin did not invade Ukraine during his presidency.
According to Daily Mail, Trump told pro-golfer John Daly on Friday that he got along "great" with Putin and threatened him to bomb Moscow, that's why Russia did not invade Ukraine during his term.
"They're all saying oh he's a nuclear power, it's like they're afraid of him... You know, he was a friend of mine. I got along great with him. I say, Vladimir, if you do it, we're hitting Moscow... And he sort of believed me like 5%, 10%. That's all you need," the former president said in a recorded phone conversation with Daly.
Trump further noted that China's President Xi Jinping did not mess with him, too, because he told him the same thing.
During his CPAC speech in Florida last week, Trump boasted that he was the only president of the 21st Century whose watch Russia did not invade.
He noted that under George W. Bush's presidency, Russia invaded Georgia and Russia took Crimea during former President Barack Obama's time.
And now, under President Joe Biden, Trump said Russia invaded Ukraine because "no doubt Putin made his decision to ruthlessly invade Ukraine after watching pathetic withdrawal from Afghanistan." The former president noted that Putin understood that he "didn't play games."
"I was with Putin a lot. I spent a lot of time with him. I got along with him... It's a good thing to get along with people. It's not a bad thing," Trump said.
Earlier this week, Donald Trump has described Russia's invasion of Ukraine as a "holocaust." Insider reported. This statement seemed to be an abrupt shift from his recent praise for Putin.
The former president said Russia should "stop killing these people," adding that a deal could be struck with Moscow to stop the fighting.
"We're watching a holocaust. We're watching something that I've never seen before... They're blowing up indiscriminately, they're just shooting massive missiles and rockets into these buildings and everybody is dying​," Trump noted in a Fox News interview on Wednesday.
Trump added that Russia has no respect for the United States, and the U.S. was not doing anything about it.
"This is a horrible thing that's happening. You're witnessing, and you see it on television every night," the former president said.
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White House Says Americans Thankful to Joe Biden Admin for Not Using Donald Trump's Foreign Policy
Despite so many statements coming from Donald Trump hitting the current administration amid Russia's invasion of Ukraine, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said Americans were still "thankful" to the Biden administration.
Psaki noted that Americans were grateful that the Biden administration had not used Trump's foreign policy strategy.
"Another reason why the majority of the American people is grateful... is that President Biden has not taken a page out of his predecessors' playbook," Psaki said at her daily briefing last Friday.
Psaki has also said it's the White House's policy not to take advice from people who praise Putin after Trump praised the Russian president in a radio interview.
Joe Biden Impose New Sanctions Against Russia's Elites
On Thursday, Joe Biden has imposed a new sanction against Russia's eight oligarchs, along with members of their family.
According to CNN, the eight elites of Russia, including Nikolai Tokarev, Boris Rotenberg, Igor Shuvalov, Arkady Rotenberg, and Vladimir Putin's press secretary, Dmitry Peskov, will be subject to full blocking sanctions.
The said sanction imposed by the Biden administration would cut them off from the U.S. financial system, their assets in the U.S. would be frozen, and their properties would be blocked from use.
"The goal is to maximize the impact on Putin and Russia... Our interest is to maintain the strongest unified economic campaign on Putin in all history, and I think we're really on the way to doing that," Biden noted.
The White House said the U.S. would also impose visa restrictions on 19 oligarchs and 47 of their family members and close associates.
This article is owned by Latin Post.
Written by: Joshua Summers
WATCH: Trump Says Russian Invasion of Ukraine Wouldn't Have Happened Under Him - From Al Jazeera English