As the U.S. and European allies condemn Vladimir Putin and levy sanctions against Russia over its aggression against Ukraine, Donald Trump is expressing his admiration for the Russian strongman, praising Putin as “smart” and “pretty savvy” and calling Russia’s move in Ukraine “genius.”
“I went in yesterday, and there was a television screen, and I said, ‘This is genius,'” Trump said during an interview on “The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show,” The Hill reported Tuesday.
“Putin declares a big portion of the Ukraine — of Ukraine — Putin declares it as independent. Oh, that’s wonderful,” Trump added.
“I said, ‘How smart is that?’ He’s going to go in and be a peacekeeper,” Trump continued. “That’s the strongest peace force. We could use that on our southern border. That’s the strongest peace force I’ve ever seen. There were more army tanks than I’ve ever seen. They’re going to keep peace, all right.”
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Trump then pivoted to repeating his false claims that the 2020 election was stolen from him and claimed that if he had remained president —get this— “Putin would never have attempted invading Ukraine.”
“It never would have happened with us. Had I been in office, not even thinkable,” Trump said. “You know what the response was from Biden? He didn’t have a response.”
