Trump echoes Russian propaganda, blaming Biden for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine

Trump blamed Biden for Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, claiming he could have prevented it. He warned that Biden's actions risk leading to World War III and praised Zelenskyy for his handling of the 2019 phone call that led to Trump's first impeachment.

Aug 14, 2024 - 07:36

Trump echoes Russian propaganda, blaming Biden for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine

trump echoes russian propaganda blaming biden russia's invasion ukraine interview musk former us president donald during his elon spaces 12 august 2024 screenshot x/margommartin trump-during-elon-musk's-interview

Late on 12 August, former US President Donald Trump was interviewed by billionaire Elon Musk on X Spaces, mentioning, among other topics, Ukraine and Russia.

Previously, Trump claimed he could end the war in Ukraine within 24 hours if elected. At the same time, during debates with incumbent President Joe Biden, he rejected Putin’s ceasefire demands, which boil down to Ukraine’s capitulation. Despite publicly asserting Ukraine’s importance to the US, earlier reports suggested Trump privately advocated pressuring Ukraine to cede Crimea andthe Donbas, and in May 2023, he stated he wouldn’t guarantee continued defense aid for Ukraine if he won the presidency.

During the interview with Musk, Trump revisited his frequent criticism of the disparity between EU and US spending on aid to Ukraine, but instead of promising to cut Washington’s contributions, he suggested that the EU should increase its own to “equalize.”

Trump’s “peace plan” is a blueprint for Russian victory over Ukraine and West

Russia and Biden

Trump said he had a good relationship with Russia’s President Vladimir Putin, “despite the Russia, Russia, Russia hoax,” allegedly created by his “sick” opponents.

“But I know Putin very well. I got along with him very well. He respected me. And it’s just one of those things. And we would talk a lot about Ukraine. It was the apple of his eye. But I said, don’t ever do it. Don’t ever do it. I shut down Nord Stream 2. That was the big oil pipeline. (it was a gas pipeline, connecting Russia and Germany, – Ed.) The biggest, I think the biggest pipeline in the world going all over Europe (it wasn’t the biggest, – Ed.). I shut it down. Biden came and then they say, I loved Russia. I was a friend of Putin and I loved Russia. No, he actually said to me one time, he said, if you’re my friend, I’d hate to see you as an enemy,” Trump told Elon Musk.

The mentioned Russian Nord Stream 2 pipeline was sanctioned by the US in December 2019, its certification was suspended by Germany on 22 February 2022, and mysterious explosions on 26 September 2022 put it out of service. Trump seems to be claiming that Putin revealed his intentions to conquer all of Ukraine, allegedly prompting Trump to sanction the pipeline, after which Putin ostensibly backed down from his plans.

Trump called Biden “the worst president in history,” believing among other things that it was during Biden’s tenure that Russia invaded Ukraine.

The Russian invasion of Ukraine began in 2014 during Obama’s presidency. After the initial year of active fighting in eastern Ukraine, the war continued as low-intensity trench warfare until 2022, spanning Trump’s tenure and into Biden’s. In 2022, Russia launched a full-scale invasion, having already occupied Crimea and parts of Luhansk and Donetsk oblasts before and using them as springboards for several prongs of the offensive.

Later in the interview, Trump asserted that Biden is responsible for Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. He said that Putin was allegedly building up his troops for the invasion of Ukraine only to negotiate and Biden ostensibly said “stupid things” such as that Ukraine can join NATO, to which Russian couldn’t agree. The former US President said:

“You know, Biden did something with Russia. There was no chance of him ever going in. And when I left, and then after I left, they started forming big armies on the border with Ukraine, right? And I looked at that and I thought he was doing that because Putin’s a good negotiator. I thought he was doing that to negotiate. But then Biden started saying such stupid things. For instance, he said that it can be a NATO country. Now, Russia, for as long as there’s been NATO, has said, we’re never gonna agree to that. And we go right up front and say that. And we did things and said things through this president with a low IQ, very low IQ. He had a low IQ 30 years ago, by the way, but now he might not even have a IQ at all. There’s nothing on the board that goes as low.”

This justification of Russia’s invasion aligns with a Russian propaganda narrative suggesting that Ukraine’s NATO aspirations somehow triggered Russia’s plans to subjugate the country. This wasn’t the case, as Russia’s actual response to Sweden and Finland’s NATO membership was limited to a few angry statements. Claims that Ukraine’s NATO aspirations threatened Russian security were merely a pretext for an imperialistic land grab. On multiple occasions, Russian senior officials made it clear that Russia doesn’t see Ukraine as a real country, but as a territory that should be under Russia’s control.

Further, Trump once again reiterated that he somehow could have prevented Russia’s full-scale invasion, saying that Biden “said things that were so stupid that that war had zero chance of happening if I were there.”

“And it’s so sad because many more people have been killed in Ukraine than you read about. You don’t read about how bloody it is […], just in the two armies, you lost a half a million people. And Ukraine’s having a hard time. Ukraine, I don’t know if you saw the article recently and it’s true. (46:47) You don’t hear the true story. But if you think about it, Russia […] defeated Germany with us and they defeated Napoleon. You know, they’ve been around a long time. They’re a big fighting force. And it’s very unfair. And Ukraine now doesn’t have enough men. They’re now using young men and very old men to fight,” Trump commented.

WWIII and Zelenskyy

Trump claimed that “a smarter president” could have prevented the current situation, which he believes was exacerbated by Biden’s actions, warning that it could potentially lead to World War III “for no reason whatsoever.” Later he added that “the people from within are more dangerous for our country than the Russia’s and the China’s.”

When Musk questioned why the US pays more to defend Europe through NATO, Trump shifted from cutting costs to praising Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy for his handling of a 2019 phone call that led to Trump’s first impeachment, where he was accused of pressuring the Ukrainian leader to investigate Joe Biden and his son Hunter.

“Well, you know, when you talk about cost-cutting and savings and everything else, I mean, honestly, look, there’s nobody that feels worse about the Ukraine situation than I do because I know it would have never happened. I know Zelenskyy, he was very honorable to me because when they went with the Russia hoax and they said I had a phone call with him, he said it was a perfect phone call, it was a great phone call. He could have grandstanded and, you know, said, oh, he was very threatening. He said, no, it was a very nice phone call. I called him up to congratulate him on his win and you end up getting impeached because these people are lunatics,” Donald Trump said.

“Tough” president

During the interview, Elon Musk asserted that a US president should be intimidating and tough to ensure global security, possibly implying like Trump allegedly is, and warning that if adversaries perceive weakness, they will act accordingly.

In response, Trump emphasized his familiarity with leaders like Putin, Xi, and Kim Jong-un, describing them as “tough, smart, and vicious” individuals who are “at the top of their game,” and adding, “When they see Kamala [Harris] or Sleepy Joe [Biden], they can’t even believe it.”

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