Donald Trump's Latest Comments On Vladimir Putin Have The Internet Seeing Red
When Donald Trump was president, he made no secret of his admiration for Vladimir Putin, the man who has been running Russia as either president or prime minister since 1999, depending on the role he runs for in any given election.
Back in 2016, when Trump was still just a candidate for president, he heaped praise on Putin for his "very strong control over a country."
Later, when Trump became president and met with Putin in Helsinki for a 2018 summit, he sided with the Russian president over the United States' own intelligence officials when he said he believed Putin when he denied that he interfered with the 2020 election — although U.S. intelligence said otherwise.
Although Trump is no longer president, he still makes very public commentary about world events. With Putin ordering more troops into eastern parts of Ukraine, which borders Russia, Biden said on Feb. 22, 2022, that this signals "the beginning of a Russian invasion" (via NPR).
Of course, the former president is staying true to form and praising Putin for his actions.
Donald Trump heaps praise on Vladimir Putin once again
Donald Trump made an appearance on the conservative radio program "The Buck Sexton Show" on Feb. 22, 2022, and voiced his opinion on Vladimir Putin's latest military moves in Ukraine, shocking politicians and public figures.
"I went in yesterday and there was a television screen, and I said, 'This is genius,'" Trump said (via The Washington Post).
"Putin declares a big portion of the Ukraine — of Ukraine — Putin declares it as independent. Oh, that's wonderful. So, Putin is now saying, 'It's independent,' a large section of Ukraine. I said, 'How smart is that?' And he's gonna go in and be a peacekeeper."
Trump even found a way to allude to his failed quest to build a border wall to curb immigration from Mexico, mentioning how what Putin is doing could help his cause. "We could use that on our southern border," he noted.
Officials and others are stunned by his remarks
As Russia pushes forth with its invasion of Ukraine despite harsh economic sanctions from other countries, including the United States, Donald Trump saw nothing wrong with Vladimir Putin's actions. But others saw the former president's words as very wrong.
"Trump is a sick man," tweeted Republican Representative Adam Kinzinger, who is part of the House Select Committee on January 6. "For us to do the same on Southern Border (as he suggests) we would have to invade Mexico and declare it ours today. But he loves him some Putin."
Not to be outdone, Republican Representative Liz Cheney, also a member of the January 6 committee, tweeted, "Former President Trump's adulation of Putin today — including calling him a 'genius' — aids our enemies. Trump's interests don't seem to align with the interests of the United States of America."
Former FBI agent Peter Strzok also weighed in on Trump's remarks. "Trump just called Putin a 'genius' and suggested the US do the same on the Mexican border," he tweeted. "Should put to rest all those 'what would Trump have done' questions."