Days before he is due to be arraigned in New York former President Trump appeared to be doing his best to take his mind off his indictment.
Trump was was seen giving the thumbs up to supporters lining the streets outside his Mar-a-Lago, Florida home on Saturday.
Laster, taking to his Truth Social platform, Trump pivoted to the issue of the Ukraine war suggesting that Russia would likely not have invaded if he’d have been in the White House.
‘Actually, I got along very well with Putin—There would be no Russia-Ukrainian War right now if I were President. All of those lives would have been saved, all of those people would be living and healthy right now!’
Trump has previously intimated such thoughts in the past – most recently during last month’s CPAC convention during which he bragged that a new war was not started during his four years in office.
‘I was also the only president where Russia didn’t take over a country during my tenure,’ he boasted. ‘Because I got along with Vladimir Putin very well. I said “Vladimir, don’t do it, you know you and I are friends, don’t take over any countries, because, you know, Moscow will be hit very hard.”‘
Trump unleashed on Truth Social on Saturday night attacking ‘Radical Left Thugs and Insurrectionists’ for taking over the U.S.
Former President Donald Trump gave the thumbs up to his supporters outside his Mar-a-Lago, Florida home just days before his arraignment in New York
Trump attempted to divert attention by pivoting to the issue of the Ukraine war suggesting that Russia would likely not have been invaded if he’d have been in the White House at the time
Supporters of former President Donald Trump gather outside of Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Florida
Supporters of former US President Donald Trump wave as his motorcade departs Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach
During his speech Trump said he would even be able to prevent World War III.
‘Before I even arrived at the Oval Office, I will have the disastrous war between Russia and Ukraine settled, it will be settled quickly,’ he promised.
Last month the topic of Russia came up again during a phone interview on Fox News where he said something similar.
Trump insisted that the invasion of Ukraine would not have happened should he have been in office: ‘My reaction is that it’s so sad because it would have never happened if we would have had the Trump administration.
‘There was no chance that this would have happened.
‘I know him well, and this wasn’t something that was going to happen at all. Next, let’s see what happens, but just watch.’
Talk host Sean Hannity asked Trump if he views people like Putin as enemies that he needed to keep closer to him, to which the ex-President responded: ‘I got along with these people well.
‘That doesn’t mean they are good people.
Trump is expected to surrender to the authorities in New York on Tuesday to face charges over a hush-money payment to porn star Stormy Daniels
A motorcade, with former President Trump on board, passes supporters in West Palm Beach on Saturday
Earlier this year, former President Trump issued a videos on the war in Ukraine, claiming that he could negotiate an end to the conflict within 24 hours
‘A lot of things are changing,’ Trump added in his interview last month with Sean Hannity. ‘This doesn’t seem to be the same Putin that I was dealing with, but I tell you he wouldn’t have changed if I were dealing with him’ (pictured shaking hands with Putin in 2019)
‘It doesn’t mean anything other than the fact I understood them and perhaps they understood me. Maybe they understood me even better, that’s OK, because they knew there’d be a big penalty.’
Trump added that the Russian invasion of Ukraine ‘truly is a crime against humanity’ which ‘has to end soon’.
‘The problem with Putin is he’s got a very big ego,’ he explained. ‘If he ends now, it’s going to look like a big loss for him, even if he takes a little extra territory.’
Previously Trump has described the Russian President’s recognition of two breakaway Ukrainian ‘republics’ as independent as ‘genius’ and ‘smart’.
Trump has since stressed that comments he made about Putin were made prior to the invasion of Ukraine. (Here , he is pictured with Putin in 2017 at the APEC summit)
Trump has since stressed that the comments were made prior to the invasion of Ukraine.
‘A lot of things are changing,’ Trump said. ‘This doesn’t seem to be the same Putin that I was dealing with, but I tell you he wouldn’t have changed if I were dealing with him.’
‘I understood them [the Russians] and they understood me,’ Trump added.
‘Nobody was ever tough on Russia like I was. Putin will tell you.’
The 75-year-old former President said Putin is in a ‘a lot of trouble right now’ and ‘in a bad corner’, and that he believes the Russian President wishes he hadn’t started ‘this mess’.
‘This is turning into a disaster,’ Trump said.
