Photo: SAUL LOEB / AFP / Getty Images
Donald Trump claimed that Russia did not invade Ukraine while he was president of the United States, because he threatened President Vladimir Putin with bombing Moscow.
The former Republican president, aged 75 years old, made the comments to professional golfer John Daly on Friday, saying he “got along very well” with his Russian counterpart Putin.
“Everyone says, oh, he’s a nuclear power, it’s like they’re afraid of him,” Trump said in a recording of the phone conversation with Daly published by The Sun.
“You know, he was a friend of mine, I got along very well with him. I say, Vladimir, if you do, we will be attacking Moscow. We are going to attack Moscow. And he believed me like 5 percent, a 10 percent, that’s all you need.
“He never did during my time, John, you know. Everyone was talking about it, ‘Why hasn’t he done this for the last four years?’ Because I knew I couldn’t”.
Trump also claimed that Xi Jinping, the president of China, didn’t mess with him either.
“Xi didn’t bother me either. I told him the same thing, that that would be the next thing. You know it’s going to be next. Taiwan will be next,” he said.
” You won’t have any computer chips. They will blow them off the face of the earth”.
Taiwan dominates the production of semiconductor chips, producing about 47 percent of the world’s chips.
Taiwanese fear that Putin’s invasion of Ukraine could trigger a Chinese invasion of their homeland.
Trump was seen playing golf on Friday at his West Palm Beach course, along with several associates.
On the greens, joining Trump were Allan Kournikova, the Russian-born half-brother of former tennis professional Anna Kournikova; golf coach Eduardo Miquel, and Chilean PGA golfers Mito Pereira and Joaquín Miemann.
Trump was also seen last Friday playing golf at his West Palm Beach club, before his speech at the Political Action Conference Conservative (CPAC).
During that speech, Trump repeatedly asserted that Putin would not have invaded Ukraine while he was in the White House.
“I am the only president of the 21st century in whose mandate Russia did not invade,” Trump boasted.
“Under Bush, Russia invaded Georgia. Under Obama, Russia took Crimea. Under Biden, Russia invaded Ukraine”.
“I have no doubt that Putin made the decision to ruthlessly invade Ukraine after seeing a pathetic retreat from Afghanistan,” Trump said.
“I was with Putin a lot, I spent a lot of time with him, I got along with him,” Trump added. “It’s good to get along with people, it’s not bad.”
“It would have been so easy for me to stop this charade from happening,” Trump continued. “He understood me, he understood that I did not play.”
Trump also said in a recent statement: “There should not be a war now in Ukraine , and it is terrible for humanity that Biden, NATO and the West have failed so terribly in allowing it to begin.
“Instead of showing force and toughness, declared the global warming hoax the number one threat to global security, ended American energy independence, and then made Europe and the rest of the world dependent on Russian oil.
“They hung up the welcome mat and they gave Russia entry, now Putin may be getting everything he wanted, with Ukraine and the rest of the world suffering the consequences.”
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