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.
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.
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.”
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.”
Related:
- Musk likens Ukraine’s NATO accession to “nuclear apocalypse” movie
- Zelenskyy invites Trump to Ukraine, says peace action plan to be revealed by November’s end
- Former Ukrainian FM Klimkin says Ukraine’s defense and Western alignment non-negotiable
- A Hillbilly Elegy for Ukraine and the West
- Media: Trump names JD Vance, one of the critics of US aid for Ukraine, as 2024 running mate
- Ukraine receives $3.9 billion grant from the US for budget support
- Trump’s “peace plan” is a blueprint for Russian victory over Ukraine and West
- Zelenskyy ready to cooperate with Republicans if they win US elections
- US announces $1.7 billion security package for Ukraine
