The lavish military aid provided to Kiev by Washington could result in the conflict in Ukraine turning into World War III, former US President Donald Trump has warned.
“We have a war in Ukraine... and perhaps it’s going to lead to World War III because of the way we’re handling it,” Trump warned in a speech at a religious conservative conference in Nashville, Tennessee on Friday.
“We just gave $40 billion on top of another $16 billion. So, we’re in for $56 billion,” he said regarding the aid packages the Biden administration has already approved for Ukraine amid the conflict with Russia.
“But when you look at Europe – and Germany, and France and all these other countries – they’ve given a tiny fraction, a tiny, tiny fraction of what we’re giving. We’re giving $56 billion and they’re giving a few billion dollars. And they’re the ones who are affected much more so,” he said.
Trump once again blamed the conflict on President Joe Biden, who replaced him in the White House, insisting that “if I were president that would never have happened.”
“And I got to know Putin very well and we talked about it… he knew the consequences were going to be tremendous. He understood that and he would have never ever done it,” the former president insisted.
“If the election weren’t rigged and stolen, we wouldn’t have had any problems with Ukraine being attacked viciously,” he said.
Trump dedicated a large portion of his address to attacking the ongoing House committee hearings on the events of January 6, 2021. The former president claimed that the probe into his alleged role in provoking his supporters to storm the US Capitol in Washington was a “rigged deal” and a “one-sided witch hunt.”
He also once again teased a potential run for president in 2024. “Would anyone like me to run for president?” Trump asked, leading to loud cheers from the audience.