Trump says his personality would have prevented Ukraine conflict
Former US President Donald Trump lashed out at the Biden administration during a rally on Saturday amid Russia’s conflict with Ukraine. Trump boasted that Russia would never have engaged in the conflict under his watch.
“The fake news said my personality would get us into a war… But actually, my personality is what kept us out of war,” Trump claimed during a rally in Florence, South Carolina, adding, “I was the only president in nearly four decades who did not get America into any new conflicts.”
Trump argued that, under Biden, the US is “neither feared nor respected” and that “there has never been a time where our country has been treated the way it is right now.”
“Other countries are lecturing us and telling us what to do. That’s why we are seeing chaos and mayhem and bloodshed all over the world,” the 45th US president suggested.
Trump railed against “neocons” and “warmongers” who “in the name of democracy… destroyed Syria, Libya, Iraq, and Afghanistan.” He also said that while the US needs to “help stop this brutal invasion,” it also has to “clean out the rot” of the “failed foreign policy establishment” to prevent World War III from taking place.
“Despite all of Biden’s weakness, cowardice, and incompetence there is still a path for him to end this tragedy in Ukraine without getting Americans snared in a gruesome and very bloody war,” he said. “This could lead to World War III… because if you think Putin’s going to stop, it’s going to get worse and worse.”
Trump suggested that part of the problem was that the US government didn’t “have anybody to talk to” Putin under Biden.
“You had somebody to talk to him with me. Nobody was ever tougher on Russia than me,” he claimed, boasting that Moscow “didn’t attack during our administration” despite the US imposing sanctions.
Trump concluded by advising the Biden administration to give Moscow an ultimatum: “Negotiate peace right now or else face blistering consequences, including a push to permanently eliminate dependence on Russian energy.”
Trump noted, however, that Biden would have to embrace the US energy industry to make such a threat credible.
The Biden administration imposed sanctions on Russia’s energy industry in the wake of Russia’s conflict with Ukraine, which resulted in US oil prices rising significantly. American officials subsequently attempted to find an alternative country to supply oil to the US – holding discussions with Venezuela and unsuccessfully attempting to organize phone calls with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan of the UAE.
Venezuelan Minister for Foreign Affairs Felix Plasencia said on Saturday that Caracas was ready to sell oil to the US again while simultaneously remaining “loyal” to Moscow.
