While most lawmakers in the US, Europe and beyond have condemned Russia’s President Vladimir Putin for his latest moves in Ukraine, one senior figure has been very silent in his criticism.
In fact, former President Donald Trump yesterday went so far as to herald Putin’s “genius” move.
On Monday, Putin signed a decree stating Russia recognized parts of Ukraine, the Donbas territories of Luhansk and Donetsk, as independent states. In doing so, he tore up a peace accord with Ukraine. It’s believed he’s now moved Russian forces into these territories, claiming they are going there in a “peacemaking” capacity.
This claim has been denounced as “nonsense” by the US Ambassador to the United Nations, Linda Thomas-Greenfield. President Biden yesterday called it the beginning of Putin’s “invasion of Ukraine.”
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Related: Trump’s messy week just got worse and it’s only Tuesday
However, Trump, in an interview on The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show, said Putin’s recognition of the breakaway was “smart” and “pretty savvy.”
“I went in yesterday, and there was a television screen,” said Trump, “and I said, ‘This is genius.’ Putin declares a big portion of the Ukraine — of Ukraine — Putin declares it as independent. Oh, that’s wonderful.”
“I said, ‘How smart is that?’ He’s going to go in and be a peacekeeper. That’s the strongest peace force. We could use that on our southern border. That’s the strongest peace force I’ve ever seen. There were more army tanks than I’ve ever seen. They’re going to keep peace, all right.”
Trump went on to claim the situation would never have happened if he was still in office, again repeating the lie that the 2020 election was stolen.
“It never would have happened with us. Had I been in office, not even thinkable,” Trump said. “You know what the response was from Biden? He didn’t have a response.”
Here is the audio from today in which Trump called Putin’s invasion of Ukraine ‘genius’ and ‘very savvy’ and referred to him as a ‘peacekeeper.’ #TraitorTrump pic.twitter.com/GZnG7Vhqvk
— MeidasTouch.com (@MeidasTouch) February 22, 2022
The Biden administration has slapped Russia with a range of sanctions and says more are ready should Putin push further into Ukraine.
Many observers believe Putin will use any action from Ukraine to launch an all-out invasion, with the intent of taking the capital city, Kyiv.
Earlier this week, the US said it had “credible information” that Russia had lists of Ukrainians to be killed or sent to camps in the event of occupation. This includes political opponents of Putin, Russian and Belarusian dissidents in exile in Ukraine, journalists and anti-corruption activists, as well as religious and ethnic minorities and LGBTQ people.
Related: Russia tested the West by attacking Ukrainian LGBTQ people first. Europe & America looked away.
White House spokesperson Jen Psaki was dismissive of Trump’s comments. When asked about them during a press conference, she said, “Well, as a matter of policy, we try not to take advice from anyone who praises President Putin.”
Psaki on Trump praising Putin’s moves into Ukraine: “Well, as a matter of policy, we try not to take advice from anyone who praises President Putin.” pic.twitter.com/LIjOzcZiG2
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) February 22, 2022
They also prompted a withering comment from Trump’s niece, psychotherapist Mary L. Trump. She posted a photo of a smiling Putin standing next to a shorter, downcast Trump, taken during their face-to-face meeting in July 2018. She captioned it, “If you want to know what weakness looks like.”
If you want to know what weakness looks like: pic.twitter.com/sIH1OXxkRZ
— Mary L Trump (@MaryLTrump) February 23, 2022
Her tweet has had over 33k likes and hundreds of retweets.
Trump’s comments also lead to the hashtag, #TraitorTrump trending on Twitter.
Liz Cheney: “Former President Trump’s adulation of Putin today – including calling him a “genius” – aids our enemies.
Trump’s interests don’t seem to align with the interests of the United States of America.”#TraitorTrump
— Republicans against Trumpism (@RpsAgainstTrump) February 23, 2022
When you side with the Kremlin, you’ve sorta said all you have to say, haven’t you? There’s no gray area there, no red, white and blue veneer of patriotism that can make this right, no star-spangled distraction to parade in front of it all.#TraitorTrump https://t.co/0ottnlsjf6
— John Pavlovitz (@johnpavlovitz) February 23, 2022
It’s no surprise Trump is rooting for Putin.
Everyone is saying he’s been on Russia’s payroll for years. #TraitorTrump
— Chris Hahn (@ChristopherHahn) February 22, 2022
Imagine if Biden said the exact same thing Trump did today about Putin? The GOP would be going absolutely crazy right now. #TraitorTrump
— Tim Hannan (@TimHannan) February 23, 2022
If I were Putin, I’d be a little worried that Trump thinks my invasion plan is “genius.”
— Bill McKibben (@billmckibben) February 23, 2022
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CatholicXXX
For those wonders, Daniel Newmans nude was 100% fake. He cropped someone else D onto his body. He’s sent out fake nudes many times. 5 minutes are over bro.
Cam
Desperate to deflect from the Republican Party being anti-American and supporting Putin.
barryaksarben
Typical GOP troll to focus on a pic of a fake dic instead of our last guy showing just how stupid and traitorous he really is. As for his comment – It was genius when HITLER did it in the 30s, all of this, false flag attacks, staged attacks and calls for partial deconstruction of existing states starting with Austria and Czechoslovakia and it worked for awhile but those kinds of unstable insane leaders that Trump worships always fail. But not before causing untold millions of deaths and for what? Even Stalin died miserable and alone after killing millions of his own people which is what Putin is doing if you believe his lies that Ukraine being a part of Russia forever
SamB
This article is ridiculous. Trump also said, “It never would have happened with us. Had I been in office, not even thinkable.” So no, he’s not “praising” Putin.
Eternal.Cowboy
What is ridiculous is repeating the claim that a motion John Durham filled in court was proof Hillary Clinton spied on Donald Trump. Follow that up by not being able to cite any evidence of your claim and telling people they were blind for not seeing it only to have John Durham file a second motion calling said claim BS.
SamB
Cowboy: 1. I admitted I did jump to conclusions. 2. The filings still state that pro-Clinton people “exploited” data… which is still pretty shady. Just because they managed to stay on the right side of the law, doesn’t mean their actions weren’t suspicious. So you can drop the smug attitude.
Eternal.Cowboy
Cool attempt at gaslighting. Here was the final claim you made in that thread:
“Hillary was up to no good and spying on the Trump campaign”
The claim was false just like you claim that you admitted you “jumped to conclusions”.
You seem to have a pattern of struggling to tell the truth.
Leash
Oh come on, he is definitely praising him in the first and larger part of what he said.
He just added that this would have not happened with him still in office to piss on Biden.
Cam
Look @SamB, and whatever other screenames you bring into this thread (@BarryM, @whateverokok, @openminded, etc…)
We get it, Republicans are anti-American and have been supporting Putin for years (remember Sarah Palin praising Putin and attacking Obama?)
Your desperation to deflect won’t work, everyone knows you’re just a boring, right wing troll. And please, I’ve begged you, I know Russia is broke and Putin is just a former office boy, but could you PLEASE ask them to spend more money and hire smarter trolls for this site?
SamB
Cowboy: Again. YES, I was incorrect and jumped to conclusions that one time. You got me.
Leash: If you were leader of a country in a war with another country and that country advanced to a location you thought you had secured, but they found a tiny overthought by your team…. would you not say “damn, that’s genius” even though you hate them?
Jacity
I think you need to look up the definition of praise, he did everything but give Putin a hjob. Btw, I have no political agenda or affiliation in your country before you call that out, I’m neutral and not American. I find the defence of Trump and Biden on either side disturbing when it should be called out regardless of the party you support, Republican Liz Cheney’s comments are accurate.
SamB
Jacity: There’s a problem with many of the people here, they read a headline and to them that’s the story. If they read the actual quote Trump said, about Putin’s plan “This is genius…” and then outlines why he thinks so. He did not say he was on Putin’s side. The actual quote is 4 paragraphs long and he also says, “By the way, this never would have happened with us. Had I been in office, not even thinkable.”
So what happed was that Trump said portions of Putin’s strategy was genius but had he been President it would never have happened, so he’s not praising in the way people are here are thinking.
And a big YES I agree with you… if you call out bad behavior on one side, people should do it on the other, but that doesn’t happen here and when I raise a some points I’m labeled a troll.
Cam
@SamB
Translation: The right wing troll tried to lie and claim Trump wasn’t praising Putin, then realized that it was such a blatant lie it would actually have to pretend to walk it back.
Eternal.Cowboy
“ There’s a problem with many of the people here, they read a headline and to them that’s the story. ”
The irony of you saying that is rush given it’s how you ended up spouting off the “Hillary is a spy” none sense. You mindless repeated the right wing echo chamber and now are here to lecture people.
“when I raise a some points I’m labeled a troll.”
You don’t raise points. You straight up lie and then you lie about lying.
You really have no credibility with which to lecture other people.
SamB
Cowboy: You’re getting a little unhinged now.
Eternal.Cowboy
Shocking, you had to move off topic. Let’s bring it back to your current claims. You said thar Trump’s response was four paragraphs (it’s not) and wasn’t praise. Of course you don’t actually post the whole thing you just use a single quote that doesn’t even condemn or criticize Putin. My guess is like the Durham motion you didn’t actually read what Trump said and are repeating the echo chamber’s defense. Anyway here is the full text;
“ Well, what went wrong was a rigged election and what went wrong is a candidate that shouldn’t be there and a man that has no concept of what he’s doing. I went in yesterday and there was a television screen, and I said, “This is genius.” Putin declares a big portion of the Ukraine — of Ukraine. Putin declares it as independent. Oh, that’s wonderful.
So, Putin is now saying, “It’s independent,” a large section of Ukraine. I said, “How smart is that?” And he’s gonna go in and be a peacekeeper. That’s strongest peace force… We could use that on our southern border. That’s the strongest peace force I’ve ever seen. There were more army tanks than I’ve ever seen. They’re gonna keep peace all right. No, but think of it. Here’s a guy who’s very savvy… I know him very well. Very, very well.
By the way, this never would have happened with us. Had I been in office, not even thinkable. This would never have happened. But here’s a guy that says, you know, “I’m gonna declare a big portion of Ukraine independent,” he used the word “independent,” “and we’re gonna go out and we’re gonna go in and we’re gonna help keep peace.” You gotta say that’s pretty savvy. And you know what the response was from Biden? There was no response. They didn’t have one for that. No, it’s very sad. Very sad.”
Trump calls Putin a genius. He describes the Putin’s actions as wonderful, He calls Putin smart. He suggested we model ourselves after Russia. He calls the invading force the strongest peace force. He calls Putin savvy. He refers to the invasion as peace keeping. He calls Putin savvy again.
And you are saying with a straight face that he isn’t offering praise or approval? And why isn’t it praise? Because he said it was wrong? Nope. Because he criticized Putin? Nope. It isn’t praise because he said it wouldn’t have happened had he won… mind you he goes immediately back to praising Putin after saying that. There is no rational reading of that quote as anything but praise.
heath0043
Remember when Congress voted to sanction Russia and Trump refused to sign it? Enough said.
SamB
Cowboy: Have you LISTENED to it? When Trump says that’s wonderful he’s being sarcastic. When he say’s the tanks are there for peacekeeping, he’s being sarcastic. He’s saying Putin is a liar and that’s not the reason those tanks are there. I’m sorry if you don’t know how to comprehend a complete thought, but that’s not my fault. No, he was not saying “That was genius…” he’s saying what the Russian army did was effective. Did he say he’s on Russia’s side? Nope, you are 100% wrong.
Eternal.Cowboy
1. Your defense is largely based on you saying what You think he meant and not his words. You can’t defend it based on his actual words.
2. He says we should do the same thing. That is at a minimum tacit approval.
3. He doesn’t criticize or condemn Putin. His only criticism is of the U.S.
4. In both this conversation and the other you have gotten objective facts wrong. Calling a court filing a report, calling a three paragraph comment a four paragraph comment. Your failure to get the objective facts correct and willingness to repeated like undercut your credibility. You can “100% wrong” me all you want. It’s kinda meaningless when coming from you.
SamB
Cowboy: LOL You really are unhinged. Take your meds and hopefully you can calm down. You lose credibility when you pick on stuff like calling a “filing” a “report”.
Filing: A filing is when a legal document becomes part of the public record.
Report: An account given of a particular matter, especially in the form of an official document, after thorough investigation or consideration by an appointed person or body.
Did you see the common thread to those two explanations?
I stated his comment was 4 paragraphs but OMG it was only 3 long ones! You got me there, but who cares because the mistake has no value to what I was saying. But you concentrate on those two “gotachas”.
And no I’m not basing anything on what I think he’s saying, I read the words, and I’ve listened to the clip and I know what he means, but you don’t seem to understand him.
barryaksarben
CMON TROLL HE CALLED HIM A GENIUS!!! And we is not smart enough (proven by him over and over) to have being sarcastic
barryaksarben
All you conservative trolls are just parsing this idiots words. AS a past president he should have condemned this attack on a democratic republic not make cute. He is a POS and we all know it adnd he is losing more support every time he pulls a stupid stunt like this because there are STILL some republicans still consider Russia the evil empire. We all know who came up with this title dont we
SamB
Barry: YOU and the media are parsing his words. Read the whole thing and put it all in context. You can read them somewhere up in this thread thanks to Cowboy and you can listen to the interview at “clay and buck dot com”
Eternal.Cowboy
“But you concentrate on those two ‘gotachas’. ”
When someone cannot reliably state objective facts then their ability to weigh in on subjective discussion as the latter really is dependent on the former. You have a pattern of failing to understand objective facts.
But I don’t concentrate on those two things. I also take into account your pattern of lying. You claimed that there was proof that Hillary Clinton worked with Russia to spy on Trump. That is false. You then pivoted to say that she was proven to have simply been spying on Tump solo. That was also false. Then you took your third crack at it above with “The filings still state that pro-Clinton people ‘exploited’ data”. Which is also false. Further you said ” he was not saying ‘That was genius…'”, which is also false, the literal quote is “I said, ‘This is genius.'”
You have a pattern of getting objective things wrong and making completely false claims. Pointing that out doesn’t make me unhinged and they aren’t “gotchas”. If you don’t like pointing out that you are dishonest then stop being dishonest or continue to lash out me because of your own behavior, whatever.
okokwhatever
When will the coattail riding beeatch shut her mouth?
Cam
You mean Trump riding Putin’s coattails?
Chrisk
I’m sure that’s what you right wingers would love to do but she’s the smart Trump and that will never happen.
Jim
Trump has always admired Putin. Well, more of a puppy dog wanting his approval.
Trump cares about Trump and has no loyalty to anyone but himself.
No loyalty to country.
No loyalty to family.
His supporters are as traitorous as he is.
Mister P
Neither trump nor Putin is genius.
GrizzleyMichael
You got that right and they are both ugly as shit. They should be put in the same prison cell
Fahd
Trump manipulates the media into making the invasion of Ukraine about him? Hell in a handbasket….
GrizzleyMichael
TRUMP IS A TOTAL TRAITOR AND HE SHOULD BE PUT IN PRISON WITH PUTIN AND VLADAMIRE WOULD PUT IT IN TRUMP
MISTERJETT
i’m sure he already has.
johncp56
Ditto wish I could swea!!!r but i do not want to get knocked off for that traitor ass hat of scum
Deek62
And THAT is why Putin wants Trump to be president of the USA!!!
barryaksarben
LOL EXACTLY
johncp56
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!WTF!!! i had to hear the clip several times, are we allowed to swear here, that ugly hateful crap stew of a man, just got lower, praising Putin, WTF i hope he goes down hard for 1/6/21 and taxes hard this year, prising a dictator is the scummiest of lows for that orange moron! jail him and his gold digging sex doll in Mar-A-Lardo with no house keeping LOL
johncp56
Hey let Putin take over Mar- A Lardo and see what ass face has to say then
Insta_DudeKembro
Why are Republicans siding with Putin over Europe? Conservatives must be so proud to see Fox News supporting Russia’s invasion of our European motherlands. While Tucker Carlson, Donald Trump, Josh Hawley, and Mike Pompeo shower praise on Putin, a warmongering dictator who murders, poisons, and jails political opponents. And Candace Owens calls for an invasion of Canada.
The book burning, Capitol-storming Trump right has lost it. Meanwhile, Biden reunited NATO, ended the endless Afghan war, defeated COVID, and passed the Recovery Act and infrastructure bill that created record jobs. #VoteBlue
Kangol2
No surprise at all with Don the Con’s fulsome praise of Putin.
1) Putin helped install him in the White House in 2016 as both the Mueller Report and the Senate Intelligence Committee reports, led by Republicans, make clear. Don the Con lied about business in Russia. Russia allegedly was helping to reinstall him in 2020, but American voters, now much wiser, said NO. Again.
2) Upon taking office the pathetic traitor psycho Don the Con repeatedly carried out Russia’s foreign policy, with regard to Europe and NATO, Ukraine, in Syria, you name it. (His policies involving trade with China were a complete disaster too.)
3) Don the Con also repeatedly asked the leaders of Ukraine, Poroshenko and Zelenskyy, to help smear Biden so that he, Drumpf, could win the election; both refused, Don the Con was exposed, and rightly impeached.
4) Don the Con did nothing when Russia hacked not just US corporations but federal Cabinet agencies. His response was strangely silent
5) Don the Con did NOTHING when Russia was alleged to have paid bounties to the Taliban to kill American soldiers. (Remember Don the Con also pushed to release 5,000 Taliban fighters, who now run Afghanistan, and signed the disastrous “peace” deal with them in Doha.)
6) As Don the Con demonstrated in Helsinki as the entire world watched, he is Putin’s pathetic puppet, groveling before that thug, and has ZERO credibility, on this issue or any other.
His corrupt, lying, treasonous @ss should be tried, convicted and imprisoned for the rest of his life!
humble charlie
Since both Drumpf and Putin are bald as cueballs, I think Putin (the Red Skull) should borrow Drumpf’s orange straggle and plop it on his head. And then make wild passionate love.
BDAguy
Well, there can be no doubt left that Trump has been in Putin’s pocket for years… can’t Trump be disqualified from any elected office for treason?
white-queer-african
Giving oxygen to the likes of SamB, BarryM, BoneyM WTFE screen name the moron uses, gives it space to spew it’s vitirol. We must not engage but only say FO.