Donald Trump and many of his supporters insist that Russian president Vladimir Putin wouldn’t have invaded Ukraine if the former were still president.
Perhaps the real question should be: Would Trump have sent American troops to assist his idol, Putin, in his efforts?
Let’s not forget that Trump initially called Putin a genius for invading Ukraine.
Would Putin’s number one fanboy have stopped him from his evil mission?
“Well, I’m not sure he would have done much of anything, frankly,” said John Bolton, who served as Trump’s national security adviser in 2018 and 2019, in an interview with Vice published March 1.
“But you never know with Trump. It depends on what time of day it is, it depends on what he thought his political benefit would be at any given moment. I don’t think ultimately he would have stood in Putin’s way,” Bolton told Vice.
“When you’re operating on such a poor understanding of the circumstances you’re talking about, ultimately, your opinions have to be totally unsound,” Bolton added. “And ultimately reality triumphs and these opinions are seen for the flimsy and twisted thoughts that they really are.”
John Bolton also said in another interview with Newsmax earlier this month that it was inaccurate to say Trump’ would have “deterred the Russians.”
But, didn’t the U.S. impose sanctions on Russia during the Trump presidency?
While America imposed “some” sanctions against Russia during Trump’s time in the White House, Bolton stated that Trump complained ‘in almost every case,’ insisting America was being ‘too hard.’ Hence, those sanctions were placed in spite of Trump, not because of him.
Moreover, Bolton insisted Trump initially thought Finland was part of Russia and ‘barely knew where Ukraine was.’
Finland is what?
And he also suggested Trump made it ‘that much easier’ for Vladimir Putin to invade Ukraine by spreading conspiracy theories during the 2020 elections about the Democratic National Committee servers and Hunter Biden profiting in Ukraine.
It all makes sense.
Trump, on the campaign trail way back in 2015, made it no secret he idolized Putin. And Trump’s incessant praise for and giddiness around the Russian dictator during the former’s presidency was embarrassing to the U.S. and undoubtedly increased Putin’s confidence and level of daring.
Facts
- Trump publicly sided with Putin over his own FBI intelligence agencies regarding 2016 election meddling.
- Trump wanted Ukraine investigated for alleged election meddling, a line straight out of the Kremlin’s playbook.
- During a Washington Post Live event, Bolton was asked about his memoir in which he claimed Trump wanted to leave NATO in 2018. “In a second Trump term, I think he may well have withdrawn from NATO, and I think Putin was waiting for that,” said Bolton.
Again, the question worth asking is: How much would have Trump tried to help Putin invade Ukraine?
As for the current situation in Ukraine, the former national security adviser believes Putin and the Russian military are in too deep to negotiate a reasonable solution for peace now.
“Now the credibility and the reputation of the Russian military is damaged so badly that they’ve got to do something in their minds to try and regain their image,” Bolton told Mother Jones.
“Otherwise, nobody will give them credence anywhere, near or abroad. I’m afraid what’s going to happen is just a continuing grinding-down of the people in Ukraine until at some point, maybe not for weeks or even months, people agree to bring it to a halt.”
“We need to torque up sanctions in a big way. I’d go after the Russian energy sector. If you don’t apply the pressure now, I don’t know what anybody’s saving it for.”
