Trump Insists Vladimir Putin Is 'Genius' After President Biden Says Russia Began Ukraine Invasion
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Mikhail Svetlov/Getty; Anna Moneymaker/Getty; Tasos Katopodis/Getty From left: Vladimir Putin, Joe Biden and Donald Trump
Donald Trump is speaking out about Russia's latest moves in the Ukraine crisis, which President Joe Biden this week called the beginning of an "invasion."
Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree on Monday to recognize two separatist territories in eastern Ukraine, Donetsk and Luhansk, as independent states and ordered Russian troops to deploy on a so-called "peacekeeping mission."
While Biden called the escalation that could lead to war in Europe a "flagrant violation of international law" that "commands a firm response from the international community" in a speech on Tuesday, the former president had a very different take.
During a Tuesday appearance on The Clay Travis & Buck Sexton Show, Trump — who has often publicly praised the autocratic Putin — described his own reaction to the news.
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"I said, 'This is genius.' Putin declares a big portion of Ukraine, Putin declares it as independent. Oh, that's wonderful," Trump said. "So, Putin is now saying, 'It's independent,' a large section of Ukraine. I said, 'How smart is that?' "
Trump also referred to President Biden as a "candidate that shouldn't be there" and a "man that has no concept of what he's doing" while calling Putin "very savvy."
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The White House responded Tuesday during the daily press briefing.
"As a matter of policy, we try not to take advice from anyone who praises President Putin and his military strategy, which I believe is what happened there, [or who] expresses an openness to lifting sanctions about the seizing of territory in Crimea, or at any point in time, told leaders of the [Group of Seven nations] that Crimea is a part of Russia, regardless if they are a former president," Press Secretary Jen Psaki said while answering reporters' questions.
Trump was widely criticized for his approach to confronting Putin during a 2018 summit between the two leaders in Helsinki, where he said he took Putin's word over findings by U.S. intelligence agencies that Russia interfered with the 2016 American presidential election.
He also later invited Putin to the White House but the visit never took place.
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"There's a bit of a different tactic, a bit of a different approach," Psaki said Tuesday of how Trump handled a U.S. adversary. "And that's probably why President Biden, and not his predecessor, was able to rally the world and the global community in taking steps against — against Russia's aggression."
Mikhail MetzelTASS via Getty Images Vladimir Putin (left), Joe Biden
During the interview on Tuesday, Trump also addressed Putin's claim that Russian forces would act as peacekeepers in Donbas, a region of eastern Ukraine where separatists have been fighting since 2014, rather than an occupying force.
"He's gonna go in and be a peacekeeper," Trump insisted. "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."
The former president also said he would have done things differently had he won re-election in 2020 and remained in the White House.
"This never would have happened with us. Had I been in office, not even thinkable. This would never have happened," he said, adding that "there was no response" from Biden.
Pablo Martinez Monsivais/AP/REX/Shutterstock
In fact, President Biden did respond, outlining new sanctions on Russia that have been "closely coordinated with our allies and partners," he said in a speech on Tuesday.
The new measures target Russian financial institutions, its sovereign debt and Russian elites as well as their family members, Biden said after quickly banning American economic activity in Ukraine's disputed territories and working with Germany to halt the certification of Nord Stream 2, a major natural gas pipeline that links the country with Russia via the Baltic Sea.
In a separate statement, Trump said he could have prevented Putin from making those "savvy" and "genius" moves and criticized the sanctions Biden announced as "insignificant." "He would have never done during the Trump Administration what he is doing now, no way!" the former president said, adding, "What a mess our Country is in!"
