Donald Trump has claimed “peace was breaking out all over the world” when he left office in 2020 and that President Biden – rather than President Putin – is “dragging us into World War 3.”
The Republican hopeful for re-election next year, also said if elected he would insist European countries reimburse the US for the costs of the weapons supplied to Ukraine since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion last year.
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In a campaign video released on Tuesday, July 18, he said: “Less than three years ago, I’d fully rebuilt the United States military and steered America into such a strong global position that peace was breaking out all over the world.
“We had peace through strength.
“Twenty-nine months later, the arsenals are empty, the stockpiles are bare, the Treasury is drained, the ranks are being hollowed out, our country has been totally humiliated, and we have a corrupt, compromised president, crooked Joe Biden, who is dragging us into World War III.”
The four-and-a-half-minute speech makes no mention of Putin and refers to Russia only once, when Trump says the “last thing we should be doing is risking a war with nuclear-armed Russia.”
Trump fails to condemn Russia’s full-scale invasion or blame it for the current situation the US and Ukraine’s Western allies find themselves in and goes on to bemoan the vast amount of weaponry being sent to Kyiv, particularly the vast stockpiles of artillery shells.
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“Biden accidentally admitted that we are sending cluster bombs to Ukraine because the United States is running out of ammunition,” Trump said.
“I don’t know how that works, but that’s what he said.”
While Trump did spend hundreds of billions of dollars on the US military, he neglects to mention the fact his administration completely failed to predict or prepare for Europe’s largest land war since World War II by, for example, increasing the production of conventional munitions.
Trump also claimed if re-elected, he would “return to a foreign policy that puts America’s interests first,” adding: “America’s chief interest in Eastern Europe is peace and stability. We want people to stop dying.
“This war should never have happened, but it is long past time to end the senseless death and destruction.
“The numbers are much worse than you’re reading about or hearing about. Many more people are dying than you have any idea about.”
Trump has been widely mocked for his plan to stop Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, which he has repeatedly said he could achieve “in 24 hours.”
When asked last month how he would go about this, he said, referring to Presidents Putin and Zelensky: “I will get them into a room, and I know an exact way. You tell one ‘You’re not going to get anything unless you make a deal.’ You tell the other one ‘They’re going to get a lot unless you make a deal.’
“And you just sit them, and you put them, and you have to make a determination.”
Although Trump did not say which one was which, his comments appear to suggest he would force Ukraine to accept the loss of territories illegally occupied and annexed by Russian forces with the threat of rewarding President Putin with even more if they refuse to accept his offer.
In his latest video, Trump also leveled accusations against the European allies of the United States, claiming that they have offered inadequate assistance to Ukraine.
Additionally, the former US leader criticized the Biden administration for its delay in seeking reimbursement for incurred expenses, saying that Biden is “too weak and too disrespected to even ask.”
“In addition, I will ask Europe to reimburse us for the cost of rebuilding the stockpiles sent to Ukraine, which they should be doing now, but Joe Biden is too weak and too disrespected to even ask,” Trump said.
“The fact is that we spent almost 200 billion dollars on helping Ukraine, and Europe has spent just a tiny fraction of that amount,” he added.
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