The former president told Elon Musk there had been \u201czero chance\u201d of hostilities until the current American leader opened his mouth<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump has accused US President Joe Biden of bringing the world to the brink of nuclear war by making \u201cstupid threats\u201d against Russia, blaming the Ukraine conflict on Biden\u2019s \u201clow IQ.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Trump has often claimed that the conflict never would have happened had he still been in the White House in early 2022. In a livestreamed conversation with X (formerly Twitter) owner Elon Musk on Monday, the former US president said he had viewed Russia\u2019s troop buildup on the Ukrainian border as a negotiating tactic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI thought [Russian President Vladimir Putin] was doing that \u2013 because Putin\u2019s a good negotiator \u2013 I thought he was doing that to negotiate,\u201d Trump stated. \u201cBut then Biden started saying such stupid things. For instance, he said that \u2018[Ukraine] can be a NATO country.\u2019 Now, Russia, for as long as there\u2019s been NATO, said \u2018we\u2019re never going to agree to that,\u2019 and we go right up front and say that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For decades, Ukraine\u2019s potential accession to NATO has been recognized in Washington as \u201cthe brightest of all red lines\u201d for Moscow, current CIA director and former US ambassador to Russia William Burns wrote in 2008. Nevertheless, the White House rejected a draft treaty put forward by Putin in late 2021 that would have prevented the conflict in return for a halt to NATO\u2019s eastward expansion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI could have stopped that, and a smart president could have stopped that. It was so bad, the words that [Biden] was using, the stupid threats coming out of his stupid face\u2026 that could lead to World War III,\u201d Trump continued.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Trump claimed that he had a good relationship with Putin, but that he had personally threatened the Russian leader with consequences if he sent troops into Ukraine: \u201cI said \u2018don\u2019t do it. You can\u2019t do it Vladimir. You do it, it\u2019s gonna be a bad day.\u2019 I told him things, what I\u2019d do, and he said \u2018no way\u2019. And I said \u2018way.\u2019\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAnd you know it\u2019s the last time we ever had that conversation,\u201d Trump added. \u201cI got along well with him. I hope to get along well with him again.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Kremlin has never confirmed or denied that such a conversation took place during Trump\u2019s time in office.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Trump has repeatedly claimed that he would stop the Ukraine conflict within 24 hours if elected president this November. He has never fully elaborated on how he would do this, but recent media reports suggest that he would leverage the massive US military assistance to Kiev to pressure Ukraine\u2019s Vladimir Zelensky into accepting some territorial losses in exchange for peace.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
However, Trump did not lobby his congressional allies to block a $61 billion aid package to Kiev in April, and said at the time that he would support lending, rather than gifting, money to Kiev in future. Trump did not discuss future US aid to Ukraine with Musk, instead calling on EU nations to increase their own contributions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n