Russia and Putin · Between terms · № 68
Hours before the invasion, said Putin was 'pretty smart' to take 'a country for $2 worth of sanctions'
“'Oh, Trump said Putin's smart.' I mean, he's taken over a country for $2 worth of sanctions. I'd say that's pretty smart.”
- Said
- , Fundraiser at Mar-a-Lago, Palm Beach, Florida
- Subject
- Invasion eve fundraiser
- Type
- Praise and deference
- Topic
- Ukraine & Russia
- Era
- Between terms
What happened
Speaking at a Mar-a-Lago fundraiser on the evening of February 23, 2022, Trump repeated his praise of Putin from the previous day, saying Putin was 'taking over a country, really a vast, vast location, a great piece of land with a lot of people and just walking right in,' and that he knew Putin 'very well' and 'almost as well as anybody in this room.' Video of the remarks was circulated by the Democratic group American Bridge. Russia's full-scale assault on Ukraine began about 5 a.m. Kyiv time on February 24, roughly 10 p.m. in Palm Beach. At CPAC in Orlando on February 26 Trump called the attack 'appalling' and 'an outrage and an atrocity that should never have been allowed to occur,' while defending the earlier remarks: 'The problem is not that Putin is smart, which of course he's smart, but the real problem is that our leaders are dumb.'
Sources
- Donald Trump Praises 'Very Smart' Putin During Mar-a-Lago Fundraiser
- Trump's response to Putin's invasion of Ukraine reveals divisions among Republicans
- Speech: Donald Trump Delivers a Speech at the 2022 CPAC Convention in Orlando - February 26, 2022
- Donald Trump defends calling Putin 'smart', hints at 2024 presidential bid