Trump says Russia would NOT have invaded Ukraine if he was president plays golf ahead of arraignment

Days before he is due to be arraigned in New York, former President Trump appeared to be doing everything he could to distract himself from his impeachment.

Trump was seen giving the thumbs up to supporters lining the streets outside his home in Mar-a-Lago, Florida, on Saturday.

Later, taking up his Truth Social platform, Trump turned on the Ukraine war issue and suggested that Russia probably wouldn’t have invaded if he had been in the White House.

‘Actually, I got along very well with Putin: there wouldn’t be a war between Russia and Ukraine right now if I were president. All those lives would have been saved, all those people would be alive and well right now!’

Trump has previously hinted at such thoughts in the past, most recently during last month’s CPAC convention, during which he bragged that no new war was started during his four years in office.

“I was also the only president where Russia did not take over a country during my tenure,” he boasted. ‘Because I got along very well with Vladimir Putin. I said: “Vladimir, don’t do it, you know that you and I are friends, don’t take control of any country, because, you know, Moscow will be hit very hard.”

Trump tried to divert attention by focusing on the issue of the Ukraine war, suggesting that Russia probably would not have been invaded if he had been in the White House at the time.

Supporters of former President Donald Trump gather outside the Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Florida.

Supporters of former US President Donald Trump wave as his motorcade leaves Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach.

During his speech, Trump said that he could even prevent World War III.

“Before I get to the Oval Office, I will have the disastrous war between Russia and Ukraine resolved, it will be resolved quickly,” he vowed.

Last month, the subject of Russia came up again during a phone interview on Fox News, where he said something similar.

Trump insisted that the invasion of Ukraine would not have happened if he had been in office: “My reaction is that it is very sad because it never would have happened if we had had the Trump administration.”

‘There was no chance that this could have happened.

I know him well, and this was not something that was going to happen at all. Next, let’s see what happens, but just watch.

The talk’s host, Sean Hannity, asked Trump if he sees people like Putin as enemies he needs to keep closer to him, to which the former president replied: “I got along with these people.”

That doesn’t mean they are good people.

Trump is expected to turn himself in to authorities in New York on Tuesday to face charges over a secret money payment to porn star Stormy Daniels.

A motorcade, with former President Trump aboard, passes supporters in West Palm Beach on Saturday.

Earlier this year, former President Trump posted a video about the war in Ukraine, claiming that he could negotiate an end to the conflict within 24 hours.

“A lot of things are changing,” Trump added in his interview last month with Sean Hannity. ‘This doesn’t look like the same Putin I was dealing with, but I’m telling you, I wouldn’t have changed if I was dealing with him’ (pictured shaking Putin’s hand in 2019)

‘It means nothing more than the fact that I understood them and maybe they understood me. Maybe they understood me even better, okay, because they knew there would be a big penalty.”

Trump added that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine “really is a crime against humanity” that “has to end soon.”

“The problem with Putin is that he has a very big ego,” he explained. “If he ends now, it will look like a big loss for him, even if he takes a little more territory.”

Earlier, Trump described the Russian president’s recognition of two breakaway Ukrainian ‘republics’ as independent as ‘cool’ and ‘smart’.

Trump has since emphasized that the comments he made about Putin were made before the invasion of Ukraine. (Here, he is pictured with Putin in 2017 at the APEC summit)

Trump has since emphasized that the comments were made before the invasion of Ukraine.

“A lot of things are changing,” Trump said. “This doesn’t seem like the same Putin I was dealing with, but I’m telling you, I wouldn’t have changed if I was dealing with him.”

‘I understood them [the Russians] and they understood me,” Trump added.

‘Nobody was as hard on Russia as I was. Putin will tell you.

The 75-year-old former president said Putin is “in big trouble right now” and “in a bad corner,” and that he thinks the Russian president wishes he hadn’t started “this mess.”

“This is turning into a disaster,” Trump said.