Former National Security Adviser John Bolton went after former President Donald Trump on Sunday, warning that the Russian government will support Trump’s re-election because it sees him as an “easy winner.”
“If Trump wins, there will be a celebration in the Kremlin,” Bolton said. MSNBC “Inside with Jen Psaki” interview Sunday. “Putin thinks he can easily be marked, so there’s no doubt about that.”
Russian President Vladimir Putin has praised President Trump in the past, but last week he largely endorsed President Biden. The Russian leader said he hoped Biden would win the election, saying he would be a “more predictable” president.
But Mr Bolton dismissed the comments, saying Putin “really outdid himself” in the “disinformation” in the statement.
Trump has long touted his good relationship with Putin as an example of his foreign policy expertise, but Bolton said the former president was simply toying with Putin.
He particularly criticized Trump for refusing to blame Putin for the death of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny. Navalny’s death was reported on Friday, and Putin’s critics at home and foreign leaders, including President Biden, consider it a possible political assassination.
“Well, heaven forbid that [Trump] Say anything critical of President Vladimir Putin,” Bolton said. “You know, accidents don’t happen in Russian POW camps like that.”
Trump made his first comments on Navalny’s death on Monday after Bolton’s interview, comparing it to his own legal situation. He did not criticize Putin like other leaders.
Similarly, although Trump did not criticize Putin for the 2020 poisoning attempt on Navalny, many foreign leaders did.
“It’s clearly part of a pattern. Mr. Bolton simply doesn’t want to criticize his friend Mr. Putin, because in Mr. Trump’s mind, a good relationship with Mr. Putin would help the United States with Russia. “We believe we can build a good relationship,” Bolton continued. “This is like telling President Putin that President Trump has no idea what he’s doing.”
Referring to the 2018 summit between Trump and Putin in Helsinki, Finland, Bolton said it was a good thing that the one-on-one conversation between the two was led by Putin. . Bolton was in Helsinki with the former president as national security adviser.
“It’s a good thing that President Trump has less time to actually say something to President Vladimir Putin,” he said of the summit.
Bolton also warned of mounting legal costs and judgments for Trump, noting that foreign powers could use Trump’s finances as leverage for their foreign policy goals. Last week, Trump was awarded a massive $355 million verdict in a New York corporate fraud case, and last month was ordered to pay another $83 million in a defamation lawsuit.
“I think this is one of the signs that Mr. Trump is really not fit to be president,” Bolton said. “He’s obsessed with these issues, his family is obsessed with those issues. And I think the foreigners are going to try to take advantage of that in some way. They’ve already done it and There might be.”
Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
