Even before taking office, former President Donald Trump said he wanted to end the conflict between Russia and Ukraine as the next president, but did not say how he would do so because of laws banning private diplomacy.
Trump made the comments during an interview with crypto enthusiast Farooq Sarmad on X (formerly Twitter) “Spaces,” his first since escaping a second assassination attempt at his Florida golf club the previous day.
Democrats slandered President Trump as a Russian puppet, but Russian President Putin did not invade any country during Trump's presidency. President Joe Biden adopted a conciliatory stance after taking office, lifting Trump's sanctions on the Nord Stream 2 pipeline and holding a summit with Putin in Geneva before meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. Russia invaded Ukraine, which held out against Biden's expectations, but Biden then took office declaring that “diplomacy is back,” and pushed for an elusive victory after nearly three years of war. Biden has yet to convene any kind of joint peace conference.
Trump's comments can be seen below at 27:18.
I want Russia to make peace with Ukraine and stop this. Millions of people are being killed. It's way more than the numbers you read. But I want to get it done as the next president before I take office, because this is a problem that has to be solved. You see, too many people have died, too many cities are just now in rubble, cultures destroyed. We have to get it done, and I will get it done. There would have been no October 7, there would have been no Russian attack on Ukraine, there would have been no inflation. All this inflation that has hurt people so badly. There would have been no that horrible withdrawal. We withdrew from Afghanistan, but we were withdrawing with dignity and strength. It was the most embarrassing moment in the history of our country. And frankly, without it, Russia would never have gone into Ukraine. They looked at it and said, 'This country is no longer run by Trump.' This country is run by stupid people.'
Trump did not explain how he would make peace as a private citizen. The Logan Act bars private citizens from conducting formal diplomatic activities on behalf of the United States. The law was used by the Justice Department during the 2016-2017 presidential transition as a pretext to wiretap then-national security adviser Michael Flynn.
Joel B. Pollack is executive editor of Breitbart News. Breitbart News Sunday It airs Sundays from 7:00pm-10:00pm ET (4:00pm-7:00pm PT) on SiriusXM Patriot. He is the author of the following books: Agenda: What President Trump Should Do in His First 100 Daysavailable for pre-order on Amazon. He also The Trump Virtues: The Lessons and Legacy of Donald Trump's Presidencyavailable now on Audible. He is the recipient of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter. Joel Pollack.
