Former President Donald Trump told Newsmax that he thinks the U.S. border, not Ukraine's, ought to be the No. 1 issue for America.
But even on that critical clash with the Kremlin, the former president said Joe Biden has botched things, handing all the leverage to Vladimir Putin.
"It's looking like they will" make a move on Ukraine, Trump told Tuesday's "Rob Schmitt Tonight." "I would have said it's not even possible. This is not something that ever would have happened if we were there.
"But it's looking to me, Rob, like they will make a move.
"At a minimum, they're going to negotiate a lot of good stuff. Because, if they don't make a move, Biden will give them everything."
Trump added he sees Putin capitalizing on weakness.
"You have to project strength," Trump continued. "He doesn't have any respect for our leadership. He doesn't have any respect for our country anymore.
"They respected our country, and frankly, they respected our leader a year ago. This is not something that ever was going to happen.
"This was not even thinkable," Trump added.
Like the timing of Russia's annexation of Crimea in 2014 around the Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, Trump warns of these games in Beijing that began this week.
"After the Olympics it will be a very interesting period of time," Trump said, "because they see the way in which we withdraw from Afghanistan, the horrible way – not the fact that we did.
"We were getting out with strength and dignity, the equipment and no death. What happened is terrible, and the world watched. They watch our borders, where we have people flooding into our country. We have no idea who they are, where they come from."
The Biden administration has opened more than our border, it has opened the door for Putin in Ukraine, Trump noted.
"This is something that Putin would have always liked to have done, but he didn't see the opportunity – certainly not in the last few years," he said.
Trump noted, amid all the concern, Russia never made a move with Trump in the White House.
"Frankly, nothing happened with respect to any country," Trump concluded. "We got back in the swim. We made better trade deals. We did a lot of good things, but nothing happened that was negative to the United States."
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Eric Mack ✉
Eric Mack has been a writer and editor at Newsmax since 2016. He is a 1998 Syracuse University journalism graduate and a New York Press Association award-winning writer.
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