Vladimir Putin would not have invaded Ukraine had Donald Trump been in office, the former president has claimed.
The 45th President of the United States joined Nigel Farage on GB News to lament his successor’s foreign affairs record.
During Joe Biden’s time in office, Russia has invaded Ukraine and the US withdrew its troops from Afghanistan, the latter development described as 'unbelievably bad' by Trump.
He claims the decision to withdraw troops from Afghanistan emboldened Putin.
Trump says Putin would not have invaded Ukraine if he was still US President
GB NEWS / GETTY
“I think it was a low point in the history of our country”, he said.
“I believe that when Putin looked at it, he said, ‘I can’t believe this is what has happened to the United States’.
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Putin, 71, has been elected to serve another six year term REUTERS
Donald Trump joined Nigel Farage for an exclusive GB News sit down
GB NEWS
“This is what happened and he said ‘this is the time we can go in’. He would never have done it [invade Ukraine] with me.
“Everybody knows that. We used to talk about it. It was the apple of his eye, Ukraine.
“He would never have done it. He understood the consequence and we had a good relationship.”
Trump added that Biden’s energy policies drove prices to such a level that Putin ‘made a fortune’.
“It went up to $100 a barrel”, he said.
“Putin ended up making a fortune. It’s interesting, when Biden wanted to stop Putin he never talked about energy.
“All he had to do is drive the price of energy down a little bit and he would have been able to stop it.”
During Trump’s exclusive GB News sit down with Nigel Farage, the former president hit out at NATO members for ‘taking advantage’ of the US.
He asserted US support would only be a guarantee for the alliance if members ‘pay up’.
The 71-year-old has long been a critic of NATO, accusing members such as Germany of not paying enough for their own defence and relying on Washington for protection.
Speaking to Trump, Farage said: "You said this back in 2017 and 18 when you were president you visited Brussels, and you commented that the Russians can do whatever they want if these countries don't pay. You said it again recently. That's now being used."
Trump responded: "They can use it, I don't care if they use it. Because what I'm saying is a form of negotiation. Why should we guard these countries that have a lot of money and the United States was paying for most of NATO? When I went there, I had already had it out with them [in the past].
"They then stopped paying again. But now they're paying because of those comments that you saw two, three weeks ago [from me when I visited].
“I don't know if you know, but a lot of money's come in since those comments were made."