Former President Donald Trump said in an interview Tuesday that he was “surprised” Russian President Vladimir Putin invaded neighboring Ukraine, having thought the threat of an attack was a negotiating ploy.

“I’m surprised — I’m surprised. I thought he was negotiating when he sent his troops to the border. I thought he was negotiating,” Trump told the Washington Examiner. “I thought it was a tough way to negotiate, but a smart way to negotiate.”

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“I figured he was going to make a good deal like everybody else does with the United States and the other people they tend to deal with — you know, like every trade deal. We’ve never made a good trade deal until I came along,” the 45th president added in the phone interview at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida.

https://nypost.com/2022/03/16/trump-claims-hes-surprised-putin-invaded-ukraine/

Former President Donald Trump was recorded on speaker phone claiming to pal and golf pro John Daly that he once warned Russia President Vladimir Putin that he’d bomb Moscow if Putin invaded Ukraine.

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/trump-john-daly-bombing-moscow-putin-friend_n_622400ade4b03bc49a9c073c