Through the gates of the war in Ukraine Trump returns to the spotlight with controversial statements about Putin

In contrast to Trump, a number of former US presidents issued statements condemning the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Former President Jimmy Carter demanded the necessity of condemning Russia's invasion of Ukraine and called on the US government to stand by the Ukrainian people and their "legitimate right to peace, security and self-determination."

WASHINGTON - In a surprise to millions of Americans, former President Donald Trump praised Russian President Vladimir Putin's moves in Ukraine, describing him as "savvy" and "intelligent", while calling President Joe Biden "weak" and that he "would not have been President, had it not been for electoral fraud.

In a number of radio and television interventions, Trump repeated his well-known admiration for President Putin, and seemed to understand the invasion of Ukraine, due to Biden's weakness and lack of focus.

What did Trump say?

Speaking to the conservative Clay Travis and Buck Sexton radio program after Russia recognized the regions of Donetsk and Lugansk as independent republics and requested military assistance from Russia, Trump said, "I watched it yesterday, and I said: This is a genius, Putin takes a large part  of Ukraine and declares them independent republics."

Trump added that Putin's intelligence is not in question, and that he knows him well, stressing that this is the kind of show of force that the United States can use on its southern border at Mexico (in reference to his desire to stop irregular immigration).

Commenting on President Joe Biden's description of what is happening as "the beginning of a Russian invasion", Trump criticized Biden's response, claiming that Biden only reached the White House because "the 2020 elections were fraudulent," and Trump continued, "If I were in my position, this would not have happened." Start".

Then the former US president returned and praised Putin again on Thursday, while criticizing the way President Biden performed. This is a very smart man."

Trump then spoke on the phone to the "Laura Ingram" program in the "Fokie" news network, and said that this crisis would not have occurred if he was still in the White House, "Putin would have been satisfied with peace, and now he sees the weakness, incompetence and stupidity of this administration."

Trump and the paradox of all previous presidents

In contrast to Trump, previous American presidents issued statements condemning the Russian invasion of Ukraine in clear opposition to what President Trump did.

Former President Jimmy Carter called for "the need to condemn the invasion of Ukraine and Russia's violation of international law and human rights principles, and to condemn the violation of Ukraine's sovereignty."

While former Democratic President Bill Clinton expressed his solidarity with "the position of President Biden, our allies, and all freedom-loving people in the world who have condemned Russia's unjustified invasion of Ukraine," Clinton added, "I stand by the people of Ukraine, and I pray for their safety and security."

Former Republican President George W. Bush condemned what Russia had done, and said - in a statement - that he joins the international community in condemning Russian President Putin's unjustified invasion of Ukraine, and that "the American government and people must stand strong with our friend and democratic ally Ukraine against Putin's bullying at these times." difficult".

As for former President Barack Obama, he stated that "Russia launched a brazen attack on the people of Ukraine, in violation of international law and basic principles of human rights."

"Michelle and I are praying for the Ukrainian people and for those Russians who are courageously speaking out their opposition to an unnecessary war," Obama added.

Trump's persistence in praising Putin

The words of praise by former President Trump on a foreign opponent engaged in a geopolitical confrontation with his country are an unprecedented act by all standards, according to observers, but a quick look at Trump's history indicates the recurrence of his praise of Putin in the past years.

Trump has long admired foreign strongmen, and President Putin in particular, especially during his 2016 presidential campaign. In that campaign, Trump directly implored the Russians to hack into the emails of Hillary Clinton, his Democratic opponent. Indeed, Ross' "hacker" tried to break into the servers he used in her personal office on the same day.

Once elected, Trump abandoned the usual way Republican and Democratic administrations dealt with Russia, repeatedly showing extraordinary respect for Russia.

At the end of a Putin-Trump summit in Helsinki in 2018, Trump sided with Putin and publicly challenged US intelligence agencies' conclusion that Moscow interfered in the 2016 election to help Trump.

The White House and the Republicans responded

White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki responded to former President Trump's statement by saying, "As a matter of policy, we try not to take advice from anyone who praises President Putin and his military strategy, which I believe is what happened here." Psaki recalled that Trump "justified in 2018 Russia's annexation of Crimea, which was part of Ukraine."

At the same time, senior Republican Party leaders remained silent, and declined to comment on what Trump said.

Other Republican leaders condemned President Putin's actions, and Representative Kevin McCarthy, the leader of the Republican minority in the House of Representatives, who is close to Trump, said in a statement issued on Thursday that "Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine is reckless and sinister," adding that "this act of war aims to rewrite history." It is largely causing alarm and upsetting the balance of power in Europe, and it must be held accountable."

While Michael Bichlos, a historian of US presidential affairs, expressed his shock at Trump's position, and tweeted, "I can't imagine why Trump, when he was president, was so keen to degrade and weaken NATO during his rule.

“Through a special operation” the German intelligence service evacuates its head from Ukraine

The German intelligence service announced the evacuation of its head, Bruno Kahl, from Ukraine through a special operation, after the start of the Russian military operation there. Cal was unable to leave Ukraine during the evacuations carried out by the German Foreign Ministry, because he was late to catch a flight.

The German Federal Intelligence Service announced the evacuation of its head, Bruno Kahl, from Ukraine through a special operation, after the start of the Russian military operation there.

The German "Fox" magazine quoted sources in the intelligence service, as saying that Cal had gone to Ukraine before the start of the Russian military operation, to hold talks with his counterparts there about the implications of Moscow's threats.

The magazine added that the start of the Russian military intervention, at dawn on Thursday, astonished the head of German intelligence, as did others.

She pointed out that Kal was unable to leave the Ukrainian territory during the evacuations carried out by the German Foreign Ministry, due to the delay in catching one of the flights.

Subsequently, special units of German intelligence carried out a special operation to evacuate Cal and his team.

No more details were revealed about the evacuation of the head of the German intelligence service.

At dawn on Thursday, Russia launched a military operation in Ukraine, which was followed by angry reactions from several countries in the world and calls for tougher sanctions against Moscow.

According to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, more than 130 people, including civilians, were killed on the first day of the Russian military intervention.