Former U.S. President Donald Trump has changed his stance on the Russian military operation in Ukraine, initially praising it before backtracking and describing it as a "holocaust." However, he has not criticized Russian President Vladimir Putin.
American conservative journalist Sean Hannity on Fox News has made several attempts to convince Trump to condemn Putin, but to no avail. American media outlets like Rolling Stone have described this effort as "begging." Hannity told Trump, "I was heavily criticized when I called Vladimir Putin very smart... I think you realize he is evil, don't you?" Trump ignored the question, stating that his compliment about Putin's intelligence was about how he sent tanks to the separatist regions he supports in Eastern Ukraine.
Trump added, "This is not the Putin I was dealing with." The former president continued, according to Sky News Arabia, "But I’ll tell you that nothing would have changed if I had been the one dealing with him." He went on to say, "I provided [Ukraine] with anti-tank missiles called 'Javelin.' Without them, there would be nothing happening now (the slowdown of the Russian attack). They are hitting tanks one after another."
However, the reality is that Trump halted the supply of these missiles to Ukraine, despite their temporary approval by the U.S. Congress, in an attempt to pressure Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky into revealing information that could harm his then-rival Joe Biden in the presidential race.
Hannity did not stop pressing Trump to condemn Putin, claiming that Trump's repeated praises of the Russian president were not genuine. Hannity said, "The praises came only from the principle of keeping friends close and enemies closer. Does this explain how you view Putin?" He also asked, "Do you see Vladimir Putin and people like [Chinese President] Xi and Kim Jong Un (the leader of North Korea) and the rulers of the Iranian mullahs' regime as enemies you should keep close?"
Trump replied, "I got along with those people," reiterating, "I got along with them very well, but that doesn’t mean they are good people." He added, "That only means that I understood them and maybe they understood me. Maybe they understood me better, and that’s good." However, Hannity asked him again if he "believed they were capable of doing evil things." Trump responded by blaming current President Joe Biden, stating, "That’s all because they didn’t respect our leader."
