Former President Donald Trump has responded on Russia's President Vladimir Putin's remarks that his country would prefer President Joe Biden to win in the 2024 United States presidential election.
Donald Trump Reacts to Russia's President Vladimir Putin's Remarks About Joe Biden
During a campaign rally in North Charleston, South Carolina, on Wednesday, Donald Trump, who is known to have a good relationship with the Russian leader, told his supporters that Vladimir Putin saying he prefers Joe Biden over him was "a "great compliment," ABC News reported.
"President Putin of Russia has just given me a great compliment, actually... He just said that he would much rather have Joe Biden as president than Trump. Now that's a compliment," the former president said. "A lot of people said, 'Oh, gee, that's too bad.' No, no, that's a good thing. And, of course, he would say that."
According to USA Today, Putin told Russian state television on Wednesday that Biden getting reelected would be better for Russia since he was a "more experienced person, he is predictable, he is a politician of the old formation."
However, Putin clarified that they "will work with any US president who the American people have confidence in." The Russian president also dismissed questions about Biden's age and mental health, saying he had not noticed anything unusual when they last met in 2021, BBC reported.
"Even then [three years ago] people were saying that he was incompetent, but I did not see anything of this sort... Yes, he kept looking at his papers, but to be honest, I kept doing the same. So there was nothing peculiar," Putin noted.
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Donald Trump Says It's a Given Vladimir Putin Would Prefer Joe Biden's Victory in 2024 Election
At the rally in North Charleston, Donald Trump said it was already given that Vladimir Putin would prefer Joe Biden's victory because while he was president, he put a break on Russia's interest, especially on the Nord Stream 2's construction.
Nord Stream 2 is a German-Russian pipeline that would be used to transfer natural gas from Russia to Europe.
"I stopped Nord Stream 2, and [Biden] approved it right after I left, so Putin is not a fan of mine actually," Trump noted, as ABC News reported.
The former president has stopped the pipeline's construction by imposing sanctions on it, and Biden eventually waived the sanctions on the company behind Russia's Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline.
"I got along good with him [Putin], but he doesn't want to have me. He wants Biden because he's going to be given everything he wants, including Ukraine," Trump said.
"He's gonna have his dream of getting Ukraine because of Biden... The only president in the last five that hasn't given Russia anything is a president known as Donald J. Trump," he added.
Trump has repeatedly touted his good relationship with the Russian leader on the campaign trail, even calling him "smart." The former president recently earned the ire of Biden and other top Western officials after he suggested that the US may not protect NATO allies who are not paying enough money to the military alliance from a potential Russian invasion.
Trump noted that he would urge Russia to do "whatever the hell they want" in that situation. Reacting to Trump's remarks, Biden said the former president "is making it clear that he will abandon our NATO allies" if Russia attacks.
Biden then emphasized the possible consequences of Trump's remarks, saying that his rival's admittance "that he intends to give Putin a greenlight for more war and violence, to continue his brutal assault against a free Ukraine, and to expand his aggression to the people of Poland and the Baltic States are appalling and dangerous."
NATO, an international military alliance consisting of 31 members, has set a target for each member country to allocate at least 2% of their gross domestic product (GDP) to defense. However, according to Reuters, only 11 countries are spending that much.
Trump, who has repeatedly threatened to withdraw the US from NATO, has long complained about the sum of money other NATO member countries spend on defense compared with the US.
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