Former President Donald Trump warned on the sidelines of the Conservative Political Action Conference that the conflict in Ukraine following Russia’s invasion could lead to the next “world war.”
In an interview with Fox News Digital, the former president also opined that the Biden White House will need to “do a lot more than just sanctions” to stop Russian President Vladimir Putin. But, Trump also said that the war should “never have happened.”
“It is a horrible thing. It would never have happened under any circumstance, and it is what it is,” Trump said. “But there’s great bravery being shown, and I think they’re doing one hell of a job—much more so than anybody would have thought possible.”
Asked if he had a message for Putin, the 45th president responded flatly: “I have no message.”
“I just think it’s a shame that this is going on. It’s something that should not be going on,” Trump said.
“Thousands of people, I mean, this can lead to much bigger than this one area,” Trump warned. “This could lead to a lot of other countries and can lead to world war.”
He then said, “you never know how it starts, in a world war.”
“You never think a war is going to come out of it,” he added. “All of a sudden, you end up in a world war. This is a very dangerous period for our nation, for the country.”
Just prior to the interview, the U.S., Canada, and some European allies announced they would be placing additional sanctions on Russia, and in particular, “selected” Russian banks to be kicked out of the SWIFT financial system.
That did not impress Trump, however.
“They’re going to have to do more than just sanctions, I suspect,” he added.
“But sanctions are not, you know, Putin—he understands how to avoid sanctions, and he goes through other countries,” Trump told Fox News. “He goes to China as an example.”
Trump, though, said the sanctions “have to be strong, and they have to be swift, OK, to use a word, because that is a very powerful sanction, as you know, SWIFT.”
“And if they’re not, I can’t imagine—it’s just going to be a question of time,” Trump said. “It’s a very ugly thing that’s taking place. Should have never happened.”
Trump also said he believes that China has become emboldened by Russia’s actions and the U.S/NATO response thus far in regards to taking Taiwan by force at some point.
The former president then pivoted to the “way” in which Biden pulled U.S. forces out of Afghanistan, calling it a “surrender.”
“Getting out was a good thing. I had it down to two thousand soldiers,” Trump said, referring to his decision while president to reduce the U.S. presence in the southwest Asian country. “We were going to get out with strength and dignity, but to take the soldiers, the great Army out first— we took our Army and Marines—we took them out first to do that and leave the Americans behind, leave other people behind, leave $85 billion worth of equipment behind.”
“We had 13 young people that were killed, many that were very badly hurt in the bombing and a couple of other things the way they got out,” Trump said, making reference to the Marines, U.S. Army soldier and Navy corpsman killed by a suicide bomber a few days before the final pullout. In addition, 18 other U.S. military members were wounded and 150 Afghanis were killed.
“I really think that was the most embarrassing—one of the lowest points in the history of our country,” Trump said. “And President Xi and Putin, they watched that, and I think they probably came up with ideas that they didn’t have before seeing it, because it was grossly incompetent.”
Asked for his response if the Ukraine invasion had taken place during his time in office, Trump said he couldn’t say “right now.”
“Well, I tell you what, I would do things, but the last thing I want to do is say it right now, because if somebody asks me that is in a position where they can utilize whatever it is I give them,” Trump said. “But I certainly wouldn’t want to be talking about it on television or to the media too much.”
