Today on Meet the Press, NBC’s Kristen Welker repeated to former President Donald Trump what Russian President Vladimir Putin recently said of him: “Quote, ‘We surely hear that Mr. Trump says he will resolve all burning issues within several days, including the Ukrainian crisis. We cannot help but feel happy about it.'”
[Note: In May 2023, during his town hall event on CNN in New Hampshire, Trump said if he was re-elected in 2024 that he would be able to resolve the Ukraine war in one day.]
When Welker asked Trump “What do you make of that? Do you welcome this [Putin] support?”, Trump replied: “Well, I like that he said that. Because that means what I’m saying is right.”
Trump added: “I got along with Putin. Let me tell you, I got along with him really well. And that’s a good thing, not a bad thing. Trump claimed of Putin: “He’s got 1,700 nuclear missiles. And so do we. But, look, that’s a good thing. Getting along is OK. But I got along through strength.”
[According to the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists: “Russia possesses a total of 5,889 nuclear warheads as of 2023, the largest stockpile of nuclear warheads in the world; the second-largest stockpile is the United States’ 5,428 warheads. Russia’s deployed missiles (those actually ready to be launched) number about 1,674, second to the United States’ 1,770.”]
Putin gave Trump what came close to an endorsement for 2024 election. “We surely hear that Mr. Trump says he will resolve all burning issues within several days, including the Ukrainian crisis. We cannot help but feel happy about it.”
— Richard Engel (@RichardEngel) September 12, 2023
NBC News chief foreign correspondent Richard Engel reacted to the Meet the Press interview on X (formerly Twitter): “Putin gave Trump what came close to an endorsement for 2024 election.”
