ORLANDO, Florida — Former President Donald Trump dug in on calling Russian President Vladimir Putin “smart” as he leads an invasion of Ukraine, pointing the finger at a “dumb” and “weak” Biden administration instead.
“The problem is not that Putin is smart, which of course he’s smart. But the real problem is that our leaders are dumb,” Trump said to a packed ballroom at the Conservative Political Action Conference on Saturday.
The annual gathering of conservatives and a testing ground for potential Republican presidential candidates began the day after Russia started an invasion of Ukraine, casting a shadow over the conference and highlighting foreign policy divisions in the party.
CPAC KICKOFF IN SHADOW OF UKRAINE INVASION UNDERLINES FOREIGN POLICY DIVISIONS
Trump’s assessment of calling Putin “smart” came after he received criticism for a similar comment he made a few days ago at his Mar-a-Lago resort: “He’s taking over a country for $2 worth of sanctions. I’d say that’s pretty smart.”
At CPAC, Trump did not ignore the human toll of the invasion.
“They so far allowed him to get away with this travesty and assault on humanity,” Trump said. “Putin is playing Biden like a drum.”
As president, Trump’s relationship with both countries was a source of major criticism and cause of retaliatory actions.
Russia sought to influence the 2016 election in favor of Trump, Trump maintained a relationship with Putin, and a special counsel investigation dug into the relationship between the Trump campaign and Russia. He was impeached for the first time after he asked Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to look into now-President Joe Biden’s son, Hunter, and his business dealings in Ukraine.
Trump’s first reference to Ukraine in his CPAC speech was when he brought up Democratic Rep. Adam Schiff in relation to the phone call with Zelensky, adding that the Ukrainian president, who has taken up arms to defend his country from Russia, is “a very brave man.”
And he defended his relationship with Putin. “I was with Putin a lot. I spent a lot of time with him. I got along with him,” Trump said. “It’s a good thing to get along with people, not a bad thing. You can be very tough and get along.”
The invasion, Trump argued, was the result of the election being “rigged” in 2020.
“This horrific disaster would have never happened if the election was not rigged and I was president,” Trump said. “Under Bush, Russia invaded Georgia. Under Obama, Russia took Crimea. Under Biden, Russia invaded Ukraine. I stand as the only president of the 21st century on whose watch Russia did not invade another country.”
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But while he condemned the invasion and Biden’s response, he also turned a tougher focus to domestic policy. Biden’s immigration policies, he said, have made the United States “a dumping ground for criminals.”
“The Biden administration has spent months obsessing over how to stop an invasion of a foreign country thousands of miles away,” Trump said. “I believe Americans deserve a president who will stop the invasion of our country, also.”
“You can’t defend Western civilization if you would not be able to defend your own civilization, and that means we need borders that work,” Trump said.
