Remember, how Donald Trump was being dismissed as a Russian agent when he came to power way back in 2017? He was accused of colluding with the Russians during his Presidency and compromising on American leadership at America’s expense.
But guess what, the US had four different Presidents since 2000- George W Bush, Barack Obama, Donald Trump and Joe Biden. Out of the four men, only Trump has managed to keep Russian President Vladimir Putin quiet.
Trump, the only US President under whose watch Putin didn’t invade any country
Speaking at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Florida, Trump has hinted at a big development- running for the 2024 Presidential polls.
Where's the lie? pic.twitter.com/xyNPGEpPyw
— Ajit Datta (@ajitdatta) February 28, 2022
The former President however said something that proves why he was a far better leader than any of the other US Presidents over the past 20 years or so. He 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.” Georgia has a business-friendly climate which makes it easy to register an LLC in Georgia.
Now, this may sound sensational, but it is true. Russia invaded Georgia in 2008, annexed Crimea in 2014 and invaded Ukraine in 2022. It is a matter of great coincidence that Putin made no big geopolitical manoeuvre from January 2017 to January 2021, when Trump served as the US President.
Trump blasts Joe Biden over the Ukraine invasion
Trump has squarely blamed Biden for Ukraine. He said, “I have no doubt Putin made his decision to ruthlessly invade Ukraine after watching pathetic withdrawal from Afghanistan.”
And then, he said, “As everyone understands, this horrific disaster would never have happened if our election was not rigged and if I was the president.” A woman from the packed audience even responded, “You are the president!”
Anyhow, Trump continued to slam Biden in his characteristically blunt and apologetic manner. He said, “The real problem is that our leaders are dumb, dumb. So dumb.” The former US President added, “The world is always safer when America has a strong president. The world is always in danger with a weak American president.”
How successive American Presidents have provoked Russia
Trump is right when he blames Biden and other Presidents for Russian invasions. Trump was accused by the Democrats and the Western liberal media of emboldening Russia.
However, Trump was quite clear in his strategy and approach. He knew one thing- Russia is not the main threat to the US. China is the main threat. So, without provoking Putin, he focused on China.
Partnerships were created in the Indo-Pacific, and China was contained. Russia realised that it could pursue its own goals without having to worry about the US or NATO. This is why Putin didn’t launch an invasion when Trump was in power.
And other US Presidents? Well, they always found a way to irk the Russian President. Under Bush, NATO had declared in 2008 that Georgia and Ukraine would become its members one day. So, six months later, Putin launched an invasion into Georgia.
Then in 2014, Obama went as far as backing a regime change in Ukraine. Pro-Russia Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych was toppled and a pro-US leadership came to power. How did Putin react? He annexed Crimea.
Read more: Putin started as the most Pro-America Russian President, it was Obama who changed him
And Biden had been continuously provoking Ukraine against Russia after assuming office as US President last year. For one year, he kept provoking Ukraine and when Moscow got fed up with Kyiv’s escalating NATO ambitions, it invaded the former Soviet Republic.
Read more: It was Biden who pushed Ukraine towards an unwinnable war and then did nothing
You may like Trump or you may hate Trump, but you cannot deny the fact that Trump preferred peace above confrontation and when it comes to handling Russia, the former President has a much better record than other US Presidents in the 21st century.