PALM BEACH, Florida — Former President Donald Trump told Breitbart News exclusively on Thursday evening that he intends to negotiate peace between Russia and Ukraine as President-elect before he even is sworn in as the next president of the United States.
Trump, in an hourlong interview with Breitbart News at his luxurious seaside resort and club, Mar-a-Lago, here in South Florida, said that he wants to see the war between Russia and Ukraine “settled.”
“I want to see it settled,” Trump said. “I want to get it done.”
Trump said he knows Russian president Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky, and believes he can negotiate peace to end the “death” and “destruction” if elected again on Nov. 5.
“I know both heads of the countries,” Trump said. “I know President Putin very well. I want to see the death stopping. There’s death and there’s destruction. They are destroying the whole fabric of a certain part of the world. I want to get it negotiated, and get it done.”
Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump speaks to reporters during a news conference at his Mar-a-Lago estate Thursday, Aug. 8, 2024, in Palm Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
Trump said his Democrat opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris, would keep the war going and keep flowing hundreds of billions of American tax dollars into Ukraine rather than ending it. He said Harris would do nothing, and because of her inaction “millions of people will die” if she were to win the election in November. He also said Harris’s ineptitude could drag the world into a global war.
“I don’t think she has any clue,” Trump said. “She wouldn’t handle it at all. I don’t think she’d do anything. I think it would just go on and millions of people will die. It could evolve into a World War also. She’s got no capability to get it done. I want to get it done. I’ve always had a very good relationship with both men and I think I’m in a very good position. It would have been easier to get done—it would have never started. If I were there, it would have never started.”
Trump also said he hopes he will be able to negotiate the peace deal ending the war in the timeframe between the Nov. 5 election and the Jan. 20, 2025, inauguration, should he win.
“You look at the heritage of the country—the cities are mostly knocked down,” Trump said, describing Ukraine. “They’re flattened. They’re just totally flattened. Have you ever seen some of these cities? There’s not a building standing. The country has been devastated. So I want to get it solved and I will be able to get it solved. And I’d like to do it before I get to the White House after I’m president-elect.”
Much more from Trump’s latest interview with Breitbart News is coming soon.