Trump is repeating an old lie to spin a new one.
In a post-election news conference, Trump answered whether or not he would place sanctions on Russia should Vladimir Putin refuse to enter into talks to deescalate the war in Ukraine. “Sounds likely,” he said.
He then told reporters that the war should have “never started,” and that the conflict would never have happened if America had had a “competent president,” taking a shot at the Biden administration. Trump then repeated an half-decade old lie, but this time with a twist: “the war in Ukraine would’ve never happened if I were president. But that couldn’t happen because the election was rigged.”
Donald Trump’s claim that the 2020 election was rigged marked one of the most infamous moments in American history. By spreading this falsehood, Trump was able to stir his political base into such a frenzy that a violent mob of thousands stormed the Capitol Building in an attempt to overturn the result. In the four years since the riot, Trump has yet to admit his lie, and continues to use his stolen election claim to further mobilize his voters and maintain their loyalty.
That loyalty has not gone unrewarded. Though the Capitol building attack left multiple people dead and many more wounded, Trump recently issued a blanket pardon for over a thousand rioters, including those who had been charged with violent and seditious crimes. The move was seen as a slap in the face by law enforcement officers across the nation, and even some Trump supporters were perturbed by the decision.
Despite the best efforts of the Department of Justice, Trump was able to escape retribution for stoking the insurrection. Special Counsel Jack Smith recently announced that while there was enough evidence to convict Trump of a crime for his incitement of the riot and his stolen election claims, the Department of Justice would be closing their investigation against him due to the agency’s longstanding policy against prosecuting sitting presidents.
Trump’s notion that he could have prevented the Russian invasion of Ukraine is at odds with his own past statements. Trump praised Putin soon after the invasion, calling the Russian president a “genius” and “savvy” for his decision to occupy parts of his neighbor country. “”I knew Putin very well,” Trump bragged “I got along with him great.”
Trump’s criticism of the war in Ukraine is a recent invention, and Trump has promised that he would end the conflict on “day one” of his second term in office. The president, obviously, was unable to keep his campaign promise. In the lead-up to his presidency, Trump quietly walked back his day one claim, and his special envoy to Ukraine told Fox News that it would likely take “100 days” for the president to end the war.
Days into his presidency, Trump took action against Russia in the form of a Truth Social post. He wrote that while he wasn’t “looking to hurt Russia,” he called on Putin personally to “STOP this ridiculous war.” Trump then threatened to hit Russia with “high levels of Tariffs, Taxes, Sanctions” if the conflict did not end. “Let’s get this war, which never would have started if I were President, over with” Trump concluded, repeating the dubious press conference claim he made to denigrate Biden. The Biden administration has already imposed numerous economic sanctions against Russia, and the president didn’t go into detail about his plan to up the ante. Trump may not have a plan at all, and instead will use the war to score points against old political enemies and repeat older lies.
Published: Jan 23, 2025 12:55 am