Trump says Putin is 'having a lot of trouble' invading Ukraine because he thought it would be a '48-hour deal' Sophia Ankel | Mar 11, 2022, 6:15 AM
Then-President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Helsinki. Chris McGrath/Getty Images
> Trump said Putin was having trouble in Ukraine because Putin expected "a 48-hour deal."
> Western officials said Russian forces were struggling partly because of strong resistance.
> Trump has distanced himself from Putin since praising his justification for the invasion as genius.
Former President Donald Trump said Russian President Vladimir Putin was "having a lot of trouble" invading Ukraine because Putin thought it would be a "48-hour deal."
In an interview Thursday with Fox News' Sean Hannity, Trump said the Russian invasion of Ukraine "truly is a crime against humanity" that "has to end soon."
"Putin is having a lot of trouble right now. He's having big, big trouble because he thought it was going to be a 48-hour deal and the Ukrainians are good fighters," he told Hannity.
It was unclear where Trump got the 48-hour figure from. The CIA's director, William Burns, said on Tuesday that US intelligence assessed that Putin believed his military would seize the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv within two days.
Western officials have said that Russian forces are badly mismanaging their operation and being pushed back by unexpectedly fierce Ukrainian resistance.
Trump has distanced himself from Putin since Russia's invasion. He was heavily criticized for praising Putin's justification to invade Ukraine as "savvy" and "genius" on February 22, two days before Russian troops attacked Ukraine.
On Thursday, Hannity set Trump up to criticize Putin multiple times during their 30-minute interview, but Trump appeared not to respond.
"I think you also recognize he's evil, do you not?" Hannity said at one point.
Trump did not directly respond to Hannity's question, saying instead that he made the comments about Putin being "savvy" before the invasion.
He also touted his relationship with Putin and repeatedly said the invasion "would have never happened" if he were president. John Bolton, Trump's former national security advisor, said on Wednesday that Putin put off invading Ukraine during Trump's presidency because "Putin saw Trump doing a lot of his work for him."
Poster Comment:
When Harris met with the President of Poland, and he asked what the U.S. would do about the Ukrainian refugee crisis all she could do was giggle. This woman needs to be kept OFF the world stage since she is an embarrassment.