Trump kicks off campaign saying he could stop Russia’s war in Ukraine in 24 hours

A video has surfaced on Twitter of a roadside cafe cashier praying for Donald Trump with the 45th President of the United States himself. In less than two days, the video has accumulated nearly 4 million views. The former president has therefore begun the public stage of his next electoral race. Speaking to supporters Jan. 28-29 in New Hampshire and South Carolina, he said America needed a fighter who would stand against “left-wing politicians, the Washington swamp, the media”, as well as “globalists and China”. Russia was not on this list. It sounded in a different context.
Donald Trump said the following: “We managed to avoid war, thanks to me. And, as I said earlier, if I was president, Russia wouldn’t accept that, Putin wouldn’t accept that. And even now I could solve everything in 24 hours.
At the same time, Trump offered no effective mechanism that would stop the war in his speech. Political scientists also draw attention to the fact that the Russian attack was provoked neither by the Biden administration, let alone by Kiev. And they are reminded of the Russian ultimatum of December 2021, when Russian troops were already concentrated along the border with Ukraine. “In this ultimatum, the Kremlin demanded that NATO effectively return to the 1997-98 borders,” Konstantin Pleshakov, a political science professor at Amherst College, said in an interview with the Russian media service. “We know Trump didn’t like NATO, he despised Europe, but even he couldn’t meet those demands of Putin.”
The ex-president also recalled the withdrawal of American troops from Afghanistan, initiated by Barack Obama, supported by the Trump administration and carried out under Biden. According to Trump, under him, the United States would leave Afghanistan with pride, and he himself knew how to negotiate with the Taliban, which is often criticized for the former head of the White House.
“I was asked: ‘Why are you negotiating with him?’ And who else should I take them with? Trump told his supporters at a rally in New Hampshire. “I said to Abdul (Taliban political leader Abdul Ghani Baradar – media.): ‘You are killing our people, you will regret it, you have to stop it.’ And it stopped. Enough talking on the phone, you know ?
According to Konstantin Pleshakov, the events in Afghanistan, unlike the war in Ukraine, belong to the past: “It’s impossible to replay it, so it’s easy to blame Biden for all the sins and shout that Trump would have done much better . .”
In general, political analysts note an unusually large share of the international agenda in the candidate’s speech at the very beginning of the electoral campaign. Usually, experts say, candidates for the White House focus more on national issues.
“The Western world has not been threatened by any country – in this case, Russia – for at least 40 years,” Pleshakov told media. “Now is a special time, a special election campaign, and it’s possible that all the candidates will start it by talking about foreign policy.”
In his speeches in New Hampshire and South Carolina, the ex-president also attacked Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, whom experts predict Trump will be the main rival in the fight for the Republican Party nomination. Trump accused DeSantis of trying to “rewrite history” when he made statements about the success of the fight against the coronavirus.
But competitors aren’t the former White House chief’s only problem. He was previously sued in the state of Georgia in the previous presidential election. As noted in the documents, on January 2, 2021, Trump called Georgian Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger asking him to find nearly 12,000 votes in his favour. Fulton County District Attorney Fanny Willis said enough evidence has already been gathered against Trump to hold hearings.