Did Donald Trump confess to being played by Vladimir Putin?
Well, sort of now,
this happened in the context of an interview with the Washington examiner.
Where he finally took a step back,
looked at what Putin was doing through this invasion in Ukraine and thought?
It seems like he's not such a great guy after all.
So let me give you the statements, he says quote,
I'm surprised I thought he was negotiating when he sent his troops to the border.
I thought he was negotiating.
I thought it was a tough way to negotiate but a smart way to negotiate.
So look, that one quote, I'm not gonna be too harsh on because I think a lot
of people myself included, like genuinely did not think that Putin would
do something incredibly dumb and irrational like invading Ukraine.
And yes, he's done it before to Annex Crimea, but there were so
many things that would work against him, including losing an energy deal
with Germany more sanctions implemented by the United States.
It's just didn't really seem to be something that would serve his interests.
But he went for it anyway.
Okay, with that said, that's the only quote I'm not gonna be harsh on.
Let's go to the other quotes.
I figured he was going to make a good deal like everybody else
does with the United States and the other people they tend to deal with.
Every trade deal, we've never made a good trade deal until I came along.
>> Never, not once in America history.
>> But his inability to not make it about himself is incredible.
It really is it really, everybody deals with the United States except no wait no,
they always made bad deals.
People are saying I made the best deals, I made the best trade deals.
Except soybean farmers in the middle of the country went bankrupt
because of your like not so well thought out trade war with China.
>> Look, I don't know what's wrong with right wingers and
I say that very literally.
So, for example, you guys are watching the show presumably you kind of like to show
you some of you, I know you're hate watching and that's fun.
>> We love anyway.
>> Okay, we're softhearted lips, we like you anyway.
Anyways you like this show right,
presumably you think I'm I make some decent points.
Now, how would you like it if I came out and
said there was no other good talk show before us?
There was never any good hosts on air before me.
Well, you wouldn't like me as much right,
because then you sound like a jackass right wingers.
Why don't you see that in Trump?
Who says that the US never made a good trade deal before me?
I mean what an absurd thing to say.
Why would you like a weirdo unsubstantiated braggart like that?
You wouldn't like him in your personal life, would you if some car salesman that
you knew was that there was no good car salesman until me.
>> Chenk, what you fail to understand is that alpha males are back.
>> [LAUGH] to choose to be a beta to this guy.
All right, everybody to make your own choices.
>> There's more, this is probably my favorite quote, and
then he went in meeting Putin and then he went in and I think he's changed.
I think he's changed, it's a very sad thing for the world.
He's very much changed.
>> Is he talking about Putin's plastic surgery?
>> No, no, he thinks that Putin was very smart genius in fact.
>> And all of a sudden he turned dumb.
That's kind of funny how that happened.
>> He just changed.
It just changed because his behavior today is so
different from his behavior in previous years.
>> When he was bombing the living crap out of Syria and
when he was murdering people in Chechnya and in Syria, that was,
he was, he was a good, that was easy to ignore.
>> It was easy to ignore and I looked the other way.
I looked the other way.
>> Yeah, apparently he was a soft hearted, wonderful guy.
Putin was, and then all of a sudden, popularity ratings come out for
republicans.
And what they think of Putin turns out the republican voters don't like Putin and
all of a sudden he's changed, he's changed, not me, not my opinion.
He changed overnight from a really good guy to all of a sudden weirdo dictator,
evil dude.
>> Now he claims.
>> By the way, he didn't even say that, of course, sorry.
>> He didn't call him a dictator.
>> Because he's still kissing his ass.
>> So look he loves to use any interview opportunity to do one of two things or
two things simultaneously.
While out what happened in the 2020 general election where he lost, or
talk about how he's so much better than any other US president ever.
So he said this, he said that he was not soft on Putin.
Okay, he was very, very hard on Putin quote, I've been very,
very tough on Putin.
I get a bad rap on that, Trump said,
reiterating his claim that Russia never would have invaded Ukraine
had he been president for fear of how he would respond.
At the same time, I got along with him very well, but I got along with him.
I got along with most world leaders very well.
No, no, no, let's keep it real.
You got along well with the worst world leaders,
you talked about falling in love with Kim Jong Un of North Korea.
You talked about believing Putin over our
intelligence community in regard to meddling in our elections.
I mean any authoritarian leader.
He was buddy with Azure bolsonaro of Rodrigo Duterte of the Philippines,
I mean.
>> King salman in Saudi Arabia, the butcher of riyadh.
>> He interfere like he got involved.
Once it became clear that MBS is the one who ordered the assassination and
decapitation of dismemberment of Jamal Khashoggi.
He tried to provide cover for MBS that's the point I'm trying to make here.
So to say like no I'm the real tough guy,
no you're only tough to people who aren't in positions of power.
And I just wanna remind you guys of the kind of rhetoric that we heard
from Trump when he was president in regard to Vladimir Putin watch.
>> Putin's a killer.
A lot of killers, we've got a lot of killers.
While you think our country's so innocent.
>> Just before trump's inauguration,
the president said he was open to lifting Russian sanctions.
He goes a step further proposing a cyber unit with Russia.
The country that had just attacked the US.
And I quote an impenetrable cybersecurity unit.
So that election hacking and many other negative things will be guarded.
>> I was in Russia, I was in Moscow recently and I spoke indirectly and
directly with President Putin, who could not have been nicer.
>> After Putin kicked out US diplomats to retaliate against sanctions.
The president thanked him.
>> I wanna thank him because we're trying to cut down on payroll.
I'm very thankful that he let go of a large number of people will
save a lot of money.
>> Putin of Russia, 100% Joe has lost it in his best day.
He wasn't a smart man, everybody knows that.
>> Would you now, with the whole world watching, tell President Putin, would
you denounce what happened in 2016 and would you warn him to never do it again?
>> My people came to me, dan coats came to me and
some others they said they think it's Russia, I have President Putin.
He just said it's not Russia, I will say this.
I don't see any reason why it would be.
>> Look at how tough he was on Vladimir Putin impressive.
It really is very impressive.
>> It's interesting as you watched that last clip that was Putin at his
height of power.
He's getting the rush, the American president to kneel before him.
Now, Trump's out of office and Putin is in massive trouble.
He overstepped Biden, kicked his ass with economic sanctions.
The oligarchs have turned against him and he's in a world of hurt and
it turns out he wasn't that powerful after all.
He was a paper tiger, but we never knew under Trump,
because Trump was too busy kissing his ass.
You just saw the tape, I mean he says he's tough on Putin.
Maybe he means tough on pudding.
I could see that in his waistline but Putin, I mean you just saw the tape.
I mean, he got rid of the Americans there.
I mean saves us on the salaries, [LAUGH] you're the weakest man in
America guys look at the one thing that's in there.
That is just unbelievable.
I don't want you to, you just go right past it.
He was after the Russians broke into our systems in the 2016 election and
Trump didn't coordinate with them.
Okay, but they did break in.
No one disputes that, right?
And hey did get the emails and then the emails were leaked.
There's no, we had the emails and everybody knows that's an absolute fact,
right?
So after the Russians infiltrate our systems in America, he says we should
do a cyber security team with them and let them be in charge of our cybersecurity.
No, no that's handing the country over to them now of course we never did that
because everybody else in the government was like are you mental?
No, we are not gonna let the Russians be in charge of our cybersecurity.
>> Can you imagine I mean you guys, how can anyone argue that Trump was it like,
I don't know the extent to which they have deals going on?
I don't know, but there's no question
that Trump made it a priority to constantly defend Vladimir Putin.
And if he doesn't have business deals with Russia,
I don't understand why he would do that trumpet.
Listen, Trump doesn't bat for anyone but Trump.
Okay, so if he's out there defending someone,
it's because he's getting something out of it.
That's just who he is, that's who he is,
that's who he has proven himself to be again and again and again.
>> And in fact on the Saudis now this was before he was president, but
they were doing horrible things back then and somebody asked him about it, he said,
well they gave me $30,40 million in apartment.
What am I supposed to do?
Not like them?
In other words, you can go and kill anybody you like, but
as long as you give me money, you're good to go.
How obvious is it that he's corrupt?
What is wrong with you right wingers?
How could you not see it, it's plain as day.
Last thing, guys now onto politics, American politics for a second,
this has given an opening to another republican.
Because both trump and tucker Carlson are on the Putin side and
as an unpopular side.
Now we're gonna see if any other republican politician in the country has
a spine because if you were smart and savvy and tough, this is when you would
step in and say I've had enough of Donald Trump kissing Vladimir Putin's ask.
>> Let me just say governor Ron DeSantis has been very quiet.
>> Exactly what I was thinking.
>> And has focused on what kind of issues, Jake.
Cultural war issues.
Yes, yes.
>> And so he because he knows cultural war issues are winning strategy.
>> Bread and butter for the republic.
>> Right now, Republicans are much are still much more open to Putin.
And they say if you have a Republican, if you have leaders that are praising Putin,
is that a problem?
Democrats, say yes among Republicans, it's only 40, I'm sorry, 81% of Democrats.
It's only 45% of Republicans.
So Republicans get it.
They still have leaders kissing Putin's ass and they don't mind it too much.
But overall, three quarters of Republicans are against Putin.
Three quarters, it just takes one republican politician
with actual strength to come in and go, that's right, you guys are right.
Putin's a monster, he's killing all those good white folks in Ukraine.
Okay, now, I can't believe Trump's doing this.
But so far, de Santis is clever, but a little clever by half,
he's hiding in a bush somewhere.
But this would be the time to strike and
he hasn't shown the courage to do that yet.