Former President Donald Trump refused to call Vladimir Putin a war criminal despite the International Criminal Court (ICC) issuing an arrest warrant for the Russian president‘s involvement in the deaths of thousands of civilians in Ukraine.
What Happened: Trump, at CNN's Town Hall event, said Putin’s involvement in war crimes is something that “should be discussed later.”
“If you say he’s a war criminal, it’s going to be a lot tougher to make a deal to make this thing stopped,” he said.
See Also: Putin Blames ‘Western Elites’ For Spreading Russophobia, Hatred In Victory Day Speech
“If he’s going to be a war criminal, people are going to grab him and execute him; he’s going to fight a lot harder than he’s fighting under the other circumstance. That’s something to be discussed at a later day."
Although the former president did acknowledge that he thinks “Putin made a mistake.” But then he repeated his previous claims saying, “His (Putin's) mistake was going in. He would have never gone in if I was president,” referring to Moscow's invasion of Ukraine.
Why It Matters: Since the onset of the war, Trump has made similar claims repeatedly. His earlier plan to "get people in a room" and "knock heads" drew massive flak from critics. Trump has often boasted about his close relationship with Putin and has said that if we were the president, he would get Putin to end the war in 24 hours.
Meanwhile, Trump is the front-running Republican candidate for the 2024 U.S. presidential election. Recent polls have shown massive support in favor of him over incumbent President Joe Biden.
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