World War III was ‘not so far away'
Trump reiterated his desire to be remembered as 'a peacemaker and a unifier' on Wednesday in Miami Beach during an event organized by the Future Investment Initiative Institute, a non-profit run by Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund. He said that resolving the conflicts in the Middle East and Ukraine are his key foreign policy objectives.
'There's no profit for anyone in having World War III, and you're not so far away from it,' Trump told the audience. 'If we would have had this administration for another year, you would have been in World War III, and now it's not going to happen.'
In his farewell speech at the State Department last month, then-President Joe Biden said his administration's biggest goals were to 'rally the world and defend Ukraine' and to 'avoid war between two nuclear powers.'
Trump has criticized Biden and his team, including Harris, for what he claims was gross incompetence. He has often argued that under his leadership, the tensions over Ukraine would not have escalated into an armed conflict.
Earlier this week, senior officials from Russia and the US met in Saudi Arabia to discuss repairing relations which were strained under Biden. Trump commended Riyadh's role in facilitating the talks, calling them highly successful and reinforcing his administration's efforts to tackle the Ukraine crisis.
This diplomatic engagement has led to tension between Trump and Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky, who insisted that negotiations regarding the conflict should not occur without Kiev's involvement.
Trump criticized Zelensky during his speech, labeling him a 'dictator without elections' who has been draining American resources instead of seeking a diplomatic resolution with Russia. He suggested that Zelensky 'wants to keep the gravy train going,' and warned that he 'better move fast, or he's not going to have a country left.'
Zelensky previously accused Trump of echoing 'Russian disinformation' regarding his low approval ratings in Ukraine, citing a survey from a Kiev-based pollster that indicated public support for his rule. In response, Trump claimed he was referencing 'real Ukrainian polls.'
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