Trump says he threatened to bomb Moscow if Putin invaded Ukraine in new audio
"With Putin, I said, 'If you go into Ukraine, I'm going to bomb the s--t out of Moscow,'" Trump can be heard saying on the recording.
"He said 'No way,' and I said, 'Way.' And then he goes, 'I don't believe you,' but the truth is, he believed me 10%," Trump added.
Trump then said he'd made the same threat to Chinese President Xi Jinping – that he would bomb Beijing if China invaded Taiwan.
"I said, 'I have no choice, I've got to bomb them.' And he didn't believe me either, except 10%, and 10% is all you need," he continued.
More: Trump escalates criticism of Putin, rearms Ukraine, as Russia's war plows on
Trump made the comments to a group of private donors at a fundraising dinner during his campaign for a second term.
The audio was published by CNN on July 9 and obtained by Josh Dawsey, Tyler Pager and Isaac Arnsdorf, authors of a new book – '2024: How Trump Retook the White House and the Democrats Lost America."
Trump has repeatedly insisted that the Ukraine war "never would have happened" if he were president and pledged on the campaign trail to end the conflict within 24 hours of taking office.
More than six months into his presidency, Trump has shown increasing frustration with Putin as a ceasefire deal to end the conflict remains out of reach.
"We get a lot of bulls--t thrown at us by Putin, if you want to know the truth," Trump said at a July 8 cabinet meeting. "He's very nice all the time, but it turns out to be meaningless."
Trump also restarted aid deliveries to Ukraine after the Pentagon said it would suspend some weapons transfers as part of an across-the-board "review" of U.S. military aid. "They have to be able to defend themselves," Trump said, adding that Ukraine was "getting hit very hard" by Russia.
It is unclear who first gave the order to pause the aid deliveries. Trump, when asked by a reporter at the Cabinet meeting, said, "I don't know, why don't you tell me?" According to CNN and other reports, the Pentagon did not inform Trump when the halt first went into effect.
Russia slammed Ukraine with the largest drone attack of the three-plus-year conflict overnight on July 8, launching more than 700 drones at targets across the country.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Trump says he threatened Putin with Moscow bombing in new audio
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