Former President Donald Trump said Wednesday night that his successor’s summit meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin was “a good day for Russia” and added that “I don’t see what we got out of it.”
Trump joined Fox News “Hannity” on Thursday, June 17, for an exclusive and wide-ranging interview, hours after President Biden held a closed-door summit with Russian leader Vladimir Putin in Geneva, Switzerland. He told host Sean Hannity he is upset that Biden didn’t score any wins during the summit while claiming Putin and Russia came out tops.
Trump highlighted the fact Biden stood by his decision to assent to the NordStream II pipeline’s completion while canceling a Canadian-American pipeline project. He said Russia will receive an undue windfall from oil sales to Germany while Chancellor Angela Merkel continues to underpay her country’s own dues to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), which balance will instead continue to be subsidized by the United States.
“We gave a very big stage to Russia, and we got nothing. We gave up something that was unbelievably valuable. I stopped the pipeline, NordStream II, and the pipeline was stopped, and it was given back [to Germany and Russia] and nothing was gotten for it,” Trump said.
“I think it was a good day for Russia. I don’t think we got anything out of it.”
Hannity went on to point out Biden’s near-simultaneous canceling of the North American pipeline and approval of the North Sea connection killed as many as 10,000 U.S. jobs “with the stroke of a pen,” With reports also circulating about Biden’s 51-year-old son Hunter’s purportedly lucrative business deals in Russia and Ukraine, Hannity asked Trump what would happen if his own son Donald Jr. was being scrutinized for business dealings in Russia/Ukraine while he as the president made policy decisions that benefitted Moscow.
“Well, you just have to read the news,” replied Trump.
“For five years, from the day I came down the escalator, we have been under investigation, and it turned out to be all full stuff. It was a terrible thing with the Russia, Russia, Russia, which actually made it difficult to deal with Russia,” he said. “It was a phony deal created by California Rep. Adam Schiff and Hillary Clinton and all of these people. It was a disgrace, an absolute disgrace that it should happen, and it really was dangerous and very bad for our country.”
Trump added that Hunter Biden was reportedly paid $183,000 per month for being a member of the board of a Ukrainian energy company.
“But he admits that he knows nothing about energy. The whole thing is just terrible. The money from Russia, $3.5 million from the wife of the former mayor of Moscow,” he said.
When asked about whether Biden is showing signs of frailty as of late, with host Sean Hannity pointing to public statements where the 78-year-old Delaware Democrat appears to lose his train of thought, Trump said the current President’s age should not be a problem.
“His age is not the problem,” said Trump, who himself turned 75 this week.
Trump said his good friend and Home Depot co-founder Bernard Marcus is 92 and still at “100 percent.”
“Look, I hope Biden has no problems. I want him to do well. I want him to go out and do well. I think the election was unbelievably unfair, but I want this guy to go out and do well for our country.”