Trump under fire for Fox News appearance moments after Putin declares war on Ukraine

Trump has called Russian president ‘smart’ twice in two days amid Russia’s invasion of Ukraine

Moments after Russia announced a military operation in Ukraine, former US president Donald Trump once again praised president Vladimir Putin’s move as “smart” at an event in Florida and subsequently appeared on Fox News to blame the invasion on a “rigged election”.

On Thursday morning Moscow time, Mr Putin said that he planned to conduct a “special military operation” in eastern Ukraine, confirming fears that he has been massing troops along the border for weeks in preparation for a strategic offensive.

Soon after his announcement, gunfire and explosions could be heard in at least five places in Ukraine or near the Russian border, including the capital Kiev.

Speaking with Fox News presenter Laura Ingraham on the developments, Mr Trump claimed that Russia’s move was due to the results of the 2020 presidential election in the US, which he has long claimed to have been rigged in favour of president Joe Biden.

“He [Mr Putin] was going to be satisfied with a piece and now he sees the weakness and the incompetence and the stupidity of this administration,” he said.

“As an American I am angry about it and I am saddened by it. And it all happened because of a rigged election,” Mr Trump added.

He claimed that this would have never happened otherwise. “That includes inflation and that includes millions of people pouring in on a monthly basis, far more than 3 million people,” Mr Trump said. “And they are coming from a 129 different countries and we have no idea what is happening. And they are destroying our country.”

Ms Ingraham then cut off the former president to go to the UN Security Council proceedings, where Ukraine was speaking.

This is not the first time Mr Trump has made such comments. On Tuesday, he blamed allegedly rigged elections in the US for Russia’s moves in Ukraine.

“What went wrong was a rigged election and what went wrong is a candidate that shouldn’t be there and a man that has no concept of what he’s doing,” he said in an interview to a conservative radio show.

He added: “I went in yesterday and there was a television screen, and I said, ‘This is genius.’ Putin declares a big portion of the Ukraine—of Ukraine. Putin declares it as independent. Oh, that’s wonderful. So, Putin is now saying, ‘It’s independent,’ a large section of Ukraine. I said, ‘How smart is that?’ And he’s gonna go in and be a peacekeeper.”

In another video clip from Wednesday night that was circulated on social media, Mr Trump can be heard once again praising Mr Putin’s moves to invade Ukraine as “smart”.

Mr Trump can be heard saying: “Trump said Putin is smart. He’s taken over a country for $2 worth of sanctions. I’d say that’s pretty smart.”

“He’s taking over a country – a vast, vast location, a great piece of land with a lot of people – just walking right in. This never would have happened and I know him very well,” he added.

White House press secretary Jen Psaki had said on Tuesday that the Biden administration was not taking Mr Trump’s comments seriously.

“As a matter of policy, we try not to take advice from anyone who praises President Putin and his military strategy, which I believe is what happened there,” she said, while responding to a question about Mr Trump’s comments on the ongoing issue of tensions with Russia over its military buildup near Ukraine.