KEY POINTS

  • Trump falsely claimed that U.S. troops were deploying in Ukraine
  • Trump also claimed that Putin attacked Ukraine because of the "rigged" 2020 November election
  • The former president's comments came hours after the White House reiterated that the U.S. would not send troops to Ukraine

Former President Donald Trump on Thursday night falsely claimed that the U.S. military attacked Russian troops currently invading Ukraine.

In an interview with Fox News, host Laura Ingraham asked Trump for his reaction to Russia invading Ukraine on Thursday morning, specifically about Russian troops engaging in the potential amphibious landing in the Ukrainian city of Odessa.

Trump initially said the attack was “very sad” before proceeding to chastise the host for telling him on-air that the attack was launched by American troops and claiming it was classified information.

"You know what's also very dangerous is you told me about the amphibious attack by Americans," Trump said. "You shouldn't be saying that, because you and everybody else shouldn't know about it. They should do that secretly, not be doing that through the great Laura Ingraham."

Ingraham quickly cut in and emphasized that it was the Russian troops attacking the people in Ukraine, to which Trump replied: "Oh, I thought you said that we were sending people in. That’ll be next.”

Earlier in the interview, Trump also suggested that the Russian invasion of Ukraine happened because the 2020 November election was "stolen" from him. He argued that Russian President Vladimir Putin would never have attacked Ukraine if he was still sitting in the White House.

"He was going to be satisfied with a peace, and now he sees the weakness and the incompetence and the stupidity of this administration, and, as an American, I'm angry about it, and I'm saddened by it," Trump said. "And it all happened because of a rigged election. This would have never happened."

Trump’s comments came just hours after White House press secretary Jen Psaki said President Joe Biden does not plan to send U.S. military troops to Russia and will instead focus on reducing the impact of the invasion on the energy costs for Americans, according to a press briefing.

Psaki’s statements were also in line with comments made by Biden earlier this month where he said he would not consider sending American troops to Ukraine to avoid conflict between the United States and Russia.

“That's a world war when Americans and Russia start shooting at one another," Biden said at the time.

Donald Trump left the White House a year ago but shows signs he will seek to come back in 2024
Donald Trump left the White House a year ago but shows signs he will seek to come back in 2024 AFP / ALEX EDELMAN