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China’s next: Trump says Putin’s assault on Ukraine will embolden Xi to take Taiwan
As the West fears further military aggression from Russia in Ukraine, former President Donald Trump warned that “China’s going to be next,” claiming the Asian superpower will attack Taiwan due to President Biden’s leadership.
Trump made the prediction about the Chinese invasion on Tuesday as he was pressed on the ongoing tensions between Russia and Ukraine.
“I got to know [Chinese] President Xi. By the way, China is gonna be next,” Trump said in an interview with “The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show” at Mar-a-Lago.
“You think they’re gonna go after Taiwan?” host Clay Travis responded.
“Oh, absolutely,” Trump said. “Not with me, they wouldn’t have.”
“But you think with Biden, they’ll try him?” Travis clarified.
“Oh, yeah. They’re waiting ’til after the Olympics. Now the Olympics ended, and look at your stopwatch, right?” Trump said.
China has long asserted claim over Taiwan, considering it a breakaway province.
Trump’s prediction comes one day after Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered “peacekeeping” troops into rebel-held areas of eastern Ukraine.
“This would never have happened if we were there,” Trump said.
He pointed to media coverage of the ongoing Eastern European crisis, emphasizing that even left-leaning news outlets have questioned why Russia didn’t invade during the Trump administration.  “Chuck Todd asked that question. How come there was none of this happening during the Trump administration? I knew Putin very well,” he said.
“I got along with him great. He liked me. I liked him. I mean, you know, he’s a tough cookie, got a lot of the great charm and a lot of pride. But the way he — and he loves his country, you know? He loves his country. He’s acting a little differently I think now.”
Trump said Putin had previously discussed the possibility of invading Ukraine.
“I think he sees this opportunity. I knew that he always wanted Ukraine,” Trump said. “I used to talk to him about it. I said, ‘You can’t do it. You’re not gonna do it.’ But I could see that he wanted it. I used to ask him. We used to talk about it at length. I think nobody probably knows him better in terms of the discussions that we have or that we’re having this morning.”
During the interview, Trump appeared to praise Putin’s decision to move forces into Ukraine, calling it “genius,” “smart” and “savvy.”
“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,” Trump said.
FILED UNDER CHINA DONALD TRUMP FOREIGN POLICY JOE BIDEN RUSSIA UKRAINE VLADIMIR PUTIN WORLD NEWS XI JINPING 2/23/22
https://nypost.com/
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