Boris Johnson says Trump was right on Russia, Ukraine
Former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has declared that former President Donald Trump was correct in his approach to Russia and Ukraine, noting that during his tenure as foreign secretary, Trump expelled Russian spies from the U.S., and Putin never invaded Ukraine, as he did under the Obama and Biden administrations.
“When I was foreign secretary, he kicked out those Russian spies, 60 of them. So he can surprise very much on the upside,” Johnson stated in an interview with Times Radio.
“I happen to believe that when Donald Trump says that had he been president in 2022, there would have been no Russian invasion of Ukraine; my view is that that is a credible assertion. I really do think that’s credible,” Johnson asserted.
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Discussing the Jan. 6 U.S. Capitol riot, Johnson remarked, “In my view, whatever he (Trump) intended, I personally don’t think he intended to, you know, overthrow the Constitution. And what actually happened was the peaceful transfer of democratic power from one administration to another, and that’s what should happen.”
Johnson also addressed concerns about Trump’s actions during that period, stating that it did not put the former president “beyond the pale.”
As a seemingly steadfast supporter of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, Johnson has acted as a de facto intermediary between Zelensky and Trump, who has criticized the Biden administration for dolling out billions of U.S. taxpayers' dollars in financial aid to Ukraine.
Johnson told Times Radio, “I think that some of the pessimism [about Trump] is overdone, and I think that Donald, actually, he gave the Javelins [anti-tank weapons] to the Ukrainians where the Democrats didn’t, right?”
Johnson was referencing the Obama administration's decision not to give weapons to Ukraine back in 2014, despite pleas from then-Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko.
At the time, the Obama administration said it would provide "$46 million in non-lethal security assistance and $7 million for relief organizations providing humanitarian assistance to Ukrainians affected by the conflict between government forces and Russian-backed separatists in the Eastern region," USA Today reported in 2014. Poroshenko said he was grateful for the aid, but "one cannot win a war with blankets!"
During a presidential debate in June, Trump remarked, “If we had a real president, the president … that was respected by Putin, he would have never invaded Ukraine. A lot of people are dead right now. … He [President Joe Biden] did nothing to stop it. In fact, I think he encouraged Russia …”
Meanwhile, a Wall Street Journal poll indicated that voters give Trump, the Republican presidential nominee, the edge over Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic presidential nominee, on handling the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East.
The poll, conducted from Sept. 28 through Oct. 8 with 2,100 voters, showed Trump leading Harris among swing-state voters, 50% to 39%, on who is best able to handle Russia’s war in Ukraine.
David Lee, a Republican pollster who worked on the survey, commented, “When Trump was president, we didn’t experience any wars. With Biden-Harris there, there’s definitely been more unrest in the world,” as quoted by WSJ.
The poll also highlighted that Trump has a wider advantage, 48% to 33%, over Harris on who is better suited to handle the Israel-Hamas war.
Ruby Zolnier, a registered Democrat from Pennsylvania who is leaning toward voting for Trump, was quoted as saying, “He’s the antiwar candidate. I know he’s against the amount of money that we’re spending towards foreign conflicts, and he says he wants people to stop dying, and that sounds good.”
Conversely, Leon Ferenti, a Republican from Georgia planning to vote for Harris, said, “I don’t think he supports Ukraine. I think him and Putin are a lot closer than he leads on.”
Trump has claimed — though without providing details — that he could resolve both conflicts quickly if he wins in November.
