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President Donald Trump explained his sympathy for Russian dictator Vladimir Putin in curious detail during an Oval Office meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Friday.

A stunning joint press event turned remarkably combative as Zelensky, Trump, and Vance openly argued and insulted one another over the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine.

At the end of the stunning 11+ minute exchange, a reporter asked President Trump what he would do if Putin were to break a ceasefire agreement.

“What if they …What if anything?” Trump openly mocked the entirely reasonable question. “What if the bomb drops on your head right now? Okay. What if they broke it? I don’t know; They broke it with Biden because Biden didn’t respect him. They didn’t respect Obama. They respect me.”

Trump then pivoted to showing bizarre empathy for the Russian dictator because of domestic political scandal surrounding his election to the White House in 2016, which he has often derided as the “Russian collusion hoax” despite a Republican-led Senate Intelligence Committee report finding that the Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort and advisor Roger Stone worked with Russian intel operations who were actively seeking to help him get elected.

“Let me tell you, Putin went through a hell of a lot with me,” Trump said as if he was recalling war stories with a former platoon mate and not a foreign policy adversary, alleged war criminal and expansionist who’s actions have led to hundreds of thousands of deaths and the reported kidnapping of 20,000 Ukrainian children.

“He went through a phony witch hunt where they used him and Russia, Russia, Russia, Russia. You ever hear of that deal? That was a phony. That was a phony,” Trump added before curiously conflating it with another alleged scandal. “Hunter Biden, Joe Biden scam, Hillary Clinton, shifty Adam Schiff. It was a Democrat scam.”

“And he had to go through that,” Trump continued. “And he did go through it. We didn’t end up in a war. And he went through it. He was accused of all that stuff he had nothing to do with it. Came out of Hunter Biden’s bathroom. It came out of Hunter Biden’s bedroom. It was disgusting.”

“And then they said, oh, oh, the laptop from hell was made by Russia, the 51 agents,” he said, conflating two completely separate stories that are only connected by allegations of Russian interference.  “The whole thing was a scam. And he had to put up with that. He was being accused of all that stuff.”

“All I can say is this: he might have broken deals with Obama and Bush, and he might have broken them with Biden. He did. Maybe. Maybe he did. I don’t know what happened, but he didn’t break in with me. He wants to make a deal. I don’t know if you can make a deal,” he added. “The problem is, I’ve empowered you to be a tough guy. And I don’t think you’d be a tough guy without the United States. And your people are very brave. But you you they going to make a deal or we’re out. ”

“And if we’re out, you’ll fight it out. I don’t think it’s going to be pretty, but you’ll fight it out. But you don’t have the cards. But once we sign that deal, you’re in a much better position. But you’re not acting at all thankful. And that’s not a nice thing. I’ll be honest. That’s not a nice thing. All right,” he concluded before adding, “I think we’ve seen enough. What do you think this is? This is going to be great television,” concluded Trump.

Watch above via CNN.

The post Trump Casts Putin as Victim in Furious Screed to Zelensky: He ‘Went Through a Helluva Lot With Me’ first appeared on Mediaite.

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