Trump blasts 'grossly incompetent' Biden for preventing Ukraine from 'fighting back' against Russia
WASHINGTON, DC: President Donald Trump sharply criticized Joe Biden’s handling of the war in Ukraine, accusing his predecessor of limiting Kyiv’s ability to fight Russia and suggesting the conflict would not have erupted had he remained in office.
In a Truth Social post on Thursday, August 21, Trump compared Ukraine’s restrictions to a sports team unable to play offense.
Donald Trump warns of ‘interesting times ahead’ in new attack on Joe Biden
“It is very hard, if not impossible, to win a war without attacking an invader’s country,” Trump wrote. “It’s like a great team in sports that has a fantastic defense, but is not allowed to play offense. There is no chance of winning! It is like that with Ukraine and Russia.”
Calling Biden “crooked and grossly incompetent,” Trump claimed the president forced Ukraine into a defensive posture rather than allowing it to “fight back.”
He added: “This is a war that would have NEVER happened if I were President — ZERO CHANCE. Interesting times ahead!!!”
The criticism comes against the backdrop of a shifting US approach to arming Ukraine. After Trump’s victory in the 2024 election last November, Biden authorized Kyiv to use US long-range missiles against Russian targets. The decision, made shortly before Trump’s return to office, drew immediate backlash from the president-elect.
Speaking from Mar-a-Lago in December, Trump dismissed the move as reckless. “I don’t think that should have been allowed, not when there’s a possibility — certainly not just weeks before I take over,” he told reporters. “Why would they do that without asking me what I thought? I wouldn’t have had him do that. I think it was a big mistake.”
Moscow insists on seat at table in Ukraine security talks
Trump’s latest comments follow his summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska, a meeting that ended without concrete results. However, during a subsequent discussion with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Trump raised the prospect of a trilateral summit if “all went well,” stressing that his focus was on a lasting peace rather than a short-term fix.
The president underscored that no US troops would be deployed in Ukraine under any potential peace framework. Instead, he noted that European allies were considering putting forces on the ground as part of a security guarantee for Kyiv, while Washington would contribute in other ways.
Russia, however, has made clear its opposition to any Western troop presence. Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov restated Moscow’s demand for veto power over any future security guarantees for Ukraine. “To discuss security guarantees seriously without Russia is road to nowhere,” Lavrov declared.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian civilians continue to bear the brunt of the conflict. Following Putin’s Alaska meeting with Trump, Russia launched a fresh wave of missile strikes that killed at least one person and injured 15 others.
