Trump Says He's Glad That Putin Prefers Biden to Win the 2024 Election

Former President Donald Trump said it was a "compliment" for Russian President Vladimir Putin to say he would prefer his rival, President Joe Biden, to win in November.

Speaking with supporters at a campaign rally in North Charleston, South Carolina, Wednesday evening, Trump said he would accomplish "amazing" things if he wins his reelection bid, including bringing the war between Russia and Ukraine to an end "very quickly."

"President Putin of Russia has just given me a great compliment, actually," Trump continued. "He's just said that he would much rather have Joe Biden as president than Trump. Now, that's a compliment. A lot of people said, 'Oh, gee, that's too bad.' No, no, that's a good thing."

The Context

Putin told reporters earlier in the day that, between Biden and Trump, he would prefer to see the current president win in November, adding that Biden is "more experienced."

"Biden, he's more experienced, more predictable, a politician of the old school," Putin said. "But we will work with any U.S. leader whom the American people trust."

The Russian leader was also asked about speculation that Biden is too old to serve another term. In response, Putin said, "I'm not a doctor, and I don't consider it proper to comment on that."

Newsweek reached out to Biden's campaign on Wednesday night via email for comment.

The Views

Trump told his supporters on Wednesday that it was no surprise Putin would prefer to see Biden in the White House, touting that he put an end to Nord Stream 2—a Russian pipeline that would double the export of Russian natural gas to Germany—during his first term in office.

Trump imposed sanctions on the Russian state-owned gas company that is behind the pipeline in December 2019, but Biden's administration waived those sanctions in May 2021.

"I stopped it, it was dead, it was a dead deal," Trump said on stage in South Carolina.

"[Biden] got into office, and he immediately approved it," he continued. "I said, 'I can't believe it.'"

At the time that the sanctions were waived, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said it was in U.S. interest to allow the Nord Stream 2 pipeline deal to go through.

"Today's actions demonstrate the administration's commitment to energy security in Europe, consistent with the President's pledge to rebuild relationships with our allies and partners in Europe," Blinken said in a release at the time.

Experts have said in the past that Putin is hoping for Trump to win a second term in office so that he can broker a peace deal in Ukraine that would be more favorable for Russia. The former president has said that he could bring the nearly two-year war to an end in 24 hours, and he recently faced criticism for suggesting that he would "encourage" Moscow to attack any country in the NATO military alliance that wasn't meeting the alliance's defense spending goals.

Update 2/14/24, 9:33 p.m. ET: This story has been updated with additional information and background.