Political Quotes

On the recordMarch 6, 2025
Well, look, let's understand one thing. There's actually -- there's not a lot of questions about what Trump is trying to do. He's basically trying to give Ukraine to Putin, and he wants a better relationship with Russia, and he's willing to sacrifice Ukraine for the sake of that.
Said by
Martin Smith
Democratic · Washington

Editor's note · Context

Smith critiques Trump's approach to Ukraine, accusing him of prioritizing a relationship with Russia over Ukraine's sovereignty.

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More from Martin Smith

Jan 15, 2024

That's exactly what Putin has been after from the beginning. And so many people have sort of helped him do that by claiming that, oh, Putin would have made peace if we had just said, Ukraine won't join NATO or any number of other things. That's simply aren't true.

transcripts.cnn.com
Jul 7, 2024

Our constituents are bringing it up. The country is bringing it up. And the White House - sorry - campaign strategy of be quiet and fall in line and let's ignore it simply isn't working right now. Elections are a choice. And in this field, even in the current situation, Joe Biden, far and away the best candidate. But I know in my heart, and my soul and my brain that we can do better and I know what the stakes are.

transcripts.cnn.com
Mar 6, 2025

He is putting Ukraine in an incredibly vulnerable position, and he's empowering Putin. The whole point of this, Trump says, is I want to get a peace deal, but you have to put pressure on Putin to get a peace deal. He's taking all the pressure off of Putin and giving him a massive green light to continue attacking Ukraine.

transcripts.cnn.com
Jul 9, 2025

I’m deeply worried that [Colby] buys into the authoritarian worldview that you know, Putin’s a dictator, and Xi is a dictator, and Trump aspires to be a dictator, so let’s just let all the dictators get together and divide up the world.

politico.com

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