President Trump: There was a time when World War III was 'not far away'

US President Donald Trump believes his election victory was crucial to preventing World War III. He asserted that if former Vice President Kamala Harris had been elected last November, a global conflict would have occurred within a year.

On February 19 (US time), Mr. Trump reiterated his desire to be remembered as a “peacemaker and unifier” when he was present in Miami Beach, at an event of the Future Investment Initiative Institute (a non-profit organization run by the Saudi Arabian sovereign wealth fund). He said that resolving conflicts in the Middle East and Ukraine were the main goals of his foreign policy.

“Nobody profits from World War III, and you’re not far from it,” President Trump told the audience. “If we had this administration for another year, you’d be in World War III, and now you’re not.”

In his farewell speech at the State Department last month, then-President Joe Biden said his administration’s biggest goals were to “rally the world and protect Ukraine” and “avoid war between two nuclear powers.”

Mr. Trump has criticized Biden and his team, including Ms. Harris, for what he sees as gross incompetence. He has often argued that under his leadership, tensions over Ukraine would not have escalated into armed conflict.

Senior officials from Russia and the United States met in Saudi Arabia earlier this week to discuss improving relations that have been strained under Biden. Trump praised Riyadh’s role in facilitating the talks, calling them highly successful and bolstering his administration’s efforts to resolve the Ukraine crisis.

The diplomatic engagement has led to tensions between Mr Trump and Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky, who has insisted that talks on the conflict should not take place without Kiev's participation.

Mr Trump criticized Mr Zelensky in his speech, calling the leader in Kiev “an unelected dictator” and saying that Mr Zelensky was draining US resources instead of seeking a diplomatic solution with Russia. Mr Trump said Mr Zelensky “wants to continue to get the easy way out”, and warned that he “better act fast or there will be no country left”.

Earlier, Mr. Zelensky accused Mr. Trump of repeating “Russian disinformation” about his low approval ratings in Ukraine, citing a survey from a Kiev pollster that showed the public supported his stay in power. In response, Mr. Trump asserted that he was relying on “real Ukrainian polls.”