Donald Trump praised his “good friend” Vladimir Putin at a campaign event in Iowa on Saturday.
Mr Trump told an audience in Waterloo that the Russian president would not have invaded Ukraine on his watch, while attacking Joe Biden’s “weak” leadership.
“I said, ‘Vladimir, you and I are friends. We’re good friends. But if you go in, we’re gonna hit real hard’. I can’t tell you what I told him,” Mr Trump said.
“He said ‘no way you would do that there’s no way’. I said ‘way’.”
Earlier, Mr Trump attacked CNN anchor Erin Burnett in an early morning rant hours after she compared his xenophobic remarks about migrants to Adolf Hitler.
Mr Trump had been under fire for saying immigrants were “poisoning the blood of our country” in an interview earlier this week.
On CNN’s Outfront on Friday, Ms Burnett said that the reference to “poisoning the blood” was a phrase that was “used repeatedly by Hitler”.
In a 1.40am post on Truth Social, Mr Trump said Ms Burnett was “constantly and very boringly reporting false and semi-inflammatory stories about your favorite President”.
Trump is silent in court. His outbursts outside it get attention – but may have serious consequences