Speaking on the Full Send Podcast, released on Wednesday, former US President Donald Trump addressed his fears about the potentially escalating situation in Ukraine, as NATO, backed by the United States, offered its support amid Russia’s ongoing conflict with its neighbor.
Responding to a question about whether the situation could spiral into a nuclear war, hitting out at his successor, Joe Biden, Trump claimed Americans “should be scared because we have incompetent people heading up our country.”
When pressed by the host about whether the threat was likely “immediate,” Trump argued that the situation was “serious,” and condemned the current administration’s claim that it didn’t want to fight Russia because it was a nuclear power as “weakness.”
While conceding that Russia was indeed a nuclear power, Trump reminded listeners that America also had nuclear capabilities that would deter aggression from Moscow. Despite this, however, he admitted that there was “a chance” there would be a world war, given the current tensions.
The former president’s comments follow an appearance on the Republican National Committee’s ‘Real America’ YouTube show, where he argued that Biden was being “pushed around” by Russian President Vladimir Putin, and said he didn’t think the US had “ever been at a lower point than it is right now.”
The United States has an estimated 5,428 nuclear weapons, including those that are actively deployed, are held in reserve, and that have been retired, according to the Federation of American Scientists (FAS). The FAS assessed earlier this year that Russia had 5,977 nuclear warheads, giving it a larger stockpile than America.
