Donald Trump's press team have released a peculiar statement just hours after an audio recording was leaked that hears the President threatening to bomb Russia.
Having being obtained by a team of journalists - led by Josh Dawsey, Tyler Pager and Isaac Arnsdorf - the audio was subsequently handed to CNN, as well as written about in the trio's new book, 2024.
The recording reportedly dates back to a private fundraising event that occurred last year during Trump's second presidential campaign.
In it, the 79-year-old can be heard discussing political relations with Eastern Europe and Asia, all the while discrediting his Democratic predecessor, Joe Biden.
Advert
Trump kicked things off by discussing his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin's 2022 invasion of neighbouring Ukraine - something he claimed would never have happened if he'd been sitting in the Oval Office.
"With Putin I said, 'If you go into Ukraine, I’m going to bomb the s**t out of Moscow. I'm telling you I have no choice'," the Republican is heard saying.
Trump then claimed that 72-year-old Putin had replied, 'I don't believe you, no way', to which the American had allegedly replied, 'Way'.
Advert
The alleged warning included in the recording wasn't the first time that Trump claimed to have issued such a threat.
During his campaign trail last October - a month before he won the election against left-leaning leader Kamala Harris - Trump claimed he'd told Putin: ''I’m going to hit you right in the middle of fricking Moscow. I said, 'We’re friends. I don’t want to do it, but I have no choice'."
Though the President is yet to publicly respond to the leak, after being approached for comment by Tyla yesterday (9 Jul), White House deputy press secretary Anna Kelly has since issued a strange statement on the matter.
"As President Trump has said time and again, Russia never dared invade Ukraine when he was in office," she began.
Advert
"It happened only when Biden was in office. Thanks to this President’s leadership, America is once again the leader of the free world, and peace through strength is restored."
The White House's statement continued: "President Trump won on an America First agenda, and he is working hard to implement the mandate the American people gave him."
So, whilst we attempt to make sense of that, we'll remind you that the leak occurred just days after Trump once again called out Putin in a public sphere, having accused him of 'throwing bulls**t' at him during recent negotiations about Ukraine.
Advert
"I can tell you that much right now, because he’s killing a lot of people," the right-wing leader declared during a cabinet meeting.
"We get a lot of bulls**t thrown at us by Putin. You want to know the truth. He is very nice all the time, but it turns out to be meaningless."
The President was also asked about the possibility of imposing fresh sanctions onto the Moscow, after which he confessed: "I’m looking at it very strongly."
Topics: Politics, US News, Donald Trump, News
Rhianna Benson