Trump asks Putin to release information on Hunter Biden's dealings

[jw5]

Friends helping friends​

Former US President Donald Trump has requested Russian leader Vladimir Putin release any information on Hunter Biden, current US President Joe Biden's son.

 

[myfoot123]

It was a good advice for Putin, now knowing that his enemy is fighting an internal war. In the art of war, if Biden administration push comes to shove, Putin has a card to use now. In the meantime, he should just wait and see.

 

[tanwahtiu]

Sure do... 坐山观虎斗 show time in JUSA...

 

[jw5]

Putin knows, maybe​

“I would think Putin would know the answer to that,” Trump stated in an exclusive interview for Real America's Voice news channel. CNN has described the request as “brazen”.

 

[jw5]

An ongoing investigation​

While it's true that there's an ongoing criminal investigation into the finances of Hunter Biden and his business dealings abroad, nothing seems to back the former president's allegations.

 

[jw5]

Moscow politics​

Donald Trump claims, for instance, that the younger Biden received 3,5 million US dollars from the wife of the late mayor of Moscow, Yury Luzhkov, seen in this picture on the far-right.

 

[jw5]

Do as I say, not as I do​

Politico points out that the former US president himself did business with the Moscow politician in the late 1990s.

 

[jw5]

Impeachment​

Trump allegedly tried to extort information about Hunter Biden from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy by refusing military aid. These were the accusations that led to Trump's first impeachment process in 2019.

 

[jw5]

'Genius'​

In the past, former US President Donald Trump praised Putin’s tactics in the early days of the invasion, calling him “genius” on a radio show hosted by Buck Sexton and Clay Travis.

 

[jw5]

It takes one to know one​

Despite all the opportunities the Fox News TV host gave the former president to denounce Putin, Trump simply said that “he gets along well” with Putin, China’s Xi Jinping, and North Korea’s Kim Jong-un.

 

[jw5]

Trying to play it safe​

Trump has tried to play it safe since then, arguing on ‘The Sean Hannity Show’ that “this doesn’t seem the same Putin I was dealing with”.

 

[jw5]

Picking sides​

Fox News commentator Tucker Carlson, the host of the most-watched cable news program in the United States, asked in November 2019 “Why should I care if there’s a war between Ukraine and Russia? And why I shouldn’t root for Russia? Which I am”.

 

[jw5]

Nothing against Putin​

And just days before the Ukrainian invasion, he questioned the rhetoric that portrays Putin as a villainous figure. “Has Putin ever called me a racist? Has he threatened to get me fired for disagreeing with him?” Carlson asked on his show.

 

[jw5]

An alternative to mainstream media?​

Since then, he and others at Fox News have tried to distance themselves from their previous editorial line. Still, Russia’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergey Lavrov praised Fox News as “an alternative” to mainstream media, according to The Guardian.

 

[jw5]

The friends we make along the way​

As the leader of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Putin has gathered all sorts of international allies from the left and the right, joined by their opposition to the world order set by the United States and Western Europe.

 

[jw5]

Alone​

However, since the Ukrainian invasion started, many of the friends of the man in the Kremlin seem to have left him alone. Here are some Putin's most notable allies that have taken a step back at this most critical time.

 

[jw5]

Putin's man in the EU​

Hungary’s right-wing Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, regarded as the European leader that is closest to Putin, joined the rest of EU states to condemn Russia’s military action in Ukraine.

 

[jw5]

'We stand by Ukraine'​

“Hungary’s position is clear: we stand by Ukraine, we stand by Ukraine’s territorial integrity and sovereignty,” said Hungary's Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto days after the invasion, as quoted by Associated Press.

 

[jw5]

Hungary's eastern opening​

According to a March 7 article published by the Financial Times, Orbán has promoted an “eastern opening” to Russia, while opposing NATO and EU’s policies in the region.

 

[jw5]

Opponents​

However, some have seen it as Orbán playing it safe before a general election. CNN reports that after winning a fourth consecutive term as Prime Minister in early April, he counted Ukrainian president Zelensky among his opponents, along with EU bureaucrats and the international media.