White House blasts Trump’s call for favour from Putin in midst of Ukraine war

Communications director says only one American would even think this is the time to scheme with Putin

The White House has blasted Donald Trump’s request for Russian President Vladimir Putin to release potentially damaging information on President Joe Biden’s son in the middle of the war in Ukraine.

During Wednesday’s White House press briefing, communications director Kate Bedingfield was asked by reporters about the former president’s comments on a recent edition of the show Just the News.

Mr Trump raised unsubstantiated questions about Hunter Biden’s former business dealings in Russia, saying: “I think Putin would know the answer to that. I think he should release it.”

Given that the entire Western world has united in its condemnation of Mr Putin’s five-week war against Ukraine, the largest conflict in Europe since World War Two, the request from Mr Trump was met with incredulity.

“What kind of American, let alone an ex-president, thinks that this is the right time to enter into a scheme with Vladimir Putin and brag about his connections to Vladimir Putin? There is only one, and it’s Donald Trump,” Ms Bedingfield said.

Mr Trump has been widely criticised for the comments, with the hosts of Morning Joe on MSNBC offering particularly sharp condemnation. On Wednesday the former president responded in kind, firing off a statement through his spokesperson hitting back at Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski.

During the military buildup preceding the invasion of Ukraine, Mr Trump praised Russian President Vladimir as a “genius” for his tactics. Once the attack had commenced and the killing had begun, he changed tack and condemned Mr Putin’s actions as “appalling”.

Trump’s long-running search for information on Hunter Biden that could be politically damaging to Joe Biden led to the first of his two impeachments, over what presidential aides said was an effort to withhold nearly $400m in military aid to Ukraine and a White House visit unless Ukrainian officials announced investigations into Mr Biden.

The former president has a history of asking Russia for help. During his 2016 presidential campaign against Democrat Hillary Clinton, the Republican publicly suggested Russian hackers could help find Clinton emails, saying: “Russia, if you’re listening, I hope you’re able to find the 30,000 emails.”

Trump’s remarks came the week that a federal judge ruled he "more likely than not" committed a felony by trying to overturn his election defeat on 6 January 2021, and as his business remains under investigation.

With reporting from Reuters