Trump says Biden administration did many bad things related to Ukraine
In short
US President Donald Trump told journalists on 16 October that the administration of his predecessor Joe Biden was very corrupt and did many bad things related to Ukraine. RIA Novosti reported that he did not say which actions he meant. TASS said he was commenting on the publication of new documents about earlier US administrations.
Read the full story 1 min read
US President Donald Trump said that his predecessor Joe Biden and the Biden administration had done many bad things related to Ukraine, Interfax reported on 16 October. According to Interfax, he made the remarks to journalists on Friday. It quoted him as saying: "It was a very corrupt administration, and yes, they did a lot of bad things related to Ukraine." [ 1 ]
RIA Novosti gave a slightly different quote, in which Trump said the administration was very corrupt, used power as a weapon and did a lot of bad related to Ukraine. The agency reported that Trump did not say which actions he meant. It added that he called Biden, his son Hunter and their circle extremely corrupt people. [ 4 ]
TASS published two items on the remarks, both available to us only as headlines or short summaries. One was headlined that Trump spoke of the Biden administration's involvement in corruption in Ukraine. The other was headlined that Trump said US Democrats wanted to hush up corruption in Ukraine, and described the president as commenting on the publication of new documents about the actions of previous American administrations. The documents give no further detail on those papers. [ 2 , 3 ]
RIA Novosti also recalled that Trump has repeatedly said the conflict in Ukraine would never have begun if he had won the 2020 election. It said he has also blamed the earlier administrations of Barack Obama and Joe Biden for the escalation, while noting that Volodymyr Zelensky does not seek a real diplomatic settlement. [ 4 ]
Why it matters
The documents give no details of the alleged actions or of the new documents, so the significance is limited to the president's public remarks as Russian outlets reported them. Russian outlets framed them as a statement on corruption linked to Ukraine.
Key facts
- Trump told journalists that the Biden administration was very corrupt and did many bad things related to Ukraine. [ 1 , 4 ]
- Interfax quoted the remarks as said to journalists on Friday, 16 October. [ 1 ]
- RIA Novosti reported that Trump did not specify which actions he meant. [ 4 ]
- According to RIA Novosti, Trump called Biden, his son Hunter and their circle extremely corrupt people. [ 4 ]
- TASS headlined that Trump said Democrats wanted to hush up corruption in Ukraine, and described the remarks as a comment on the publication of new documents about the actions of previous US administrations. [ 3 ]
- A TASS headline said Trump spoke of the Biden administration's involvement in corruption in Ukraine. [ 2 ]
Confirmed by several sources
Still unclear
- Which actions Trump meant RIA Novosti reported that Trump did not specify which actions he had in mind.
- What the new documents are and what they contain Only a TASS summary mentions the publication of new documents about previous US administrations, without details.
- The exact wording of the quote Interfax quotes Trump without a reference to using power as a weapon, while RIA Novosti's quote includes the phrase that the administration used power as a weapon.
- That Trump spoke of Democrats wanting to hush up corruption This appears only in a TASS headline, with no article text.
What local media are saying
Timeline, local time
- Interfax published a report on Trump's remarks about the Biden administration and Ukraine. [ 1 ]
- TASS published a headline saying Trump spoke of the Biden administration's involvement in corruption in Ukraine. [ 2 ]
- TASS published a headline saying Trump said Democrats wanted to hush up corruption in Ukraine. [ 3 ]
- RIA Novosti published its report that Trump called the Biden administration corrupt. [ 4 ]