• by Joe Mandese  @mp_joemandese, April 15, 2022

“I think NATO is obsolete. NATO was done at a time you had the Soviet Union, which was obviously larger - much larger than Russia is today. I'm not saying Russia is not a threat. But we have other threats.”

"I went in yesterday and there was a television screen, and I said, 'This is genius.' Putin declares a big portion of the Ukraine -- of Ukraine. Putin declares it as independent. Oh, that's wonderful."

"They say, 'Trump said Putin's smart.' I mean, he's taking over a country for two dollars' worth of sanctions. I'd say that's pretty smart. He's taking over a country -- really a vast, vast location, a great piece of land with a lot of people, and just walking right in."

“I think I became much richer because I can understand people and read people and Putin is not finished. Putin has got a long way to go."

“I’ve always had a good instinct about Putin. I just feel that that’s a guy -- and I can analyze people and you’re not always right, and it could be that I won’t like him. But I’ve always had a good feeling about him from the standpoint."

"We're going to have a great relationship with Putin and Russia.”

"He's not going into Ukraine, OK, just so you understand. He's not going to go into Ukraine, all right? You can mark it down. You can put it down. You can take it anywhere you want.”

“There are a lot of killers. Do you think our country is so innocent? Do you think our country is so innocent?"

The whole Russia thing--that’s a ruse. I didn’t do anything for Russia."

"I'd like you to do me a favor, though."

“Russia, if you’re listening, I hope you’re able to find the 30,000 emails [of Hillary Clinton] that are missing. … They probably have them. I’d like to have them released.”