Trump attributes poor relations with Russia to internal political strife

Former U.S. president, Donald Trump, on Monday said smear campaign prevented him from engaging in good relations with Russia and achieving good results for both countries.

Trump made the assertion in an interview with Fox News.

He recalled the investigation led by Special Counsel, Robert Mueller, into Russian efforts to interfere in the 2016 U.S. presidential election.

“The Mueller thing, although it worked out good, but it took two and a half years and it made it very difficult to deal with certain countries, in particular Russia.

“You know, we could have done some great things with Russia. Very good for our country, also good for Russia,” he said.

Trump added that because the ongoing Mueller investigation accused him of conspiracy or coordination with Russia as a means to influence the results of the 2016 presidential election, he could not build a strong relationship with the country.

“You couldn’t do that, because they would have said: ‘oh, he loves Russia. These people are sick,” Trump said.

Trump also continued to advertise his photobook titled, “Our Journey Together” which will be released on Dec. 7 and includes over 300 captioned photos celebrating his time as U.S. president.

He criticised current U.S. President Joe Biden’s tactics when withdrawing troops from Afghanistan and noted what he would have done it differently if he was re-elected.