There has been only one president this century who has kept Russia's Vladimir Putin from invading former Soviet Union states, and that is undoubtedly former President Donald Trump, Rep. Pat Fallon, R-Texas, told Newsmax.
"He projected strength, and that's exactly what President Trump told me," Fallon told Saturday's "The Count," slipping briefly into Trump's voice to tell his story. "He said, you know, 'Vladimir, I don't want to come in and have to have to knock off your iron dome in Moscow.'
"And he said to me, 'Pat, he believed me like 5%.'
"But he kept him in check. You know, that's the truth."
What is not the truth is "anything that comes out of Putin's Kremlin," according to Fallon, who praised Trump's ability to keep Putin's aggression at bay during his administration.
"Let's look at what Putin has done over the last 15 years: In 2008, he stole two provinces from Georgia under George W. Bush. In 2014, Crimea under [Barack] Obama, and then, of course in full-scale invasion under [Joe] Biden.
"But for four years he didn't act aggressive at all toward his neighbors, and that was during the Trump years."
Trump had vowed economic war if Putin were to cross Trump's red line.
"He said he made it very clear to Putin that he wouldn't stand for it, and then he would wage economic war and, you know, unleash the American energy sector, so therefore Putin couldn't fund his war," Fallon continued.
"So President Trump did a fabulous job in handling and thwarting Putin."
Support for Ukraine is a hotly debated topic, but Fallon told host John Tabacco that America cannot do nothing.
"Well, you know, it's an extreme position, John, to do absolutely nothing. And it's also an extreme position to give them a blank check," Fallon said. "So we need to have a measured response. We want the Ukrainians to win, and they are fighting and they are dying.
"And we saw through some open sourcing the amount of casualties that the Russians have suffered."
Delivering F-16s is the next level and short of that, the U.S. must maintain its lethal aid support to Ukraine, Fallon concluded.
"So will F-16's be the game changer? It's hard to say, but I think that it's very smart to continue to provide them with javelins and harpoons and anti-tank mines and the ammunition and the other tools that they need to thwart this aggression," Fallon said.
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Eric Mack ✉
Eric Mack has been a writer and editor at Newsmax since 2016. He is a 1998 Syracuse University journalism graduate and a New York Press Association award-winning writer.
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