Donald Trump allegedly threatened Russian President Vladimir Putin during a private fundraiser last year that if he attacked Ukraine, Moscow would be bombed in response.

That's according to an audio recording provided to CNN.

"I told Putin, 'If you invade Ukraine, I will bomb Moscow to shit. I'm telling you I have no choice,'" Trump said during a 2024 fundraiser, according to the audio recording. "And then (Putin) said, 'I don't trust you. But he believed me 10 percent."

Later, Trump allegedly relayed a similar warning to Chinese President Xi Jinping regarding a potential invasion of Taiwan, telling him the U.S. would bomb Beijing in response.

"He thought I was crazy," the US president said of Xi, before noting that "we never had a problem."

The remarks the Republican made in support of his bid for a second term were among those captured on a series of audiotapes from 2024 fundraisers in New York and Florida that were later obtained by Josh Dawsey, Tyler Padger and Isaac Arnsdorf, who detailed some of the conversations in their new book, 2024. The audio recordings have not been broadcast before. The Trump campaign declined to comment on the content of the recordings. 

The audio recording shows a looser side of Trump that he was willing to show behind closed doors to attract wealthy donors - when he talked not only about his sometimes aggressive foreign policy strategy, but also about deporting student protesters and his view that "people on welfare" will always vote for Democrats.

The American leader referred to his conversations with Putin and Xi while claiming that he would have prevented the conflicts in Ukraine and Gaza if he had been president instead of Joe Biden - a claim he keeps repeating as he now fights to end the two wars.

On 8 July, Trump again expressed his frustration with Putin's resistance to a peace deal, complaining that the Russian leader was talking "a lot of nonsense" about the US.

"I'm not happy with Putin," Trump said during a cabinet meeting. "I'm very unhappy with them."

During one of the fundraisers, he boasted that he had pressured wealthy allies to donate tens of millions of dollars to his campaign. At another meeting, Trump outlined his administration's efforts to deport student protesters and talked about his conversations with foreign leaders. 

"One of the things I would do is any student who protests, I would kick them out of the country," Trump said at the second closed-door fundraiser, vowing to crack down on pro-Palestinian demonstrations on university campuses. "These people made a big mistake. Get them out of the country and I think this will stop."

After one donor expressed concern that some of the protesting students would eventually "run this country," Trump pressed the audience to "be really generous" to help get him elected.

"If you elect me, we'll set this movement back 25-30 years," he said.

Since taking office, Trump has been trying to make good on that promise, sparking a series of ongoing legal disputes between the White House and the judiciary over the scope of the administration's campaign of mass deportations - including against students who hold visas the administration is trying to revoke.

At another fundraiser, the president pressed attendees to give more to his campaign, arguing that Republicans are at a disadvantage because "people who are on welfare will always vote for Democrats."

"Unions give big money, public employees give big money and have the advantage of welfare," he said. "The only thing I have to say to my Jewish friends: you've got to get them to start voting Republican." 

During that event, Trump also boasted that he had persuaded a wealthy donor who had offered a $1 million donation in exchange for lunch with him to instead increase the amount to $25 million.

"And he did, he donated $25 million to me," the Republican said. "That's crazy."

The then-presidential candidate claims he was similarly able to get other people to donate much more than originally planned.

"You have to have the guts to ask," he said. "You have to make them think." | BGNES