Hillary Clinton Praises Trump’s Abrupt Shift on Russia: Putin ‘Only Responds to Strength’

Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton praised President Donald Trump’s hardline shift on Russia and warned that the country’s leader, Vladimir Putin, “only responds to strength.”

Trump suggested for the first time on Tuesday that Ukraine could reclaim “all of Ukraine back in its original form,” signaling a marked departure from his earlier stance on the conflict.

Taking to Truth Social after talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in New York, Trump said Kyiv could regain “the original borders from where this war started” with backing from Europe and NATO, citing mounting pressure on Russia’s economy. The comments, which came hours after Trump’s speech to the UN General Assembly.

Clinton, who ran against Trump in 2016 and has remained one of his most ardent critics, appeared on MSNBC’s Morning Joe on Wednesday when host Joe Scarborough asked her about Trump’s remarks.

Scarborough pointed out the comments were an abrupt and marked shift from his previous efforts to broker peace between the two warring countries, a deal he warned at the time could involve Ukraine ceding territory lost.

“I welcomed what the president said yesterday,” Clinton said.

She continued: “I thought that given all the back-and-forth that we have seen and heard at Anchorage and elsewhere, his coming to grips with the fact that Vladimir Putin does not respond to any kind of rhetoric, he only responds to strength.

“You have to show strength. You have to back strength. You have to be strong in order to deal with him,” she added.

Unpacking Russia’s attack on Ukraine, which began in 2022, Clinton warned that Putin “poses a clear and present danger to all of Europe and therefore to the United States.”

Rounding back to the president, Clinton said: “And I think if what President Trump said yesterday is if we help Ukraine, Ukraine can hold the line and may even be able to push Russia back.”

She added: “There was a very interesting comment that Trump made in his Truth Social post. He said, you know, what kind of military does Russia have exactly? They couldn’t even take over Ukraine. This has been a point I’ve been trying now for a long time. We overestimated Russia’s military strength and now we’re seeing that they can be pushed back.”

Watch above via MSNBC.