Donald Trump and Vladimir PutinDonald Trump would “love to be a bit like” Vladimir Putin, according to Britain’s first ever national security adviser.
The US president has stunned the western world by aligning himself with the Russian dictator over the Ukraine war in recent weeks.
Trump has agreed to a deal to get Russian fuel back on the American market – undoing years of sanctions – in the hope of bringing diesel prices in the US down before the midterm elections next month.
His Republican Party is expected to be heavily punished by American voters for the rising cost of living.
Trump has also called for Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy to be replaced and has been accused of deliberately limiting Ukraine’s access to the Starlink satellite system – though the White House has denied such claims.
The US president also excused any suggestion Russia could be helping Iran with its war against America.
Former diplomat Lord Ricketts told Sky News that Trump “sees himself as a strong man” and would love to have the authority Putin has after 27 years in power.
“I think you get a little bit of sense of his world view when you hear about the idea of a summit between him, Putin and [North Korean dictator] Xi Jinping,” Ricketts said.
“Trump sees himself as a strong man, he’d love to be a bit like Putin, his word is law, he’s there for long-term.
“That’s how he’s approaching these problems and that makes him very difficult to deal with.”
Ricketts also claimed the president is “oblivious” to the long-term consequences of his actions.
He said: “Nothing is ever fixed in the Trump universe and all Trump is ever interested in is short-term interests.
“What he says at the moment is in his interest is to get the diesel price down in America before those midterm elections.”
He continued: “He sees [Putin] as strong and part of the solution to his problem and Zelenskyy as weak and something that is in the way.
“What he is doing of course is incredibly cynical.
“By cutting off alerts for the intelligence on the launch of the ballistic missiles towards Ukraine, messing with the Starlink which Ukraine uses to try to defend against the drones.
“People are dying in Ukraine because of what Trump is doing, to try and put extra pressure on Zelenskyy.
“Of course, he’s completely oblivious to that.”
'People are dying in Ukraine because of what Trump is doing to try to put extra pressure on Zelenskyy' @LordRickettsP
Britain's first national security adviser tells @WilfredFrost the US president is only interested in getting the diesel deal done before the midterms pic.twitter.com/aaEaKPjhRj
Listen to Commons People, the podcast that makes politics easy. Every week, Kevin Schofield and Kate Nicholson unpack the week’s biggest stories to keep you informed. Join us for straightforward analysis of what’s going on at Westminster.
Bengali (Bangladesh) · 
English (United States) ·