Donald Trump said he is the only presidential candidate who can prevent World War III, while claiming we are "very close" to it breaking out.
Speaking at a 2024 campaign rally in Waterloo, Iowa, on Tuesday, the former president said there is a major at risk of a global nuclear conflict that will result in the complete "obliteration" of the planet.
Trump has frequently cited the risk of nuclear war breaking out while criticizing President Joe Biden's foreign policies. He has also repeatedly claimed he is the only person who can end the war between Russia and Ukraine, often while citing his relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin, or that Moscow would not have invaded if he was still in the White House.
At the rally in Iowa, Trump repeated his stance that he could prevent foreign conflicts from escalating into a nuclear war while repeating praise given to him from Hungary's far-right leader Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who told the Political Action Coalition event in the Hungarian capital of Budapest in May: "I'm sure if President Trump would be the president, there would be no war in Ukraine and Europe."
"The world is in more danger than it's ever been because of the power of weaponry, and I will be the only one—I can say this with great surety—I will prevent World War III," Trump said in Iowa.
"We're very close. I don't know if you feel it, but we're very close to World War III when you see these discussions taking place.
"And this wouldn't be a war like with armies, tanks running back and forth shooting at each other—World War I, World War II—this would be obliteration," Trump added. "This would be the worst thing that's ever been."
Trump's office has been contacted for comment via email.
This is not the first time that Trump has claimed he is the only person who could prevent another world war taking place.
Trump made similar remarks during a previous rally in Iowa in October, soon after the Palestinian military group Hamas launched its large-scale attack on Israel.
"We are closer to World War III than we've ever been," Trump said in Cedar Rapids on October 7. "And I'm the only one that will prevent World War III."
At his rally in Waterloo, Trump repeated his claim that immigrants are "destroying the blood out of our country"—which critics and the White House have previously said echoes the rhetoric of Nazi leader Adolf Hitler.
Speaking to a crowd of his supporters, Trump doubled down on his extreme anti-immigrant remarks, while saying that he had never read Hitler's manifesto book, Mein Kampf.
"It's crazy what's going on, they're ruining our country. And it's true, they're destroying the blood of our country, that's what they're doing. They don't like it when I said that—and I never read Mein Kampf—they said, 'Oh, Hitler said that in a much different way.'
"They're coming from all over the world, people all over the world. We have no idea. They could be healthy, they could be very unhealthy, they could bring in disease," Trump added. "But they do bring in crime, but they have them coming in from all over the world, and they're destroying the blood of our country, they're destroying the fabric of our country. And we're going have to get them out."
Before Trump's speech on Tuesday, Reuters reported that the Biden campaign had sent out an email citing examples of language used by Trump that echoed Hitler and the Italian dictator Benito Mussolini.
"Donald Trump is parroting autocrats like Hitler and Mussolini, claiming that immigrants are 'poisoning the blood of our country' and calling his political enemies 'vermin,''" the Biden campaign email said.
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
fairness meter
To Rate This Article
About the writer
Ewan Palmer is a Newsweek News Reporter based in London, U.K. His focus is reporting on US politics, domestic policy ... Read more
