Trump Warns World War III Was ‘Closer Than People Think’

By Staff, Agencies

Former US President Donald Trump has claimed that his election victory was crucial in preventing a global conflict, asserting that if former Vice President Kamala Harris had won last November, World War III would have erupted within a year.

Speaking at a Future Investment Initiative Institute event in Miami Beach, organized by Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund, Trump emphasized his goal of being remembered as a “peacemaker and a unifier.” He identified resolving conflicts in the Middle East and Ukraine as his key foreign policy priorities.

“There’s no profit for anyone in having World War III, and you’re not so far away from it,” Trump told the audience. “If we had this administration for another year, you would have been in World War III, and now it’s not going to happen.”

His remarks contrasted with statements from former President Joe Biden, who, in his farewell speech at the State Department, said his administration’s main objectives were to “rally the world and defend Ukraine” while avoiding a war between nuclear powers.

Trump has consistently criticized Biden and his team, including Harris, for what he describes as incompetence, arguing that tensions over Ukraine would not have escalated into war under his leadership.

Meanwhile, senior officials from Russia and the US recently met in Saudi Arabia to discuss repairing relations strained under Biden’s presidency. Trump praised Riyadh for facilitating the talks, calling them a major diplomatic success and reinforcing his administration’s approach to the Ukraine crisis.

However, Trump’s engagement in diplomacy has led to tensions with Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky, who insists that negotiations about the conflict should not take place without Kiev’s involvement.

During his speech, Trump criticized Zelensky, calling him a “dictator without elections” who is draining US resources instead of pursuing a diplomatic solution with Russia. He suggested that Zelensky “wants to keep the gravy train going” and warned, “He better move fast, or he’s not going to have a country left.”

Zelensky previously accused Trump of repeating "Russian disinformation" regarding his low approval ratings in Ukraine, citing a Kiev-based poll showing public support for his leadership. Trump, however, maintained that he was referring to “real Ukrainian polls.”