Trump Bio

Former and twice impeached President Donald Trump has secretly spoken with Russian dictator Vladimir V. Putin as many as seven times since leaving office. Since getting fired by the American people in the 2020 election, Trump continued to praise Mr. Putin. He called the Russian leader a “genius” when Moscow invaded Ukraine in 2022. He has criticized American aid to Ukraine. Trump refuses to say that Ukraine should win the war.  He has leaned on congressional MAGA Republicans not to approve more assistance. He has boasted that if he wins he will “negotiate” an end to the war in Ukraine within 24 hours by giving Putin what he wants.

The former president’s decision to elevate Laura Loomer, a far-right activist known for racist and homophobic posts online, has stunned even some Trump allies. Ms. Loomer has made a name for herself over the past decade by unabashedly claiming 9/11 was “an inside job.” Loomer was aboard Trump’s private plane en route to the memorial of the 9/11 attacks.

“The history of this person is just really toxic,” Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, a Trump ally, told a reporter for HuffPost on Thursday. “I don’t think it’s helpful at all.”