Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has said that if the US has a “smart president”, countries such as Russia, China and North Korea will cease to be enemies of the United States.

The Republican nominee said this during a campaign rally in Virginia on Friday.

Speaking to a crowd of supporters, Trump said these countries “do not respect” current US President Joe Biden.

“We have external enemies – China, Russia, North Korea. But they’re not really enemies if we had a smart president. They wouldn’t be enemies if we had a smart president, they would do wonderful things,” Trump said.

He also once again said he could resolve the war between Ukraine and Russia after his election victory and would do so before he even entered the White House.

Putin’s terms unacceptable

During the US presidential debate earlier this week, candidates Donald Trump and Joe Biden clashed over their stances on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Putin’s actions, and the role of NATO.

Trump argued that the war would not have started under his watch and criticized Biden for the high levels of aid provided to Ukraine. He pledged to negotiate a settlement between Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelenskyy if elected.

When asked if Putin’s terms are acceptable, which include Russia keeping the Ukrainian territory it has already claimed and Ukraine abandoning its bid to join NATO, Trump replied “no” and reiterated that the war should not have started in the first place.

The US presidential elections will take place on 5 November 2024.