Trump told donors he threatened to bomb Moscow if Russia invaded

US President Donald Trump said at a private event last fall that he had warned Russian President Vladimir Putin he would "bomb the sh*t out of Moscow" if Russia attacked Ukraine, CNN reported.

According to audio obtained by CNN, Trump said at a 2024 fundraiser ahead of his electoral win last November: "With Putin I said: 'If you go into Ukraine, I'm going to bomb the sh*t out of Moscow. I'm telling you I have no choice'."

"And then (Putin) goes, like: 'I don't believe you.' But he believed me 10%."

The meaning of the anecdote is unclear, as the war was already years old at the time, with Russian attacks on Ukraine having started in February 2022.

Trump's love of bluster and bragging, especially at campaign rallies, is well documented.

Since returning to the White House this January, Trump has been known to threaten Putin with harsher US sanctions without following through. Trump has also frequently praised Putin and touted their good relationship.

But after a phone call with Putin, Trump last week complained that they had made no progress on the Ukraine issue.

Trump made the remarks on bombing Moscow last fall while campaigning for a return to the Oval Office, reportedly recorded at 2024 fundraising events in New York and Florida.

The audio, not previously made public, was obtained by a trio of journalists who included them in a new book called 2024.

The recordings also included Trump saying he delivered a similar warning to Chinese President Xi Jinping, stating that the US would bomb Beijing if China invaded Taiwan.

"He thought I was crazy," Trump said of Xi.

"One thing I'd do is any student that protests, I would throw them out of the country," the president also said in the recordings of closed-door fundraiser, pledging to crack down on pro-Palestinian demonstrations on college campuses. "Those people made a big mistake. Throw them out of the country, and I think that will stop it."

The Trump administration has drawn controversy for detaining foreign students who exercised their free speech rights to express support for Palestine. Some were arrested by plainclothes officers who did not identify themselves and sent to detention centers thousands of miles away.

Friend of the students and universities have pushed back on the drive to deport the students, calling such efforts contrary to the American tradition of free speech and free thought.