Former US Secretary of State and 2016 presidential opponent Hillary Clinton called US President Donald Trump a “willing Putin puppet,” while former President Bill Clint accused Trump of abandoning Ukraine and embracing Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Speaking on the High Stakes podcast, which she co-hosts with journalist Kara Swisher, Hillary Clinton said Trump’s approach to Russia reflected a broader disregard for freedom, democracy and US national security.
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“Fast forward 10 years, we are seeing in real time everything that I warned about and everything that evidence proved,” Clinton said. “Trump is more devoted to Putin than he is to freedom, democracy, and frankly America’s national security.”
Swisher asked why Trump was easing pressure on Russia. Hillary suggested that several factors could be at play, including the possibility that Putin possesses compromising material on the US president.
“I continue to believe that Putin has things on Trump. I continue to believe that he is holding photos, videos, whatever it might be,” she said, without presenting evidence to substantiate the allegation.
She also pointed to Trump’s opposition to releasing files related to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, arguing that their eventual disclosure could shock even some of his supporters.
“So, honestly, I think it’s wannabe dictator. It is, you know, money, money, money. And it is, you know, let’s keep Putin happy so he doesn’t dump what he has,” Clinton said.
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When Swisher asked whether she still stood by her description of Trump as Putin’s puppet, Clinton replied: “He is a willing Putin puppet to help Putin.”
She warned that Russia’s ambitions extended beyond Ukraine and linked Trump’s foreign policy to what she described as a desire among authoritarian leaders to divide the world into spheres of influence.
“Putin’s not going to stop with Ukraine,” Clinton said, arguing that Trump appeared to envision a world in which the United States controlled the Western Hemisphere, Putin controlled Russia and Europe, and Chinese leader Xi Jinping controlled the rest.
Hillary Clinton revisits 2016 warning about Trump and Putin
Clinton’s remarks echoed her exchange with Trump during the second presidential debate in October 2016, when Trump said, pointing at her, that “Putin, from everything I see, has no respect for this person.”
“That’s because he’d rather have a puppet as president of the United States,” Clinton replied during the debate.
She went on to accuse him of refusing to acknowledge Russian cyberattacks against the United States, encouraging espionage against Americans and supporting Putin’s political objectives.
“You are willing to spout the Putin line, sign up for his wish list, break up NATO, do whatever he wants you to do,” she said at the time.
Nearly a decade later, Clinton argued that events had borne out her warnings about Trump’s relationship with the Kremlin.
Bill Clinton accuses Trump of abandoning Ukraine
Meanwhile, Bill Clinton criticized Trump’s Russia policy during a campaign appearance on Oct. 20, his first appearance of the 2026 midterm election campaign.
He was campaigning for Florida Democratic gubernatorial candidate David Jolly at the Koinonia Worship Center.
Bill Clinton accused Donald Trump of mistreating US allies and abandoning Ukraine while moving closer to Putin. The former US president said:
“I’m tired of the way we treat our allies like dirt, and just last week President Trump has finally done what he threatened to do when he ran the first time, which is to abandon Ukraine and embrace Vladimir Putin all over again.”
Julia is a Deputy Head of News and correspondent for Kyiv Post who has previously worked as a parliamentary editor, journalist, and news editor. She has specialized in covering the work of the Ukrainian parliament, government, and law enforcement agencies.