The questioning during Thursday's debate turned to foreign policy beginning with the Russian war in Ukraine, which is now in its third year. Former President Donald Trump suggested Russia never would have attacked Ukraine if he had been in office. “If we had a real president, a president that knew that was respected by Putin, he would have never he would have never invaded Ukraine,” he said. Trump has a long history of positive comments about Russian President Vladimir Putin’s toughness, including calling Putin’s tactics in the 2022 invasion of Ukraine “genius” and “very savvy.” Trump expresses no such warmth for Ukraine or Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, most recently calling him a “salesman” this month for the Ukrainian leader’s military aid requests to the United States.