Trump said he threatened to bomb Moscow if Putin attacked Ukraine, 2024 fundraiser tapes show

President Donald Trump answers questions from reporters on Friday, June 27, 2025, in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

Donald Trump told a private gathering of donors last year that he once sought to deter Russian President Vladimir Putin from attacking Ukraine by threatening to “bomb the s--t out of Moscow” in retaliation, according to audio provided to CNN.

“With Putin I said, ‘If you go into Ukraine, I’m going to bomb the s--t out of Moscow. I’m telling you I have no choice,’” Trump said during one 2024 fundraiser, according to the audio. “And then [Putin] goes, like, ‘I don’t believe you.’ But he believed me 10 per cent.”

Trump later claimed he relayed a similar warning to Chinese President Xi Jinping over a potential invasion of Taiwan, telling him that the U.S. would bomb Beijing in response.

“He thought I was crazy,” Trump said of Xi, before noting that “we never had a problem.”

The remarks, which came as Trump made his case for a second term, were among those captured in a series of audio tapes of 2024 fundraisers in New York and Florida, which were later obtained by Josh Dawsey, Tyler Pager and Isaac Arnsdorf, who detailed some of the exchanges in their new book, “2024.” The audio has not previously been aired. The Trump campaign declined to comment on the content of the tapes.

The audio shows a more unleashed side of Trump that he was willing to reveal behind closed doors to appeal to wealthy donors – when he talked about not only his at-times aggressive foreign policy strategy, but also deporting student protestors and his opinion that “the welfare people” will always vote for Democrats.

Trump referenced his conversations with Putin and Xi while arguing that he would have staved off conflicts in Ukraine and Gaza if he were president instead of Joe Biden – a claim he’s continued to repeat as he now struggles to end both wars.

On Tuesday, Trump again expressed frustration with Putin’s resistance to a peace deal, complaining that the Russian leader was throwing “a lot of bulls--t” at the U.S.

“I’m not happy with Putin,” he said during a Cabinet meeting. “I’m very unhappy with them.”

During one fundraiser, Trump boasted about pressuring wealthy allies to donate tens of millions of dollars to his campaign. At another, he previewed his administration’s efforts to deport student protesters in addition to recounting his exchanges with foreign leaders.

“One thing I’d do is any student that protests, I would throw them out of the country,” Trump said at a second closed-door fundraiser, vowing 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.”

After one donor voiced concern that some of the student protesters would eventually be “running this country,” Trump pressed the audience to “really be generous” in helping him get elected.

“If you get me elected, we will set that movement back 25 to 30 years,” he said.

Trump has sought to follow through on that pledge since taking office, sparking a series of running legal showdowns between the White House and the judiciary over the scope of the administration’s mass deportation drive – including against students who hold visas that the administration has sought to revoke.

At another fundraiser, Trump pressed attendees to give more to his campaign by asserting that Republicans were at a disadvantage because “the welfare people will always vote for Democrats.”

“The unions give big money, the civil service stuff gives big money, and they have the advantage of welfare,” he said. “The one thing that I have to say to my Jewish friends: You’ve got to get them to start voting Republican.”

During that event, Trump also bragged about convincing one wealthy donor who had offered a $1 million donation in exchange for lunch with him to instead increase the amount to $25 million.

“And he did it, he gave me $25 million,” Trump said. “It’s crazy.”

The then-GOP presidential nominee claimed he had similarly succeeded in getting others to donate far more than they originally planned.

“You have to have the courage to ask,” he said. “You have to get them into the mindset.”