A new audio recording of US President Donald Trump has gone viral, allegedly capturing him threatening to bomb Moscow and Beijing. The clip, shared by CNN, is reportedly from private fundraisers held in New York and Florida in 2024. In the recording, Trump can be heard claiming he issued stern warnings to Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping during tense geopolitical moments.
“Bomb Moscow, Bomb Beijing”
According to the audio, Trump claimed that he warned Putin against invading Ukraine by threatening to bomb Moscow. “With Putin, I said, ‘If you go into Ukraine, I’m going to bomb Moscow. I have no choice,’” Trump can be heard saying. He also described a similar conversation with Xi Jinping, claiming he warned the Chinese President that any move on Taiwan would result in Beijing being bombed. Trump added that both leaders were “shocked” by the threats, but still believed him “10 per cent,” which he argued was enough. “In fact, 5 per cent would have been OK too,” he said in the recording.
The audio reportedly came from private donor events and was obtained by journalists Josh Dawsey, Tyler Pager, and Isaac Arnsdorf, authors of the book “2024: How Trump Retook the White House and the Democrats Lost America.”
Trump’s comments appear to be part of a broader attempt to position himself as a stronger leader on the world stage, contrasting his foreign policy stance with that of President Joe Biden. At the time of the recording, Trump was courting Republican donors and promoting his capacity to deter global conflicts.
Changing tone on Putin
Interestingly, the audio surfaced just as Trump publicly criticised Putin over the war in Ukraine—a shift from his earlier positions. “He’s killing too many people, so we’re sending some defensive weapons to Ukraine and I’ve approved it,” Trump said recently, defending his decision to support President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s efforts. The emergence of this recording comes amid Trump’s revived claims that he brokered peace in several international flashpoints, including tensions between India and Pakistan and the Congo-Rwanda conflict. While these claims remain controversial and largely unverified, they align with his broader narrative of being a peacekeeping force on the global stage—one who isn’t afraid to wield threats to achieve diplomatic results.