Politics

Trump Offers Biden ‘Good Luck’ In Meeting With Putin, Flaunts Russia Investigation

TOPSHOT - (COMBO) This combination of pictures created on November 4, 2020 shows Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden gestures after speaking during election night at the Chase Center in Wilmington, Delaware, and US President Donald Trump speaks during election night in the East Room of the White House in Washington, DC, early on November 4, 2020. - President Donald Trump and Democratic challenger Joe Biden are battling it out for the White House, with polls closed across the United States Tuesday -- and a long night of waiting for results in key battlegrounds on the cards. (Photos by ANGELA WEISS and MANDEL NGAN / AFP) (Photo by ANGELA WEISS,MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images)
Anders Hagstrom White House Correspondent
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Former President Donald Trump wish President Joe Biden “good luck” in his upcoming meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday.

Trump made the statement just days ahead of Biden’s scheduled meeting with Putin, during which he plans to bring up various hacking attacks from Russia against the U.S. Trump also used the opportunity to argue that the Trump-Russia investigation was “made-up and paid for” by Democrats. (RELATED: Biden Admin To Buy 500 Million Pfizer Vaccine Doses For Global Aid Effort)

“Good luck to Biden in dealing with president Putin–Don’t fall asleep during the meeting, and please give him my warmest regards!” Trump said in a statement.

Trump made the statement as Biden prepared for the G-7 summit in the U.K., where the world’s leading nations will meet next week on how to address the coronavirus pandemic, among other things.

Biden has announced that the U.S. will donate 500 million doses of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine to the global community before July 2022. It is the largest donation from any nation since the beginning of the pandemic.

Biden had made clear in the opening days of his administration that the U.S. would focus on vaccinating Americans first before turning its attention to global need. More than 50% of Americans now have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine and there is more than enough supply for those remaining. (RELATED: Daily US Coronavirus Case Counts Are The Lowest Now Than At Any Point In The Pandemic)

Many of the additional 500 million doses are likely to go to Covax, a World Health Organization-backed program that aims to deliver 2 billion COVID-19 vaccine doses to developing countries by the end of 2021.

Discussion of the global vaccine strategy is likely to be a top priority throughout the G-7 summit, as the powerful nations represented there will provide virtually all of the supply.