Former U.S. President Donald Trump said on Fox & Friends that Barack Obama "gave away" Crimea to Russia in 2014, describing the annexation as "perhaps the worst real-estate deal I’ve ever seen." Trump contended that Moscow took the peninsula "without a shot fired" and praised President Vladimir Putin for making "a good deal," asserting that the episode triggered the wider war in Ukraine. Caroline Leavitt, a spokeswoman for Trump’s 2024 campaign, echoed the criticism, claiming President Joe Biden’s "weakness and incompetence" emboldened Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022 and forced U.S. taxpayers to fund Kyiv "no matter the cost." Commentators and fact-checkers quickly rejected Trump’s account, noting that Russia seized Crimea by force in March 2014. The Obama administration responded with sanctions and economic assistance to Kyiv, while lethal weapons such as Javelin anti-tank missiles were first supplied during Trump’s term. Biden has since broadened military support to Ukraine as the conflict continues.