Praises Putin at CPAC for 'toying with' Obama over Ukraine: 'Putin has eaten Obama's lunch'

At the same CPAC speech where Trump warned against immigration, he praised Russian President Vladimir Putin for annexing Crimea and criticized Obama as weak. Trump said Putin was 'toying with' Obama and praised Putin's timing: 'he has the Olympics, the day after the Olympics, he starts with Ukraine. The day after. How smart?' Trump noted 'Putin even sent me a beautiful present with a beautiful note' and said 'when he goes in and takes Crimea, he's taking the heart and soul because that's where all the money is.' He predicted 'the rest of Ukraine will fall and it's predicted to fall fairly quickly.' Trump also told NBC that 'Putin has eaten Obama's lunch, therefore our lunch, for a long period of time.' This praise of Putin during an active invasion foreshadowed his pro-Putin stance as president.

"Putin has eaten Obama's lunch, therefore our lunch, for a long period of time." — NBC Today show interview, March 2014