Both candidates striking very different tones this week when it comes to this war.

We're going to stand with Ukraine. I think Zelenskyy is maybe the greatest salesman of any politician that's ever lived. Every time he comes to our country, he walks away with $60 billion. I will have that settled prior to taking the White House as President-elect.

And that obviously that has major implications for the war ahead. Let's talk more about this with former Defense Secretary under President Bill Clinton and the CEO of the Cohen Group, William Cohen. Now, first, what do you make of these comments from Trump yesterday on Zelensky? Let's start there.

I'm sorry. What do I make of them? I think that he's perhaps the greatest salesman in the history of political leadership or non-leadership. The fact is that Zelensky, I think, has emerged as one of the strongest leaders in the world today. Given the fact that he has been attacked by Russia, by Vladimir Putin, he's had thousands of people killed. You have Putin, who has sent missiles into hospitals and maternity wards, into school yards, in schools themselves. They killed thousands of people and caused millions to become migrants. And so for Zelenskyy to stand up and say, I am fighting for freedom. I'm fighting for my freedom as an independent country, and I'm fighting for Europe's freedom. Because if Putin is allowed to take Ukraine, which former President Trump has said, Do whatever the hell you want. You can take Ukraine. You can take anything else you want in Europe as long as they don't pay off their bills. Well, for someone who has filed bankruptcy multiple times and not paying bills, that's pretty rich coming from the former President. But in any event, the European stands strongly with Ukraine, and our President, Biden, stands really strong with them, saying, We're with for years and years to come.

That's provided that President Biden is still President, and that's the danger that we face, that former President Trump will take office again and sell out the Ukrainians in a nanosecond. That's what the Europeans are worried about. That's what we, as believers in freedom, should be worried about.

Well, and that, of course, those are the stakes, the added stakes that many see heading into this election. And to add into that discussion, obviously, President Biden returning from '97 summit in recent days, where it's clear, at least in some cases, US allies are worried that all this progress that they may have made in solidarity, of course, in supporting Ukraine may be undone if Trump were to win a second term. So just on the global stage, what happens if some of the perspectives that Trump is putting out right now actually make their way into policy if he retakes the White House?

I think we'll see geopolitical instability. First of all, President Trump, should he be reelected? He will pull the money and the support from Ukraine. That will help destabilize NATO, which he has also said he does not favor. So if NATO doesn't have the United States, we are the biggest contributor. We are the backbone of the NATO Alliance. If you pull us out, the NATO organization probably won't survive for any length of time. That That will destabilize Europe and put Putin in a very good position to dominate the European theater as such. Secondly, it will undermine support by our Asian allies, because if we won't support Ukraine, which is in Europe, what are we going to do if China should ever move against Taiwan? All of those Asian allies will say, Wait a minute. President Trump has threatened to pull support from South Korea. He also wants to pull support from Japan. You pull our troops out of Japan, out of South Korea. What's the rest of our alliances in the Asia Pacific or Indo Pacific region? What do they say at that point? We live in the region, United States. You don't. We'll make the best deal we can, and that will be with China.

So this has global implications for us in terms of our European allies. And if we don't have our European allies, when it comes time to challenging China economically, diplomatically, who's going to be with us? The European saying, You dumped us. We're not with you in going after China. We're not with you, should you ever have to go to a conflict in war with China over Taiwan. You'll be all alone. You won't have us with you. So there are great implications for our Security, for international stability. We believe in freedom. We believe in the rule of law. And Donald Trump doesn't. He doesn't believe in the rule of law. He believes in the rule of power, power of rule. And so he wants to be more like Vladimir to Putin. Inside a Trump doll is a Putin doll. He wants to be more like Xi Jinping. He wants to be more like Kim Jong Un. He wants to be more like them so he can have a military that pays fealty to him, swears loyalty to him. When you and I pledge our allegiance, it's not to a President, it's to the flag of the United States, the Republic for which it stands, to the Constitution of the United States.

That's what Donald Trump doesn't want to hear from anybody serving living in public office come 2025.

And you mentioned Putin, and we have seen, at least this past Friday, Russian President Putin outlined his terms for the end of the war in Ukraine, which include the withdrawal of Ukrainian troops from multiple territories, the abandonment of Ukraine's application to NATO, the lifting of Western sanctions as well. These terms are obviously a shot in the dark based on where things stand right now, a long shot, I should say, without both parties coming to the table. But I guess the question is, to take the premise of where those answers came from, how do you see this war ending?

I don't see it ending soon unless Donald Trump becomes President of the United States. If that happens, then I think he will pull the rug out from Ukraine. He will tell Putin, You can have whatever you want to do with Ukraine. It's your territory, and we're not going to support Ukraine any longer. I don't support Zelenskyy. I don't support sovereignty for the Ukrainians. We have to remember, Putin has invaded a sovereign, independent country. We can't allow him to get away with it, so to speak, because he never pays a penalty for violating international rules of law. And so if he's not, he went after Georgia, got a piece of Georgia. He's gone after Crimea, taken Crimea. He's gone after the Donbas. He wants that. So he keeps taking a chunk at a time of an independent country. And we say, It's okay. You can have whatever you want. I don't think the American people should want that. I don't believe they do want that. But you have supporters on Capitol Hill who support Putin, who support whatever he is doing because they believe that he's a strong man, and they want a strong man in the White House.

A strong man in the White House means you lose rights. It means you don't have the freedom to speak your peace of mind. You don't have the freedom to challenge power. That's what living with a strong man means. I don't think any Americans should ever want that.

And we have seen, as you bring up Capitol Hill, how increasingly difficult it has to pass funding for the defense and aid of Ukraine. And it's a process that could be threatened, again, based on what Donald Trump has said to this point. William Cohen, we got to leave it there, but I appreciate the time and perspective. Thanks for being here.