Trump Touts Putin Relationship, Rails About Wind Energy's 'Carbon Emissions' In Speech

Former President Donald Trump was up to his old tricks this week, bragging to Republicans about his close relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin and bizarrely slamming wind turbines for their “carbon emissions.”

The Washington Post reported on Trump’s speech at the National Republican Senatorial Committee retreat in Palm Beach, Florida, on Thursday, which came after his threat on Wednesday that Republicans won’t vote in 2022 or 2024 unless the party embraces Trump’s false claims that the 2020 election was rigged.

Trump boasted in his remarks about his excellent relationship with Putin, and praised Chinese President Xi Jinping’s intellect — despite his anti-China rhetoric and policies throughout his presidency. Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, was so concerned about Trump’s animus toward China that he tried to assure leaders there that Trump was not going to attack the country.

On Thursday, Trump also bragged that he brought the GOP back from near-death. “It was a dying party, I’ll be honest. Now we have a very lively party,” Trump said.

He also zeroed in on a favorite target of his: wind turbines. (President Joe Biden recently announced a plan to expand the number of offshore wind turbines.)

“It’s so sad when you see that they are approving these windmills — worst form of energy, the most expensive,” Trump falsely claimed. “You talk about carbon emissions, well they are making them. More goes into the air than if you ran something for 30 years.”

Wind turbines are an “emissions-free source of energy” that have “fewer effects on the environment than many other energy sources,” according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Wind energy helps reduce the use of fossil fuels, which “results in lower total air pollution and carbon dioxide emissions.”

Trump has claimed that wind turbines pollute and spew “tremendous amounts” of “fumes” into the air for years. (Again, they do not.)

Trump also took the opportunity in his speech to deny the “golden showers” allegations about him in the unverified dossier compiled by former British spy Christopher Steele.

“I’m not into golden showers,” Trump told the Republicans on Thursday, more than five years after the allegation first came to light.

This article originally appeared on HuffPost and has been updated.