Trump says Biden’s exit from U.S. presidential race was a ‘coup’

Former U.S. president and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump claimed Monday that President Joe Biden was forced to quit the presidential race, calling his exit a "coup."

"I beat Biden so bad in the debate he was forced out of the race -- one of the greatest debate performances ever. Biden's exit, it was a coup," Trump said in a live interview with Elon Musk on X.

"This was a coup of a president of the United States. He didn't want to leave, and they said, 'We can do it the nice way, or we can do it the hard way,'" Trump added.

He said he is not a fan of Biden and called him the "worst president in history" but added that Vice President Kamala Harris, who replaced Biden as the Democratic nominee, is also "incompetent."

Last month, Biden announced his withdrawal from the 2024 presidential race and his endorsement of Harris to become the Democratic presidential nominee.

His announcement came after mounting pressure from Democrats, with some on Capitol Hill issuing public appeals for him to step aside following a poor debate performance against Trump in late June.

Trump also blamed Biden for Russia's war on Ukraine, saying it would have never happened if he was president.

"First of all, the Israeli attack would have never happened. Russia would never have attacked Ukraine, and we would have no inflation, and we wouldn't have had the Afghanistan mess," he said.

"I got along with (Russian President Vladimir) Putin very well, and he respected me," said Trump, adding they would talk a lot about Ukraine.

"We would talk about Ukraine. It was the apple of his eye. But I told him don't do it," he claimed.

He also accused Hillary Clinton, who was the Democratic Party's 2016 nominee for president, and House Intelligence Chairman Adam Schiff of what he called the "Russia hoax," regarding allegations of Russian meddling in the 2016 U.S. presidential election.

"The whole thing is hard to believe. But you know, they put our country in danger with that stuff too. They actually (did), when they made up stories and you had to fight your way out of it for a long time."

Trump also said that he knows Putin, Chinese President Xi Jinping and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un "very well," calling them "tough," "smart" and "vicious."

"These are tough people at the top of their game, and when they see a Kamala or sleepy Joe, they can't even believe it," he said.

"Look at Israel. They're all waiting for an attack from Iran. Iran would not be attacking, believe me. You know, when I was there," Trump claimed.

"Iran was broke because I told China, if you buy from Iran oil, it's all about the oil. That's where the money is. But if you buy oil from Iran, you're not going to do any business with the United States," he added.