Former US president Donald Trump has jokingly suggested his nation “put the Chinese flag” on its F-22 fighter jets and “bomb the sh*t” out of Russia in an attempt to frame China and spark war between America’s two geopolitical foes.

“We say China did it. And then they start fighting with each other, and we sit back and watch,” Trump told Republican Party donors at an event on Saturday night, US time, a recording of which was obtained by the Washington Post.

The remark, reportedly made in jest (China doesn’t even own any F-22s), drew laughter from the audience.

But Trump also made a number of more serious comments addressing Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, criticising President Joe Biden and the Nato alliance for doing too little to help.

“Are all of these nations going to stand by and watch perhaps millions of people be slaughtered as the onslaught continues?” he asked.

“At what point do countries say, ‘No, we can’t take this massive crime against humanity. We can’t let it happen. We can’t let it continue to happen.'”

The United States, Nato and various European countries have all stated, very publicly, that they will not directly intervene with military forces to halt Russia’s assault. Instead, they are providing military equipment, humanitarian aid and money to Ukraine.

The Western allies have also imposed extensive sanctions on Russia, whose economy is already suffering badly as a result.

Ukraine has called for greater action, including the imposition of a no-fly zone, though experts have warned that would lead to a full-scale war between Nato and Russia.

During his State of the Union speech last week, Biden defended the current approach.

“We are inflicting pain on Russia and supporting the people of Ukraine. Putin is now isolated from the world more than ever,” he argued.

“We are cutting off Russia’s largest banks from the international financial system. Preventing Russia’s central bank from defending the rouble, making Putin’s US$630 billion ‘war fund’ worthless. We are choking off Russia’s access to technology, which will sap its economic strength and weaken its military for years to come.”

And so on. But Biden also added this: “Let me be clear, our forces are not engaged and will not engage in conflict with Russian forces in Ukraine. Our forces are not going to Europe to fight in Ukraine, but to defend our Nato allies in the event that Putin decides to keep moving west.”

Hence the criticism from his predecessor.

A Flourish data visualization

“We have to have Biden stop saying that we will not attack Russia ever because they are a nuclear power, right?” Trump said.

“Whether it’s fact or fiction. ‘We will not attack Russia. You see, they are a nuclear power.’ Oh, thanks for telling us.”

He also dismissed Nato as a “paper tiger”. Back when he was president, Trump threatened to withdraw the US from the alliance, accusing other member states of failing to spend enough on defence.

According to one of several books published after he left office, Trump privately indicated to aides that he’d withdraw from Nato in his second term.

In his speech to the Republican donors, Trump also brought up North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un, whom he described as “seriously tough”.

“He’s absolutely the leader of that country,” he said, recalling that Kim’s advisers and military officers “cowered” and “sat at attention” when he spoke.

“I want my people to act like that,” he joked.

The former president’s rhetoric on Ukraine has shifted somewhat since the invasion started. He initially called Vladimir Putin’s declaration that parts of eastern Ukraine were independent – the pretence for Russia’s attack – a “genius” move.

“I went in yesterday and there was a television screen, and I said, ‘This is genius.’ Putin declares a big portion of Ukraine, Putin declares it as independent. Oh, that’s wonderful,” Trump said at the time.

“So Putin is now saying, ‘It’s independent,’ a large section of Ukraine. I said, ‘How smart is that?’ And he’s going to go in and be a peacekeeper. That’s the strongest peace force – we could use that at our southern border. That’s the strongest peace force I’ve ever seen.

“There were more army tanks than I’ve ever seen. They’re going to keep the peace all right. No, but think of it, here’s a guy who is very savvy. I know him very, very well.

“By the way, this would never have happened with us, had I been in office. Not even thinkable. This would never have happened. But here’s a guy that declares, ‘I’m going to declare a big portion of Ukraine independent.’

“He used the word independent. ‘And we’re going to go in and we’re going to help keep peace.’ You’ve got to say that’s pretty savvy.”

Two weeks later, Putin’s decision appears rather less savvy, as Russia’s forces have met far stiffer resistance than he expected.