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Former US President Donald Trump on Monday compared the death of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny to his own legal struggles in the United States. He remarked that Navalny’s death made him “more aware” of what is happening in his country, and he went on to label the US as a “failing nation”.

“The sudden death of Alexei Navalny has made me more and more aware of what is happening in our Country,” the Republican presidential candidate wrote on his Truth Social platform. “It is a slow, steady progression, with CROOKED, Radical Left Politicians, Prosecutors, and Judges leading us down a path to destruction. Open Borders, Rigged Elections, and Grossly Unfair Courtroom Decisions are DESTROYING AMERICA. WE ARE A NATION IN DECLINE, A FAILING NATION! MAGA2024.”

These were Donald Trump’s first remarks on the death of Navalny, who died in a Russian prison on February 16 (Moscow local time). Russian officials claim that the 47-year-old man fell unconscious and died after a walk at the Polar Wolf penal colony in the Arctic, where he was serving a three-decade sentence. Navalny’s widow claimed that he was poisoned and sought action against Russian President Vladimir Putin.

However, Trump refrained from criticising Putin over the death of the most prominent opposition leader.

Meanwhile, Nikki Haley, the former South Carolina governor and Republican rival to Trump in the presidential election, questioned Trump’s silence on Putin and called his response “unpatriotic”.

“Donald Trump could have condemned Vladimir Putin for being a murderous thug. Trump could have praised Navalny’s courage,” she wrote on X. She said, Trump denounced America and compared it to Russia.

US President Joe Biden, on Friday directly blamed Putin for Navalny’s death, stating, “Putin is responsible for Navalny’s death”.

Meanwhile, the Kremlin has denied involvement in the opposition leader’s death, asserting that Western claims holding Putin responsible are unacceptable.