Trump calls potential conversation with Putin 'smart thing'
Photo: former US President Donald Trump (getty images)
Former US President Donald Trump declined to reveal whether he has spoken with Russian President Vladimir Putin since leaving office. However, he called it a "smart thing" for the US if such a conversation occurred, according to the AP.
“Can you say yes or no whether you have talked to Vladimir Putin since you stopped being president?” a journalist asked Trump.
“I don’t comment on that,” Trump responded. “But I will tell you that if I did, it’s a smart thing. If I’m friendly with people, if I can have a relationship with people, that’s a good thing and not a bad thing in terms of a country,” the former US president added.
He also boasted about his relationships with Chinese leader Xi Jinping and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
“Look, I had a very good relationship with President Xi and a very good relationship with Putin and a very good relationship with Kim Jong Un,” he said. Of Putin, he later added, “Russia has never had a president that they respect so much.”
It’s worth noting that the White House cannot confirm the accuracy of claims made in a book by an American journalist stating that Trump spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin seven times after leaving office.
Speaking at an event in the town hall in Oaks, eastern Pennsylvania, former US President Donald Trump reaffirmed his relationship with Putin and claimed that the invasion of Ukraine would never have happened under his watch.
