Russian president Vladimir Putin said his country would “welcome” a Donald Trump presidency, the latest indication that the passionate bromance between the two strongmen is still burning hot as ever.
“What I’ve definitely noticed and what I welcome is that Mr. Trump stated that he’s ready to fully restore Russian-American relations,” Putin said Friday at the St. Petersburg Economic Forum, “What’s wrong with that? We welcome it all.”
In December of last year, Putin described Trump as a “really brilliant and talented person.” Trump could hardly contain his glee.
“When people call you brilliant, it’s always good, especially when the person heads up Russia,” Trump said, pulse rising, the corners of his mouth slowly curling into a smile.
Trump did not shy away from praising Putin, even when MSNBC host Joe Scarborough pointed out that Putin had been implicated in a number of suspicious killings of journalists and other dissidents. “He’s running his country and at least he’s a leader, unlike what we have in this country,” Trump said of Putin. “I think our country does plenty of killing also.”
Trump recalled Putin’s “brilliant” remarks during a speech on Thursday.
Trump on Putin: "A guy calls me a genius and I’m not gonna renounce him—what’s wrong with talking to him?"
— Alexandra Jaffe (@ajjaffe) June 17, 2016
Trump has repeatedly said he would “get along” with Putin and that any praise from the Russian strongman was a “good thing.” Trump also claimed he “got to know [Putin] very well” when the two men appeared on the same episode of 60 Minutes — in separate segments filmed on different continents.
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