Current:Home > InvestTrump says it would be a ‘smart thing’ if he spoke to Putin, though he won’t confirm he has -LegacyCapital
Trump says it would be a ‘smart thing’ if he spoke to Putin, though he won’t confirm he has
View
Date:2025-04-14 10:47:58
CHICAGO (AP) — Former President Donald Trump on Tuesday refused to say whether he’s spoken with Russian President Vladimir Putin since leaving office, as reported in journalist Bob Woodward’s latest book. But if the two did speak, Trump said, it would be “a smart thing” for the United States.
Trump, the Republican presidential nominee, was pressed on his communication with the Russian president during a wide-ranging — and sometimes contentious — interview with Bloomberg editor-in-chief John Micklethwait at the Economic Club of Chicago. Woodward reports in his book “War” that Trump has had as many as seven private phone calls with Putin since leaving the White House and secretly sent the Russian president COVID-19 test machines during the height of the pandemic.
A Trump campaign spokesperson previously denied the report. During Tuesday’s interview, Micklethwait posed the question to Trump directly: “Can you say yes or no whether you have talked to Vladimir Putin since you stopped being president?
“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.”
Trump said that Putin, who invaded neighboring Ukraine and who has been accused of war crimes by the International Criminal Court, is well respected in Russia and touted his relationship with him, as well as the authoritarian leaders of North Korea and China.
“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.”
Woodward reported that Trump asked an aide to leave his office at his Florida resort, Mar-a-Lago, so that the former president could have a private call with Putin in early 2024. The aide, whom Woodward doesn’t name, said there have been multiple calls between Trump and Putin since Trump left office, perhaps as many as seven, according to the book, though it does not detail what they discussed.
Trump spokesperson Steven Cheung called the reporting false. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said the reporting about the calls was “not true.”
Trump’s relationship with Putin has been scrutinized since his 2016 campaign for president, when he memorably called on Russia to find and make public missing emails deleted by Hillary Clinton, his Democratic opponent. Trump publicly sided with Putin over U.S. intelligence officials on whether Russia had interfered in the 2016 election to help him, and Trump has criticized U.S. aid to Ukraine as it tries to fend off Russia’s attack.
Later in Tuesday’s interview, Trump refused to say whether he would commit to a peaceful transfer of power should he lose the November election. He also claimed there was a peaceful transfer of power after the 2020 election, despite his supporters’ violent attack on the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
“Come on. You had a peaceful transfer of power compared to Venezuela,” Micklethwait responded.
___
Peoples reported from New York.
veryGood! (723)
Related
- 9/11 hearings at Guantanamo Bay in upheaval after surprise order by US defense chief
- Three people die in a crash that authorities discovered while investigating a stolen vehicle
- Ciara Gives Birth, Welcomes Baby With Husband Russell
- A countdown to climate action
- FACT FOCUS: Inspector general’s Jan. 6 report misrepresented as proof of FBI setup
- Zelenskyy will address the US military in Washington as funding for Ukraine’s war runs out
- Putin visits a shipyard to oversee the commissioning of new Russian nuclear submarines
- Viola Davis, America Ferrera, Adam Driver snubbed in 2024 Golden Globe nominations
- NHL in ASL returns, delivering American Sign Language analysis for Deaf community at Winter Classic
- The mother of imprisoned drug lord Joaquin ‘El Chapo’ Guzmán is reported dead in Mexico
Ranking
- Judge says Mexican ex-official tried to bribe inmates in a bid for new US drug trial
- Georgia sheriff's investigator arrested on child porn charges
- The Excerpt podcast: What is the future of Gaza?
- Honey Boo Boo's Anna Chickadee Cardwell Privately Married Eldridge Toney Before Her Death at 29
- 2024 Olympics: Gymnast Ana Barbosu Taking Social Media Break After Scoring Controversy
- Myanmar’s military government says China brokered peace talks to de-escalate fighting in northeast
- Grinch-themed photo shoots could land you in legal trouble, photographers say: What we know
- How to watch The Game Awards 2023, the biggest night in video gaming
Recommendation
Taylor Swift makes surprise visit to Kansas City children’s hospital
Bronny James makes college basketball debut for USC after cardiac arrest
Myanmar’s military government says China brokered peace talks to de-escalate fighting in northeast
The mother of imprisoned drug lord Joaquin ‘El Chapo’ Guzmán is reported dead in Mexico
Shilo Sanders' bankruptcy case reaches 'impasse' over NIL information for CU star
Zelenskyy will arrive on Capitol Hill to grim mood as Biden’s aid package for Ukraine risks collapse
Israel continues attacks across Gaza as hopes for cease-fire fade
Several seriously injured when construction site elevator crashes to the ground in Sweden