Former President Donald Trump was justly criticized last month for lauding Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine as “genius” and “very savvy.” Fast forward a few weeks, and Trump was presented with the perfect opportunity to issue some stern words for the authoritarian leader. Yet, as was the case many times during his time in office, he decided not to.
Calling into Sean Hannity’s show on Thursday, Trump took up most of the hour talking about everything from the UFC to gas prices. At one point, Hannity honed in on the war in Eastern Europe, in particular Trump’s relationship with the man who launched it.
“When you got criticized for saying that Vladimir Putin is smart—we’ve had many conversations, and you have often quoted to me Sun Tzu, The Art of War. ‘Keep your friends close and your enemies closer,’” Hannity said.
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The Fox News host then asked Trump directly: “Is that how you viewed Vladimir? Did you view Vladimir Putin and people like President Xi and Kim Jong Un and the Iranian mullahs as enemies that you needed to keep close?”
“I got along with these people. I got along with them well,” Trump answered. “That doesn’t mean they are good people. That doesn’t mean anything other than the fact that I understood them, and perhaps they understood me. Maybe they understood me even better, that’s OK, because they knew there would be a big penalty.”
Hannity, who has suggested assassinating Putin, pressed the issue.
“I want to understand your thinking, though, and the thinking is: We got along, but you knew that they were looking out for their interests at all times,” Hannity said, to which Trump responded: “100 percent.”
“And you understood that they were capable of evil things,” Hannity continued, giving Trump an easy way to describe Putin’s acts—like the alleged bombing of a maternity and children’s hospital this week—as “evil,” without applying the label to the man himself.
“Putin is for Russia, and you see what happened. And that is all because they didn’t respect our leader,” Trump replied instead, referring to President Biden. He then regurgitated one of his most common claims about U.S.-Russian relations:
“Look, there was nobody—and Putin will tell you this, if he was telling the truth, and I am sure he has told it to all of his inner sanctum—nobody was tougher on Russia than me.”
