Riksdagsvalet 2026

Here are a few dozen times when Trump has praised, thanked, supported or excused Putin:

1.

Trump told Larry King in an October 2007 interview: ?Look at Putin ? what he's doing with Russia ? I mean, you know, what's going on over there. I mean this guy has done ? whether you like him or don't like him ? he's doing a great job in rebuilding the image of Russia and also rebuilding Russia period.?

2.

In his December 2011 book ?Time to Get Tough,? Trump spoke highly of Putin while criticizing Obama in his subsection on Russia: ?Putin has big plans for Russia. He wants to edge out its neighbors so that Russia can dominate oil supplies to all of Europe. Putin has also announced his grand vision: the creation of a ?Eurasian Union? made up of former Soviet nations that can dominate the region. I respect Putin and the Russians but cannot believe our leader allows them to get away with so much ? I am sure that Vladimir Putin is even more surprised than I am. Hats off to the Russians.?

3.

?Do you think Putin will be going to The Miss Universe Pageant in November in Moscow ? if so, will he become my new best friend?? Trump said in a June 2013 social media post.

4.

Speaking about Putin, Trump 
">told Larry King in an Oct. 3, 2013, interview, ?I think he's done a really great job of outsmarting our country.?

5.

In an Oct. 17, 2013, interview with David Letterman, Trump called Putin ?a tough guy? and said that ?I met him once.?

6.

Trump told the hosts of ?Fox and Friends? in February 2014 about Putin, ?When I went to Russia with the Miss Universe pageant, he contacted me and was so nice.? He added, ?Their leaders are ? whether you call them smarter or more cunning or whatever ? but they?re outsmarting us. If you look at Syria or other places, they?re outsmarting us.?

7.

Trump told a crowd at the Conservative Political Action Convention on March 6, 2014, ?You know, I was in Moscow a couple of months ago ? I own the Miss Universe Pageant ? and they treated me so great. Putin even sent me a present, a beautiful present.?

8.

In a March 13, 2014, interview on NBC?s ?Today? show, Trump said that ?Putin has eaten Obama?s lunch, therefore our lunch, for a long period of time.?

9.

?I believe Putin will continue to re-build the Russian Empire,? Trump said in a social media post on March 21, 2014. ?He has zero respect for Obama or the U.S.!?

10.

Also on March 21, 2014, Trump posted: ?Putin has become a big hero in Russia with an all time high popularity. Obama, on the other hand, has fallen to his lowest ever numbers. SAD.?

11.

Speaking at the Citizens United and Americans for Prosperity Foundation?s Freedom Summit in Manchester, New Hampshire, on April 12, 2014, Trump said: ?You look at Putin, who is absolutely having a great time. ? Russia is like, I mean, they?re really hot stuff. And now you have people in the Ukraine ? who knows, set up or not ? but it can?t all be set up, I mean they?re marching in favor of joining Russia. ? But Russia, I mean what [Putin?s] done for Russia is really amazing. And he?s done it by outsmarting our country at every single step.?

12.

In an April 17, 2014, social media post, Trump wrote, ?America is at a great disadvantage. Putin is ex-KGB, Obama is a community organizer. Unfair.?

13.

On April 28, 2014, Trump posted: ?Putin has shown the world what happens when America has weak leaders. Peace Through Strength!?

14.

Speaking at a National Press Club event in May 2014, Trump said, ?I own Miss Universe, I was in Russia, I was in Moscow recently, and I spoke, indirectly and directly, with President Putin, who could not have been nicer, and we had a tremendous success.?

15.

During a Sept. 28, 2015 news conference at Trump Tower in New York City, Trump said, ?I would say because Putin is a nicer person than I am,? in response to a reporter?s question asking why Trump thinks his recent interview was tougher than Putin?s interview that aired the same night.

16.

Trump praised Putin?s leadership and criticized Obama?s in a Sept. 29, 2015, interview with Fox News: ?I will tell you, in terms of leadership, he is getting an ?A,? and our president is not doing so well. They did not look good together.?

17.

While speaking on the CBS program ?Face the Nation? in October 2015, Trump claimed that Putin had no respect for Obama. ?But I think that I would probably get along with him very well. And I don?t think you?d be having the kind of problems that you?re having right now.?

18.

After Putin complimented Trump on Dec. 17, 2015, Trump responded by saying, ?It is always a great honor to be so nicely complimented by a man so highly respected within his own country and beyond.?

19.

On a Dec. 18, 2015, ?Morning Joe? interview, Trump once again 
">praised Putin?s leadership: ?He?s running his country and at least he?s a leader, you know, unlike what we have in this country.?

20.

Trump called Putin ?a strong leader? at a March 12, 2016, campaign rally in Ohio, while also distancing himself from the Russian president: ?Putin said good things about me. He said, ?He?s a leader and there?s no question about it, he?s a genius.? So they all said ? the media ? they said, you saw it in the debate, they said, ?You admire President Putin.? I said, ?I don?t admire him. I said he was a strong leader, which he is. I mean, he might be bad, he might be good. But he?s a strong leader.??

21.

Trump 
">reiterates that he thinks Putin is ?a leader? at the Commander-in-Chief Forum on Sept. 7, 2016: ?If he says great things about me, I'm going to say great things about him. I've already said he is really very much of a leader. I mean, you can say, ?Oh, isn't that a terrible thing.? ? The man has very strong control over a country. Now, it's a very different system, and I don't happen to like the system. But certainly, in that system, he's been a leader ? far more than our president has been a leader.?

22.

Trump praised Putin?s choice to delay a response to sanctions the Obama administration placed on Russia, saying in a Dec. 30, 2016, post on social media: ?Great move on delay (by V. Putin) ? I always knew he was very smart!?

23.

Trump said in a February 2017 news conference that Putin ?nicely? called to congratulate him on his 2016 election win and his inauguration: ?President Putin called me up very nicely to congratulate me on the win of the election. He then called me up extremely nicely to congratulate me on the inauguration, which was terrific.?

24.

Trump called Putin in March 2018 to congratulate the Russian leader on his reelection win, despite his advisers reportedly advising him in his briefing materials: ?DO NOT CONGRATULATE.? Trump described it as ?a very good call? and would go on to defend his actions in a social media post: ?I called President Putin of Russia to congratulate him on his election victory (in past, Obama called him also). The Fake News Media is crazed because they wanted me to excoriate him. They are wrong! Getting along with Russia (and others) is a good thing, not a bad thing.?

25.

At Trump and Putin?s first official summit in July 2018, Trump was asked during their joint press conference whether he believed the findings of U.S. security officials like Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats that Russia meddled in the 2016 election or whether he believed Putin?s denials. He made waves when he appeared to side with Putin over his own advisers, saying: ?My people came to me ? Dan Coats came to me and some others. They said they think it's Russia. I have President Putin. He just said it's not Russia. I will say this: I don't see any reason why it would be.?

26.

The day after Trump and Putin?s first official summit in July 2018, Trump posted on social media that his meeting with the Russian leader was ?even better? than his meeting with NATO allies the week before: ?While I had a great meeting with NATO, raising vast amounts of money, I had an even better meeting with Vladimir Putin of Russia. Sadly, it is not being reported that way ? the Fake News is going Crazy!?

27.

Ahead of Trump and Putin?s bilateral meeting at the G20 summit in Osaka, Japan, on June 28, 2019, Trump said, ?It?s a great honor to be with President Putin, his representatives, my representatives. ? We have had a very, very good relationship. And we look forward to spending some pretty good time together. A lot of very positive things [are] going to come out of the relationship.?

28.

Trump thanked Putin in April 2020 for sending medical supplies ? which the U.S. reportedly purchased ? during the COVID-19 pandemic: ?It was a very nice gesture on behalf of President Putin and I could have said, ?No, thank you? or I could have said, ?Thank you.? And it was a large plane of very high-quality medical supplies. And I said, ?I?ll take it.??

29.

In a Feb. 22, 2022, radio interview, Trump praised Putin for recognizing two parts of eastern Ukraine as independent: ?I went in yesterday and there was a television screen, and I said, ?This is genius.? Putin declares a big portion of the Ukraine ? of Ukraine ? Putin declares it as independent. Oh, that?s wonderful. So, Putin is now saying, ?It?s independent,? a large section of Ukraine. I said, ?How smart is that?? And he?s going to go in and be a peacekeeper. ? Here?s a guy who?s very savvy. I know him very well ? very, very well.?

Trump added, ?But here?s a guy that says, you know, ?I?m going to declare a big portion of Ukraine independent? ? he used the word ?independent? ? ?and we?re going to go out and we?re going to go in and we?re going to help keep peace.? You?ve got to say that?s pretty savvy.?

30.

Speaking to a crowd at the Conservative Political Action Conference on Feb. 26, 2022, Trump repeated his praise of Putin and blamed former President Joe Biden for Russia?s invasion of Ukraine: ?The problem is not that Putin is smart, which, of course, he?s smart. The real problem is that our leaders are dumb. They've allowed him to get away with this travesty and this assault on humanity.?

31.

Trump once again said Putin was ?smart? with regard to Russia?s invasion at a March 2022 rally in Georgia: ?But they asked me, ?Is Putin Smart?? Yes, Putin was smart. And I actually thought he was going to be negotiating. I said, ?That?s a hell of a way to negotiate, put 200,000 soldiers on the border.??

But Trump added some criticism as well, ?It should?ve never happened. Certain things and that thing would?ve ended, but they didn?t have the common sense. They didn?t know what to do. ? I think he made a big mistake, what he?s done to so many people. ? But it looked like a great negotiation that didn?t work out too well for him.?

32.

Trump reportedly described Putin as ?a strong man? and said the two ?got along well? in the caption of a photo of the two leaders in Trump?s 2024 book ?Save America.?

33.

During a Feb. 27 meeting with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Trump brushed off concerns from the European leader that a U.S. backstop would be necessary to ensure Putin keeps his word during any peace negotiations seeking to halt hostilities in Ukraine. ?I think he?ll keep his word. I?ve known him for a long time now, and I think he will. I don?t believe he?s going to violate his word. I don?t think he?ll be back when we make a deal. I think the deal is going to hold now.?

34.

A Feb. 28 Oval Office meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy that went off the rails was one of the most noteworthy events in the early days of Trump?s second term. But perhaps less remembered is Trump?s tangent, in which he breathlessly argued that he and Putin had been jointly victimized: ?Let me tell you: Putin went through a hell of a lot with me,? he said. ?He went through a phony witch hunt where they used him and Russia. Russia, Russia, Russia. You ever hear of that deal? That was a phony Hunter Biden, Joe Biden scam. ... And he had to go through that.?