|
Meet Your Candidate
A chronology
1977— Trump marries Ivana Zelníèková,
the daughter of a Czech secret police informant who was
passing intelligence about Trump to the Czech arm of the KGB.
1986 — Soviet Ambassador invites
Trump on all-expenses-paid trip to Soviet Union
July 3, 1987 — Trump’s first trip to
Soviet Union (Standard procedure was for the KGB to record everything
for negotiating leverage later)
July 14, 1987 — Trump says Soviets
“wanted the feeling of Trump Tower” in Moscow
July 1987 — Trump talks with Newsweek
from his hotel suite facing the Kremlin
Sept. 2, 1987 — Trump drops first
hints that he’s considering a run for U.S. presidency
Dec. 9, 1987 — Trump talks with
Gorbachev at State Department lunch
March 29, 1989 — Trump announces deal
to stage Soviet boxing match
December 1989 — Cold War officially
ends
Feb. 11, 1990 — Trump ends 12-year
marriage to Ivana Trump — “it just wasn’t working out”
June 1990 — NBC Nightly News airs
two-part story on Trump’s financial problems
1991 — Trump Taj Mahal goes bankrupt
(first bankruptcy)
Dec. 25, 1991 — Gorbachev resigns as
president of USSR, which is dissolved, and Yeltsin takes power in
Russia
1992 — Trump Castle goes bankrupt
(second bankruptcy)
1992 — Trump Plaza and Casino goes
bankrupt (third bankruptcy)
1992 — Plaza Hotel goes bankrupt
(fourth bankruptcy)
March 22, 1992 — Trump and Ivana
Trump divorce.
December 20, 1993 — Trump marries his
second wife, Marla Maples
1996 — Trump begins to seek
trademarks in Russia for company names
November 1996 — Trump travels to
Moscow to visit potential Trump Tower sites
Jan, 22, 1997 — Russian general
eyeing presidency meets with Trump
1997 — Trump makes deal with Russian
artist for giant Christopher Columbus statue
September 1998 — Trump meets his
future third wife, Melania Knauss
June 8, 1999 — Trump divorces his
second wife, Marla Maples
Aug. 16, 1999 — Putin comes to
power and remains president until 2008
December 1999 — Trump mulls run for
presidency with Roger J. Stone as his consultant
2000s — Russians buy up millions in
Trump-branded Florida real estate
2000 — Trump adviser works as Putin
image consultant in the United States
June 2003 — Trump sues Native
American tribe (and rival developer) the Eastern Pequots
Jan. 8, 2004 — The first season of
The Apprentice, starring Trump, airs on NBC
2004 — Trump Hotels and Casinos
Resorts goes bankrupt (fifth bankruptcy)
2005 — Trump opens Trump University
2005 — Trump signs deal with Bayrock
Group to build Trump Tower in Moscow
2005 — Paul Manafort signs on as
adviser to Ukrainian steel magnate and buys apartment in Trump Tower
Jan. 22, 2005 — Trump marries his
third wife, Melania Knauss
2006 — Trump children, Donald Jr. and Ivanka, travel to Moscow on business
2006 — Manafort, eventual Trump
adviser, works to craft image of Ukrainian president
2006 — Illegal gambling scheme that
involves Hollywood celebrities and Russians begins in Trump Tower
2007 — Trump travels to Moscow to
promote Trump-branded vodka at Millionaire Fair
2008 — Trump sells Palm Beach mansion
to Russian billionaire
2008 — One of Trump’s 2016 campaign
managers, Paul Manafort, tries to develop New York luxury apartment
project with Dmitry Firtash, Ukrainian energy tycoon
2008 — Trump announces Russian
reality show, which never got made
June 4, 2008 — At Moscow real estate
summit, Trump’s son touts Trump plans in Russia
September 2008 — Trump’s son:
“Russians make up a pretty disproportionate cross-section of a lot of our assets”
2009 — Qaddafi rents Trump’s estate
to put up a traditional Libyan tent for UN Assembly
2009 — Trump Entertainment Resorts
goes bankrupt (sixth bankruptcy)
2010
—
Lawyers
eventually filed three separate lawsuits from 2010 to 2013 against
Trump University for, among other claims, “deceptive
practices.”3 Donald Trump agreed to pay a $25 million settlement to
the people who attended Trump University in 2007, 2008, 2009, or 2010.
2011 — Trump gives deposition: “I
don’t know who owns Bayrock”
2011— Amid multiple
investigations, lawsuits and student complaints,
Trump
University
ceased operations.
July 2011 — Ribbon-cutting for Trump
Ocean Club in Panama, lots of Russian buyers
March 2012 — Putin resumes presidency
January 2013 — Carter Page, who later
became a foreign policy adviser to Trump, meets a Russian
intelligence operative at an energy conference in New York
June 18, 2013 — Trump tweets that he
wants Putin to be his “best friend”
November 9, 2013 — Trump hosts Miss
Universe Pageant in Moscow, meets oligarchs.
November 11, 2013 — Trump makes deal
with Crocus Group for Trump Tower in Moscow .
March 2014 — Russia invades Crimea
March 13, 2014 — In NBC interview,
Trump says Putin has “eaten Obama’s lunch”
2015 — Trump’s national security
adviser sits near Putin, stuns diplomats
Feb. 29, 2016 — Alabama Sen. Jeff
Sessions becomes first senator to publicly support Trump as nominee for
presidency.
As Trump tells it...
...the idea for his first trip to
Moscow came after he found himself seated next to the Soviet ambassador Yuri Dubinin.
As Dubinin’s daughter, Natalia tells it...
...it involved a determined effort
by the Soviet government to seek out Trump. In Dubinina’s account she admits her
father was, "...trying to hook Trump."
Dubinin’s invitation to Trump to
visit Moscow looks like a classic cultivation exercise, which would have had the
KGB’s full support and approval.
According to Viktor Suvorov—a former
GRU military spy; “Once in Moscow, they would receive lavish
hospitality. Everything was free. "Parties
with girls. It could be a sauna and girls and who knows what else.” The hotel rooms or villa were under
“24-hour control,” with “security cameras and so on,”
Suvorov said:
“The interest is only one. To
collect some information and keep that information about him for the
future.”
June 18, 2013 Trump tweets:
"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?"
Sept. 16, 2013 Trump notes he’s invited Putin to
Miss Universe: “So we’ve invited President Putin,
that’ll be interesting,” Trump said on “Fox and Friends.” “I know he’d
like to go.”
Oct. 3, 2013 Trump tells Larry King on Ora TV that
Putin has done “a really great job outsmarting our country.”
Oct. 17, 2013 Trump tells David Letterman that he’s
done “a lot of business with the Russians” and says they are “smart”
and “tough” and that they don’t look “so dumb right now.” He calls Putin a “tough guy” and
says that he “met him once.”
Oct. 18, 2013 Trump says on MSNBC that he invited
Putin to Miss Universe: “I know for a fact that he wants
very much to come, but we'll have to see. We haven't heard yet, but we
have invited him,” Trump said.
November 2013 Trump says he has a relationship with
Vladimir Putin: “I do have a relationship and I can
tell you that he’s very interested in what we’re doing here today,” he
said on MSNBC of the Miss Universe pageant. “He’s probably very
interested in what you and I are saying today, and I’m sure he’s going
to be seeing it in some form, but I do have a relationship with him
and I think it’s very interesting to see what’s happened.”
Nov. 11, 2013 Trump on "Fox and Friends" says of
his trip to Moscow for the Miss Universe pageant: “I was in Moscow and I was in Russia
and they treated me so fantastically. I met so many incredible
people.”
Feb. 10, 2014 Trump says Putin contacted him during
Miss Universe and was “so nice:” “When I went to Russia with the Miss
Universe pageant, (Putin) contacted me and was so nice. I mean, the
Russian people were so fantastic to us,” he said on “Fox and Friends.”
“I’ll just say this, they are doing – they’re outsmarting us at many
turns, as we all understand. I mean, 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.”
It was becoming clear by then that
someone was being outsmarted.
March 6, 2014 Trump tells a crowd at CPAC that
Putin sent him a present during Miss Universe with a note and he
“spoke to all of his people.”
March 13, 2014 Trump tells NBC's "Today" that the US
should “definitely do sanctions” against Russia for their aggression
in Ukraine.
"And we have to show some strength.
I mean, Putin has eaten Obama's lunch, therefore our lunch, for a long
period of time," he said. "And I just hope that Obama, who's not
looking too good, doesn't do something very foolish and very stupid to
show his manhood. I just hope that doesn't happen."
March 21, 2014 Trump tweets: I believe Putin will
continue to re-build the Russian Empire. He has zero respect for Obama
or the U.S.!
April 12, 2014 Trump tells Fox Business’ Eric
Bolling that Putin was nice to him during Miss Universe.
“We just left Moscow,” Trump said.
“He could not have been nicer. He was so nice and so everything. But
you have to give him credit that what he’s doing for that country in
terms of their world prestige is very strong.”
In the same interview, Trump praises
Putin’s invasion of Crimea: “Well, he’s done an amazing job of
taking the mantle,” Trump said. “And he’s taken it away from the
President, and you look at what he’s doing. And so smart. When you see
the riots in a country because they’re hurting the Russians, OK,
‘We’ll go and take it over.’ And he really goes step by step by step,
and you have to give him a lot of credit.”
April 12, 2014 Trump says at a New Hampshire event
that Putin is “absolutely having a great time.” He says “Russia is
like, I mean they’re really hot stuff” and “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.”
April 16, 2014 Putin is having a great time toying
with the President,” Trump says on Fox News’ “Hannity.”
April 28, 2014 Trump tweets: Putin has shown the
world what happens when America has weak leaders. Peace Through
Strength!
May 27, 2014 Speaking at the National Press Club,
Trump says he spoke “indirectly and directly” with Putin at Miss
Universe. ”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.”
June 20, 2014 Trump tells Jeffrey Lord of the
American Spectator that Putin treated him “unbelievably well” during
Miss Universe and cites Putin to say the term “American exceptionalism”
is a “dangerous term.”
Nov. 25, 2014 Trump tweets: Can you imagine what
Putin and all of our friends and enemies throughout the world are
saying about the U.S. as they watch the Ferguson riot
Dec. 16, 2014 Trump tells Fox News host Neil Cavuto
that Putin is like a “wounded animal” due to the Obama
administration’s actions against Russia. “We’ve hurt Russia and we’ve
done certain things that have really hurt Russia,” he said. “And I
don’t know is that a good thing or is that a bad thing? We’ll see what
happens.”
March 18, 2015 Trump tells the Daily Mail about his
relationship with Putin: “the relationship is great, and it would be
great if I had the position I should have.”
Trump also said he received “a gift
from Putin – an award and a beautiful letter.” He does not confirm or
deny meeting with Putin when asked.
June 16, 2015
Trump makes similar comments to Fox News’ Bill O’Reilly: “I was over in Moscow two years ago
and I will tell you – you can get along with those people and get
along with them well. You can make deals with those people. Obama
can’t.”
June 18, 2015 Trump answers “yes,” when asked by
Fox News' Sean Hannity if he’s had any contact with Vladimir Putin: “So I was there two years ago. We
had a tremendous success with the Miss Universe contest in -- I own
Miss Universe, Miss USA, all of that, and it does great,” Trump said.
“It's on NBC, but that's OK. But it does fantastically well. And two
years ago, we had it in Moscow, and it was a tremendous success. And I
got to meet everybody. I got to meet all –”
When asked if he spoke to him during
pageant, Trump responds, “I don't want to say.” Trump says Putin hates
Obama and when Hannity asked if Putin told him that, Trump again says,
“I don’t want to say.”
June 29, 2015 Speaking on Putin, Trump says he “got
to know these guys well” during Miss Universe. I had the Miss Universe over there
two years ago,” Trump tells the City Club of Chicago. “I got to know
these guys well. We can get along with them well. We can get along
with them well.”
July 8, 2015 Trump tells CNN’s Anderson Cooper
that if he becomes president, Putin would turn over Edward Snowden to
the US.
“I think I get along with him fine,”
Trump said of the Russian president. “I think he would be absolutely
fine. He would never keep somebody like Snowden in Russia. He hates
Obama. He doesn't respect Obama. Obama doesn't like him either. But he
has no respect for Obama. Has a hatred for Obama. And Snowden is
living the life. Look if that -- if I'm president, Putin says, hey,
boom, you're gone. I guarantee you this.”
July 15, 2015 Trump tells Fox News’ Sean Hannity,
“Putin has no respect for President Obama, and Obama doesn't like him
much either in all fairness.”
July 30, 2015 During a trip to his golf resort in
Scotland, Trump says he thinks he’d get along well with Putin: "I
think I'd get along very well with Vladimir Putin, I just think so.
"People say 'what do you mean?' I think I'd get along well with him.”
Aug. 12, 2015 Trump says on Fox News that he would
meet with Putin when the Russian president came to New York for the UN
General Assembly. “Frankly, I’d get along great with him,” he said.
"You gotta get along with these people.”
Aug. 14, 2015 Trump says he’d get along well with
Putin: “I think I’d get along well with Putin. I know many of the
people. I had a major event there two years ago in Moscow, as you
know. It was a tremendous success. An amazing success. I think I’d get
along well with Putin.”
Aug. 20, 2015 Trump tells Fox Business’ Maria
Bartiromo that Putin is “somebody that can be dealt with.”
Aug. 23, 2015 Trump says on Fox News that he’d get
along with Putin, citing Miss Universe: “I feel that Putin is somebody
I would actually get along with him. I get a lot of heat for that. I
had a big event in Moscow about two years ago, I think I would have a
good relationship.”
Aug. 29, 2015 Trump says that Putin “hates Obama,”
but that he would get along great with the Russian president. “Putin
hates us,” he said. “He hates Obama. He doesn’t hate us. I think he’d
like me. I’d get along great with him I think. If you want to know the
truth.”
Sept. 23, 2015 Trump says at a town hall event in
Columbia, South Carolina, that he will “get along with Putin.”
Sept. 28, 2015 Trump tells reporters at Trump Tower
that “Putin is a nicer person than I am.”
Sept. 29, 2015 Trump tells Bill O’Reilly that Putin
gets an ‘A’ for leadership. "I will tell you that I think in terms of
leadership, he is getting an 'A,' and our president is not doing so
well," Trump said. "They did not look good together."
Oct. 2, 2015 Trump tells Sean Hannity that “Putin
has no respect for our president whatsoever.”
Oct. 6, 2015 Trump tells conservative radio host
Michael Savage he’s met Vladimir Putin. “Yes,” Trump says. “Yes, a
long time ago. We got along great, by the way.”
Oct. 11, 2015 Trump said on CBS’s “Face the Nation”
that he and Putin had “fantastic ratings on ‘60 Minutes’ together” and
again said he thought they’d get along well. "I think the biggest
thing we have is that we were on '60 Minutes' together and we had
fantastic ratings. One of your best-rated shows in a long time," Trump
said. "So that was good, right? So we were stablemates." (They did not
meet)
He added, "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.”
Oct. 13, 2015 Trump asserted in an interview with
the Guardian that Putin was going into Syria to combat ISIS. “He’s
going to want to bomb ISIS because he doesn’t want ISIS going into
Russia and so he’s going to want to bomb ISIS. Vladimir Putin is going
to want to really go after ISIS, and if he doesn’t it’ll be a big
shock to everybody,” Trump said.
Still, in mentioning Syrian
President Bashar al-Assad, he noted that Putin is “an Assad person”
and “the United States doesn’t like Assad.”
Oct. 14, 2015 Told Bill O’Reilly that Putin was his
“stablemate” on 60 Minutes.
“Well, you know, I actually hosted
it 10 years ago and Lorne Michaels called me up the other day. He said
I'd love to have you host and I agreed to it because it's an honor. I
did 60 Minutes last week — that was an honor. My stablemate was
Vladimir Putin and we did very well.”
Nov. 10, 2015 Asked at Republican debate what he
would do as president in response to Russian aggression, Trump said,
“Well, first of all, it's not only Russia. We have problems with North
Korea where they actually have nuclear weapons. You know, nobody talks
about it, we talk about Iran, and that's one of the worst deals ever
made. … So, we have more than just Russia.”
He went on to say, "I got to know (Putin)
very well because we were both on ‘60 Minutes,’ we were stablemates,
and we did very well that night. But, you know that."
“But, if Putin wants to knock the
hell out of ISIS, I’m all for it 100% and I can’t understand how
anybody would be against that,” he added.
Nov. 13, 2015 Trump walks back his Putin stablemate
comment, saying his 60 Minutes segment was separate from Putin’s.
Nov 13, 2015 I only said I was on @60Minutes four
weeks ago with Putin—never said I was in Green Room. Separate
pieces—great ratings!
Dec. 18, 2015 Trump said on Morning Joe that Putin
was a better leader than Obama, and dismissed Joe Scarborough’s
allegations that the Russian president “kills journalists that don’t
agree with him.”
“He’s running his country and at
least he’s a leader, unlike what we have in this country,” Trump said.
He added: "I think our country does
plenty of killing also, Joe, so you know. There's a lot of stupidity
going on in the world right now, a lot of killing going on, a lot of
stupidity."
Dec. 20, 2015 In an interview with ABC’s “This
Week,” Trump defends against allegations Putin has ordered the
killings of journalists and dissidents. “As far as the reporters are
concerned — as far as the reporters are concerned, obviously I don't
want that to happen. I think it's terrible — horrible. But, in all
fairness to Putin, you're saying he killed people. I haven't' seen
that. I don't know that he has. Have you been able to prove that? Do
you know the names of the reporters that he's killed? Because I've
been — you know, you've been hearing this, but I haven't seen the
name. Now, I think it would be despicable if that took place, but I
haven't' seen any evidence that he killed anybody in terms of
reporters.”
Dec. 21, 2015 Trump tells Iowa radio host Simon
Conway, “I’ve always had a good instinct about Putin. I just feel that
that’s a guy—and I can analyze people and you’re not always right, and
it could be that I won’t like him. But I’ve always had a good feeling
about him from the standpoint.”
Dec. 30, 2015 Trump says at an event in South
Carolina that Putin says he’s “brilliant.” And attacks his opponents,
saying, “they want me to refute his statement.”
Jan. 26, 2016 In an interview with Fox Business’
Maria Bartiromo, Trump discusses the 2006 murder of Alexander
Litvinenko, a former Russian security agent, and the 2016 findings of
a British inquiry that Putin “probably approved” his poisoning. "Have they found him guilty?” Trump
said. “I don't think they've found him guilty.”
“If he did it, fine. But I don’t
know that he did it. You know, people are saying they think it was
him, it might have been him, it could have been him. But Maria, in all
fairness to Putin—I don’t know. You know, and I’m not saying this
because he says, ‘Trump is brilliant and leading everybody’ —the fact
is that, you know, he hasn’t been convicted of anything.”
Feb. 15, 2016 Trump says at a news conference he’d
be a better negotiator with Putin than his rivals: “You want to make a good deal for
the country, you want to deal with Russia – and there’s nothing wrong
with not fighting everybody, having Russia where we have a good
relationship as opposed to all the stupidity that’s taken place.”
Feb. 17, 2016 Trump says at a rally that he has no
relationship with Putin: "I have no relationship with him
other than he called me a genius,” Trump said. “He said, ‘Donald Trump
is a genius and he is going to be the leader of the party and he's
going to be the leader of the world or something.’”
Feb. 26, 2016 Trump says at a press conference that
he can’t imagine Marco Rubio meeting with Putin: “I joked recently about, ‘can you
imagine Putin sitting there waiting for a meeting and Rubio walks in
and he's totally drenched,” Trump said. “I don't know what it is, but
I've never seen a human being sweat like this man sweats.”
Feb. 28, 2016 Trump says at campaign rally in
Alabama he’d be a better negotiator with Putin than his rivals. He
says Putin has been “very nice” to him.
March 12, 2016 Trump says at a rally that the media
falsely claims he admires Putin: “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 on 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.”
March 21, 2016 Speaking at the Old Post Office,
Trump says, “Putin says very nice things about me. I think that's very
nice and it has no effect on me other than I think it's very nice.”
April 26, 2016 Trump says during a victory speech
“We're going to have a great relationship with Putin and Russia.”
April 28, 2016 Trump says Putin has been “very nice”
to him: "I'm saying that I'd possibly have a good relationship. He's
been very nice to me," Trump told Bill O’Reilly. "If we can make a
great deal for our country and get along with Russia that would be a
tremendous thing. I would love to try it."
May 2, 2016 Trump tells Indiana radio host Charly
Butcher that the US should call Putin to ask him to stop Russian
planes from barrel-rolling over US aircraft, but that if they didn’t
stop, “at a certain point...you gotta shoot.”
May 5, 2016 Asked if he’s ever spoken to Vladimir
Putin, Trump gives a “no comment” to Fox News’ Bret Baier. “Yeah, I
have no comment on that,” he said. “No comment.”
When Baier pressed him, “Yeah, but I
don’t want to comment because, let’s assume I did. Perhaps it was
personal. You know, I don’t want to hurt his confidence. But I know
Russia well. I had a major event in Russia two or three years ago –
Miss Universe contest – which is a big, incredible event, and
incredible success. I got to meet a lot of people. And you know what?
They want to be friendly with the United States. Wouldn’t it be nice
if we actually got with somebody?”
May 27, 2016 Trump calls Putin
“a strong leader” at a rally. He seems to not grasp that all dictators
are strong leaders.
June 3, 2016 At a rally in California, Trump
mocked those who wanted him to “disavow” Putin’s praise of him: “Then Putin said, ’Donald Trump is a
genius, he’s going to be the next great leader of the United States.’
No, no, think of it. They wanted me to disavow what he said. How dare
you call me a genius. How dare you call me a genius, Vladimir.
Wouldn’t it be nice if we actually got along with Russia? Wouldn’t
that be good?"
July 25, 2016 Trump tweets: The new joke in town is
that Russia leaked the disastrous DNC e-mails, which should never have
been written (stupid), because Putin likes me
July 27, 2016 Trump tells a local Miami CBS
affiliate that he has nothing to do with Russia and has never met
Putin, saying, “But
I have nothing to do with Russia, nothing to do, I never met Putin, I
have nothing to do with Russia whatsoever.”
July 27, 2016 Trump says at a news conference that
he had never met Putin and didn’t know who he was:
“I never met Putin,” Trump
said. “I don’t know who Putin is.
He said one nice thing about me. He said I'm a genius. I said thank
you very much to the newspaper and that was the end of it. I never met
Putin.”
He also said, "I would treat
Vladimir Putin firmly, but there's nothing I can think of that I'd
rather do than have Russia friendly, as opposed to the way they are
right now, so that we can go and knock out ISIS with other people.”
In the same news conference, Trump
called on Russia to find Hillary Clinton’s deleted emails as secretary
of state.
July 27, 2016 Talking about Putin at a campaign
rally in Scranton, Trump says, “Wouldn't it be a great thing if we
could get along with Russia.”
July 31, 2016 Trump tells ABC’s George
Stephanopoulos that if he were to be elected president, Putin is “not
going into Ukraine.”
“He's not going into Ukraine, OK,
just so you understand,” Trump said. “He's not going to go into
Ukraine, all right? You can mark it down. You can put it down. You can
take it anywhere you want.”
Asked about Putin’s previous
invasion of Crimea, Trump said, "OK -- well, he's there in a certain
way. But I'm not there. You have Obama there. And frankly, that whole
part of the world is a mess under Obama with all the strength that
you're talking about and all of the power of NATO and all of this. In
the meantime, he's going away. He takes Crimea."
Aug. 5, 2016 Trump again says at a campaign rally
in Green Bay that he doesn’t know Putin and attacks Hillary Clinton
for saying he wants to befriend him: “And I'm saying to myself what's
wrong with that? That's good,” Trump said.
Sept. 7, 2016 Trump says in a town hall with NBC’s
Matt Lauer that he considers Putin a stronger leader than Barack Obama. “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,”
Trump said. “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.”
Oct. 5, 2016 Trump said of Putin at a rally, “I don’t love, I don’t hate,” he
said in Nevada. “We’ll see how it works. We’ll see. Maybe we’ll have a
good relationship. Maybe we’ll have a horrible relationship. Maybe
we’ll have a relationship right in the middle.”
Oct. 9, 2016 Trump said at presidential debate: “I
don’t know Putin. I think it would be great if we got along with
Russia because we could fight ISIS together, as an example. But I
don’t know Putin.”
Oct. 17, 2016 Trump tells radio host Michael Savage
that he might meet with Putin prior to the start of his
administration: "I think I could see myself meeting
with Putin and meeting with Russia prior to the start of the
administration,” he said. “I think it would be wonderful.”
In the interview, he also said that
Clinton shouldn’t talk “so tough” on Russia, saying "She talks tough
with Russia. She shouldn't be talking so tough. Frankly, if we got
along with Russia and knocked out ISIS, that would be a good thing,
not a bad thing."
Oct. 19, 2016 At the third presidential debate,
Trump denied Clinton’s charge he was Putin’s “puppet”, saying “No
puppet. You’re the puppet.”
He further denied having met Putin
and said that Putin had “outsmarted” Clinton and Obama.
Oct. 27, 2016 Trump says at a rally in Ohio that it
was not smart of Clinton to speak “very badly of Putin.”
Dec. 23, 2016 Trump tweets out Putin’s criticism of
Hillary Clinton and the Democrats:
December 24, 2016 "In my opinion, it is humiliating.
One must be able to lose with dignity." So true!
Jan. 11, 2017 Trump says he believes Russia was
responsible for the hacking the Democratic National committee in 2016: "I think it was Russia," Trump said,
adding that Putin "should not be doing it.”
“He won't be doing it. Russia will
have much greater respect for our country when I am leading it than
when other people have led it,” Trump said.
Trump also said he believes a good
relationship with Putin would be an asset: "If Putin likes Donald Trump, I
consider that an asset, not a liability, because we have a horrible
relationship with Russia. Russia can help us fight ISIS, which, by the
way, is, number one, tricky. I mean if you look, this administration
created ISIS by leaving at the wrong time. The void was created, ISIS
was formed."
Feb. 6, 2017 Trump says he
respects Putin during a Super Bowl interview with Bill O’Reilly. Trump
defends Putin when O’Reilly calls him a killer. “There are a lot of
killers,” Trump says. “Do you think our country is so innocent? Do you
think our country is so innocent?
President Trump congratulated Putin [a
dictator] on winning
re-election, giving a nudge and wink to Putin’s use of a sham election.
He considered visiting Putin on
Russian soil despite the fact that Russia attacked the U.S. election.
He also gave Putin a PR victory on
corona virus by accepting a large delivery of medical supplies from
Russia, a move that was regarded as a stunt by Moscow.
He pleases Putin over and over
again, constantly criticizing NATO. Putin wants to weaken the
alliance.
And speaking of alliances, the
president asked allies to let Russia back into the G-7. The other
member nations refused. He also invited Moscow to the G-7 summit
again. Allies rejected him.
But Trump doesn’t just praise Putin.
The president has also praised far-right European leaders aligned with Putin.
He likes to tell Moscow secrets
about the U.S. Four months into his presidency, the president gave
classified intelligence to the Russians inside the Oval Office.
Trump directed the CIA to share
more with Russia, according to two former CIA officials. Even
though the U.S. received nothing in return.
The Trump administration considered
returning two diplomatic compounds in New York and Maryland to Russia
after they were seized for spying.
2020 Trump
suggests a missile attack on Mexico drug labs. Using the insight and
judgment of a seven year old, he stated, "...they wouldn't know
who did it."
After the
2020 defeat: Trump and the GOP renew their
use of infamous Hitler propaganda techniques with the big lie.
"A
big lie is more effective than small ones. It should be repeated
shamelessly. Even once exposed, it still carries a ‘force of
credibility’, a lingering doubt that at least some aspect of it might
still be true."
Adolf Hitler
.
|
