'It's a smart thing' to do, Trump says if he spoke to Putin since leaving office

By Diyar Guldogan

WASHINGTON (AA) - Former US President Donald Trump on Tuesday declined to comment on whether he has spoken to Russian President Vladimir Putin since leaving office in 2021, though he suggested that if he had, "it’s a smart thing."

"Well, I don't comment on that, but I will tell you that if I did, it's a smart thing," Trump said during an interview forum at the Economic Club of Chicago.

Trump said he had a "very good" relationship with Putin.

"If I'm friendly with people, if I have a relationship with people, that's a good thing, not a bad thing," he said.

When asked by Bloomberg News interviewer John Micklethwait, "You seem to imply that you had talked to him," Trump said: "Actually, I said, I don't comment on those things."

A new book by Washington Post journalist Bob Woodward cited an unnamed aide saying that Trump had spoken with Putin as many as seven times since he left the White House in 2021.