Former President Donald Trump said he would not comment on whether he has spoken to Russian President Vladimir Putin since leaving office, according to journalist Bob Woodward. in his new book that the former president had up to seven conversations with the Russian leader.
On Tuesday at the Economic Club of Chicago, Trump was asked, during a conversation with Bloomberg News Editor-in-Chief John Micklethwait, whether he had spoken with Putin. Trump initially said he had no comment before defending any conversation with Putin, had it taken place.
“Well, I’m not commenting on that, but I will tell you if I did, it’s a smart thing,” Trump said. “If I’m friendly with people, if I have a relationship with people, that’s a good thing, not a bad thing, in terms of the country. It has 2,000 nuclear weapons, and so do we. China in much less,” he added. but they will catch us within five years. If I have a relationship, I don’t talk about it, I don’t talk about it.
“—It looks like you’re talking to him,” Micklethwaite said.
“No, I’m not talking about that,” Trump replied. “I never say it, but I can tell you that Russia has never had a president it respects so much.”
Micklethwait asked Trump about his economic plans, but received no detailed response. He challenged Trump on the feasibility of the high tariffs he talked about on the campaign trail, noting that he had talked about tariffs of up to 100% or 200% “on things you don’t really like.” , as well as 10%. 20% for other countries. “This is going to have a serious effect on the overall economy,” Micklethwait said, adding that “the overall effect could be massive.”
“I agree: It’s going to have a massive effect, a positive effect,” Trump replied before telling Micklethwait: “It must be difficult for you, you know, to spend 25 years talking about tariffs like being negative, and then asking someone to explain to you that you are totally wrong.
Micklethwait also confronted Trump with an analysis from the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget that estimated his economic plan would cost twice as much as Vice President Kamala Harris’ plan. Trump dismissed criticism of his economic plan by saying his plan was focused on “growth” and saying Harris had “no growth at all.”
Asked if he would commit to a peaceful transfer of power, Trump replied: “I went to Florida and you had a very peaceful transfer.” And Trump, referring to the January 6, 2021 riots, claimed: “None of these people had a gun. No one was killed except Ashli Babbitt. She was killed. She was killed. She was shot in the head by a police officer… So I think we should be allowed to disagree on this. He went on at length to tell Micklethwait that “a lot of strange things happened there, a lot of strange things with people being asked into the Capitol by the police, with people yelling, ‘Come in,’ It never caused any trouble.” He did not answer the question.
