Russian President Vladimir Putin heaped praise on President-elect Trump on Sunday, calling him a “clever man.”
“Trump was an entrepreneur and a businessman. He is already a statesman, he is the head of the United States of America, one of the world’s leading countries,” Putin said in an interview with NTV TV.
The Russian leader said Trump’s “success in business” would suggest he is a “clever man.”
“If [he is] a clever man, then he will fully and quite quickly understand another level of responsibility. We assume that he will be acting from these positions,” Putin said.
Russia was singled out by U.S. officials this year for allegedly meddling in the presidential election, through various hacks and subsequent leaks of information from Democratic organizations.
Towards the end of the presidential race, Trump fought off the conception that he and Putin shared a somewhat cordial relationship, saying in October “I don’t know Putin, I never met Putin.” However, there were instances during the campaign where Trump seemed to suggest he had in fact contacted Putin previously.
Trump has also bemoaned the cooling relationship between the U.S. and Russia over the course of President Obama’s eight years in the White House. This week Trump said the U.S.-Russia relationship “must be straightened out.”
Last month the two spoke over the phone. Trump’s transition team said Putin called in order to “offer his congratulations” and that the two leaders discussed issues including “threats and challenges facing the United States and Russia, strategic economic issues and the historical U.S.-Russia relationship that dates back over 200 years.”
