Donald Trump Says He Trusts Putin More Than U.S. Intelligence 'Lowlifes'

Donald Trump has suggested he trusts Russian president Vladimir Putin more than the "lowlifes" who work in U.S. intelligence.

In a post on Truth Social, the former president referenced comments he gave after meeting with Putin in Helsinki, Finland, in 2018 when he said that he didn't "see any reason" why Russia would have meddled in the 2016 election, despite what the FBI stated.

Trump once again suggested he trusts Putin over U.S. intelligence while sharing an a article about former FBI official Charles McGonigal, a leading figure in the FBI's investigation into the Trump campaign's ties to Russia ahead of the 2016 election.

McGonigal was recently arrested on suspicion of a number of offenses, including working with a sanctioned Russian oligarch.

trump putin
Former President Donald Trump, left, and Russia's President Vladimir Putin shake hands before attending a joint press conference after a meeting in Helsinki, Finland on on July 16, 2018. Trump has suggested he trusts Putin... YURI KADOBNOV/AFP/Getty Images

"Remember in Helsinki when a 3rd rate reporter asked me, essentially, who I trusted more, President Putin of Russia, or our 'Intelligence' lowlifes," Trump said in the Truth Social post.

"My instinct at the time was that we had really bad people in the form of James Comey, McCabe (whose wife was being helped out by Crooked Hillary while Crooked was under investigation!), Brennan, Peter Strzok (whose wife is at the SEC) & his lover, Lisa Page.

"Now add McGonigal & other slime to the list. Who would you choose, Putin or these Misfits?"

Trump has repeatedly been criticized for siding with Putin both as president and since he left the White House.

In 2018 following his defense of the Russian president in Helsinki, then Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said that "in the entire history of our country, Americans have never seen a president of the United States support an American adversary" in the way Trump has Putin.

"For the president of the United States to side with President Putin against American law enforcement, American defense officials, and American intelligence agencies is thoughtless, dangerous, and weak," Schumer tweeted. "The president is putting himself over our country."

Trump was also condemned, including by members of his own party, for comments he made about Putin ahead of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Speaking on the Clay Travis & Buck Sexton Show in February 2022, Trump described Putin's tactic of recognizing two self-proclaimed republics in eastern Ukraine and sending Russian troops to the regions under the guise of "peacekeeping operations" as "genius" and "very savvy."

Trump doubled down on his praise of the Russian president, telling a crowd at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida that Putin was "pretty smart" as he had "taken over a country for $2 worth of sanctions" just as the invasion of Ukraine was being carried out.

Trump has also repeatedly claimed Russia's invasion of Ukraine would never have happened if he was still president, and would be able to end it now if he was in office.

"My personality kept us out of war," Trump said at the New Hampshire Republican State Committee's annual meeting in Salem on Saturday, January 28.

"And I told you before, [it] would have never happened with Russia. Putin would have never ever gone in. And even now I could solve that in 24 hours. It's so horrible what happened. Those cities are demolished now."

Uncommon Knowledge

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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.

About the writer


Ewan Palmer is a Newsweek News Reporter based in London, U.K. His focus is reporting on US politics, domestic policy ... Read more

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