Donald Trump Reveals Relationship With Putin In Resurfaced 2013 Video Interview
A video recently resurfaced where Donald Trump tells an MSNBC interviewer that he does have a relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The interview, which was recorded over three years ago, clearly shows President Trump telling MSNBC’s Thomas Roberts that he does have connections to Putin.
Several times Trump has denied knowing Putin, even adding during a news conference in 2016 that he doesn’t know who Putin is.
“I never met Putin. I don’t know who Putin is.”
“Never spoken to him. I don’t know anything about him other than he will respect me.”
However, Roberts, a news anchor for MSNBC for nearly seven years, says that Trump’s statements in a 2013 video interview completely contradict claims that he doesn’t have some type of relationship with Putin.
Again, on Tuesday, President Trump sent out a tweet on his personal Twitter account, saying that he doesn’t know Putin and has no deals in Russia. This tweet prompted the 2013 video interview to resurface, mainly as proof that Trump tends to make contradictory statements.
One Twitter user, Shaun King, a New York Daily News writer and political commentator, tweeted a clip of the 2013 interview between Roberts and Trump last month, “in light of recent revelations,” according to King.
The Huffington Post wasted no time on Tuesday following up President Trump’s tweet with an article pointing out the 2013 interview, adding that Trump tells “another story” in that interview, despite repeatedly insisting that he doesn’t know Vladimir Putin.
The article includes King’s tweet from January — a tweet that’s been retweeted nearly 10,000 times.
Responses to the 2013 resurfaced interview say that “even with evidence, some folks stay in denial.” Another comment adds that Trump is acting as Putin’s foreign minister.
During the 2016 presidential campaign, Donald Trump claimed that he’s never spoken to Putin and has no ties to Russia.
When Donald Trump brought Miss Universe to Moscow – POLITICO https://t.co/DOYlCdyurU
— GrannyScopp (@GrannyScopp) February 7, 2017
This recently resurfaced 2013 video interview actually originally resurfaced back in July 2016, shortly after Trump again denied knowing anything about Putin.
MSNBC shared Roberts’ interview with Trump on July 28, 2016, one day after a news conference in Doral, Florida, where Trump commented twice about allegedly not knowing Putin or even ever speaking to Putin.
Said Roberts, “But less than three years ago, I interviewed Donald Trump in Moscow. It was ahead of the Miss Universe contest being held in Russia, and I asked him about any connections that he might have to Putin.”
Mediaite explains that Roberts went on to ask Trump in the 2013 interview if he has a “conversational” relationship with Putin or any relationship that he feels has “sway or influence” over Putin’s government.
In response, Trump declared that he does have a relationship with Putin and that Putin is “very interested” in “what we’re doing here today.” Trump went on to say that Putin has done a “very brilliant job” regarding what Putin represents and who Putin is representing.
Twice in that 2013 interview, Trump says he does have a relationship with Putin, leaving some Americans wondering why, again, Trump tweeted on Tuesday that he doesn’t know Putin.
The Huffington Post points out that Donald Trump, at one time, even said that he has spoken both directly and indirectly with Putin and that Trump said he met Putin “a long time ago,” adding that Trump said he “got along great” with Putin and got to know Putin “very well.”
Politifact pointed out another interview between ABC News anchor George Stephanopoulos and Donald Trump, shortly after the Democratic National Convention last year. Stephanopoulos again brought up whether or not Trump has ties to Putin, and Trump again contradicted what he said in the 2013 interview with Roberts.
According to the Politifact report, Trump even credits his foreign policy experience to Russia, just from hosting the Miss Universe Pageant in Moscow in 2013.
It's time to demand a 9/11-style commission on the Russian hacks & Trumps Putin Ties.
RETWEET if You Agree! pic.twitter.com/PqcR88eMPf
— Brian Krassenstein (@krassenstein) February 7, 2017
So why does President Trump continue to flip-flop about a possible relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin?
Mediaite says that Trump may have just been exaggerating a supposed relationship with Putin in the 2013 interview, while Politifact says Trump may be trying to distance himself from Putin, especially since Russia has been accused of meddling in the 2016 presidential election — interference that was actually encouraged by Trump during the Doral, Florida, news conference.
“Russia, if you’re listening, I hope you’re able to find the 30,000 emails that are missing. I think you will probably be rewarded mightily by our press.”
[Featured Image by Scott Olson/Getty Images]
