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Thursday November 07, 2024

'He loves dictators': Donald Trump being 'friends with enemies' is backfiring

Donald Trump recently boasted of his "great" ties with Kim Jong Un, Xi Jinping, and Vladimir Putin

By Web Desk
March 30, 2023
Former US President Donald Trump speaks at the Mar-a-Lago Club in Palm Beach, Florida, U.S., Nov. 15, 2022. — AFP
Former US President Donald Trump speaks at the Mar-a-Lago Club in Palm Beach, Florida, U.S., Nov. 15, 2022. — AFP

Donald Trump isn't afraid to say which international leaders he got along with the best, and it's not always the allies of the United States. In fact, quite the opposite.

Fox News host Sean Hannity questioned the former president about his relationships with the dictatorial leaders of North Korea, China, and Russia.

And his response, according to his detractors, was quite telling as Trump boasted of his "great" ties with Kim Jong Un, Xi Jinping, and Vladimir Putin.

When confronted about US intelligence findings that Russia meddled in the 2016 election on his behalf, Donald Trump is infamous for siding with Russian President Vladimir Putin, and he got along so well with North Korean dictator Kim that he once said they "fell in love." He did not always get along with America's allies, though. 

Trump, instead, picked several small fights with the leaders of friendly countries, including Justin Trudeau, the prime minister of Canada, whom he labelled a "far-left fool," and Emmanuel Macron, the president of France, whom he accused of being "extremely disrespectful."

In conversations with each of them, he is also said to have branded then-German Chancellor Angela Merkel "dumb" and former UK Prime Minister Theresa May "a fool."

Twitter was quick to react.

Journalist Mehdi Hasan said: "Imagine if Obama in 2014 or 2015 had said all these things. Fox would have lost their minds."

"He wants to be like them so bad. Thankfully he’s dumb. But sadly, his brainwashed cult followers don’t care," a former DNC member said.

"He loves dictators," said Joe Walsh.

"Imagine if Obama had said any of this. Republicans would be calling him a traitor every day vs every other day lol. Remember when he tried to make peace with Cuba and they flipped out?" said another.

"I am glad that I am old enough to remember a Republican party where this would have been a scandal and instantly disqualifying, but hey, libs must be owned," The Atlantic Staff Writer Tom Nichols said.