Putin Called Trump a Genius?

Quotes on Whether Vladimir Putin Called Donald Trump a Genius

THEN
NOW


Feb - June 3, 2016
June 17, 2016

Donald Trump Then - Putin Called Trump a Genius
Vladimir Putin Now - Putin Called Trump a Genius


#Trump 6/3/16: "Putin said, ‘Donald Trump is a genius.’" » #Putin 6/17/16: "I said…Trump is a vivid personality. And what, he’s not vivid?…I didn’t give him any other characterizations." Click To Tweet

Quotes on Whether Vladimir Putin Called Donald Trump a Genius

THEN

Feb - June 3, 2016

Donald Trump Then - Putin Called Trump a Genius
“[Putin] called me a genius, I like him so far, I have to tell you.”
- Feb 13, 2016

GOP primary debate in Greenville, S.C.

Washington Post, Feb 13, 2016
The CBS News Republican debate transcript, annotated

(retrieved 7/16/18)
“I have no relationship with [Putin] other than he called me a genius. He said ‘Donald trump is a genius’ and he is going to be the leader of the party and he’s going to be the leader of the world or something. He said some good stuff about me and these characters that I’m running against said, ‘We want you to disavow that statement.’ I said what, he called me a genius, I’m going to disavow it? Are you crazy? Can you believe it? How stupid are they.”
- Feb 17, 2016

Reuters, Feb. 17, 2016
Trump: 'Putin called me a genius'

(retrieved 7/16/18)
“Putin said good things about me. He said, ’He’s a leader and there’s no question about it, he’s a genius.’”
- March 15, 2016

C-SPAN, March 15, 2016
Donald Trump Campaign Rally in Vandalia, Ohio

(retrieved 7/17/18)
“I think he said some really nice things. He called me a genius. He said Trump’s a genius. Okay. So, you know, that’s nice. That’s not going to persuade me one way or the other. I have people on the debate stage that said, get him to disavow it. Get him. And I said, ‘Why would I do that?’ But no, no, he has been very nice to me.”
- April 29, 2016

'The O'Reilly Factor' interview

Fox News, April 29, 2016
Donald Trump on his foreign policy strategy

(retrieved 7/12/18)
“[Hillary Clinton said] ‘Donald Trump is a friend of Putin.’ Well, actually, Putin did call me a genius, and he said I’m the future of the Republican Party. He’s off to a good start.”
May 27, 2016 -

CNN, May 27, 2016
Transcripts: THE SITUATION ROOM Aired May 27, 2016

(retrieved 7/12/18)
“Putin said, ‘Donald Trump is a genius‘… They wanted me to disavow what he said. How dare you call me a genius. How dare you call me a genius, Vladimir.”
- June 3, 2016

C-SPAN (via Internet Archive), June 3, 2016
Donald Trump Campaigns in Redding California

(retrieved 7/17/18)

NOW

June 17, 2016

Vladimir Putin Now - Putin Called Trump a Genius
“Take a look at what I said—I said in passing that Trump is a vivid personality. And what, he’s not vivid? He’s vivid. But I didn’t give him any other characterizations.”
June 17, 2016 -

Daily Beast, Nov. 5, 2016
Donald Trump's Unrequited Love for Vladimir Putin

(retrieved 7/17/18)


The Daily Beast1Daily Beast, June 17, 2016
Donald Trump’s Unrequited Love for Vladimir Putin
retrieved 7/17/18

Putin said, apparently off the cuff, that Trump was an ochen’ yarkiy chelovek’, ochen’ talantlivy, which means, in context, “a very lively (or vivid) person, very talented.” But yarkiy was widely translated as “bright” or even “brilliant,” and the hyperbolic drift began.

Eventually debate over Putin’s real intention using the word “yarkiy” gathered so much publicity that finally, on June 17, 2016, Fareed Zakaria, a panel moderator at the St. Petersburg Economic Forum, directly asked Putin to explain what he meant. The response was not a little irritated:

“Why are you distorting everything?… Take a look at what I said—I said in passing that Trump is a vivid personality. And what, he’s not vivid? He’s vivid. But I didn’t give him any other characterizations.”


LATER

July 27, 2016

Donald Trump on Global Warming Then

“I never met Putin, I don’t know who Putin is. He said one nice thing about me. He said I’m a genius. I said thank you very much to the newspaper and that was the end of it. I never met Putin.”
- July 27, 2016

American Presidency Project, July 27, 2016
News Conference in Doral, Florida

(retrieved 7/16/18)
starts at 0:16

“When Putin goes out and tells everybody — and you talk about a relationship, but he says Donald Trump is going to win and Donald Trump is a genius, and then I have people saying you should disavow. I said, I’m going to disavow that?”
- July 31, 2016

ABC News, July 31, 2016
'This Week' Transcript: Donald Trump, Vice President Joe Biden, and Ret. Gen. John Allen

(retrieved 7/16/18)
starts at 3:53