“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 -

“Wrong [I have not expressed admiration for Putin]… Wrong [I have not said he’s a strong leader]… Putin said about me — I didn’t say about Putin — Putin said very nice things about me.”
March 4, 2016 -

“I think Putin has been a very strong leader for Russia. I think he has been a lot stronger than our leader, that I can tell you. I mean, for Russia, that doesn’t mean I’m endorsing Putin… Putin is a strong leader, absolutely… He is a strong leader. Now I don’t say that in a good way or a bad way. I say it as a fact.”
March 14, 2016 -

“Putin said, ‘Donald Trump is brilliant and Donald Trump is a real leader. And Donald Trump will be the real leader.’ O.K.? I didn’t say anything about him other than to say… I said, we were on ’60 Minutes’ the same night, remember? That was six months ago. But I never said good, bad, or indifferent. I said he is a strong leader, he is a strong leader. But I didn’t say that, and I’m not saying that positively or negatively, I’m just saying he’s a strong leader. That’s pretty obvious that he’s a strong leader.”
March 14, 2016 -

“I think I would possibly have a good relationship. I don’t know. 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. But let me just tell you. I have no idea, Bill.”
April 28, 2016 -

“I have no comment on [whether I’ve met Putin]. No comment… I don’t want to comment because, let’s assume I did. Perhaps it was personal. You know, I don’t want to hurt his confidence.”
May 5, 2016 -

“[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 -

“No! No, I haven’t [been complimentary of Putin]… He’s been complimentary of me. I think Putin and I will get along very well. But he’s been complimentary of me.”
July 21, 2016 -

“I never met Putin. I have nothing to do with Russia whatsoever.”
July 27, 2016 -

“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…

“I’m not going to tell Putin what to do [about email hacking]. Why should I tell Putin what to do? He already did something today where he said don’t blame them, essentially, for your incompetence. Let me tell you, it’s not even about Russia or China or whoever it is that’s doing the hacking…

“I have nothing to do with Putin. I’ve never spoken to him. I don’t know anything about him other than he will respect me… I hope that we get along great with Putin because it would be great to have Russia with a good relationship.”
July 27, 2016 -

“Just so you understand, [Putin] said very nice things about me, but I have no relationship with him. I don’t — I’ve never met him…

“No [I didn’t say I have a relationship with him], look, what — what do you call a relationship? I mean he treats me with great respect. I have no relationship with Putin. I don’t think I’ve ever met him. I never met him. I don’t think I’ve ever met him… Yes, I think [I’d know if I met him. So I’ve — I don’t think I’ve ever met him. I mean if he’s in the same room or something. But I don’t think so… I’ve been in Moscow. I didn’t meet him in Moscow…

“I have never spoken to him on the phone, no. I’ve speak — I’ve spoken — when we had the Miss Universe contest a number of years ago, we had Miss Universe in Moscow, in the Moscow area, he was invited. He wanted to come. He wasn’t able to come. That would have been a time when I would have met him.

“I don’t know what it means by having a relationship. I mean he was saying very good things about me, but I don’t have a relationship with him. I didn’t meet him. I haven’t spent time with him. I didn’t have dinner with him. I didn’t go hiking with him. I don’t know — and I wouldn’t know him from Adam except I see his picture and I would know what he looks like…

“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’? … I’m not going to be mean to anybody. George, you know me pretty well. I don’t bow, OK. I don’t bow.”
July 31, 2016 -

“I think I would have a very, very good relationship with Putin…

“I think when he calls me brilliant, I’ll take the compliment, OK? The fact is, look, it’s not going to get him anywhere… The fact that he calls me brilliant or whatever he calls me is going to have zero impact… it’s not going to have any impact. If he says great things about me, I’m going to say great things about him. I’ve already said, he is really very much of a leader. I mean, you can say, oh, isn’t that a terrible thing — the man has very strong control over a country. Now, it’s a very different system, and I don’t happen to like the system. But certainly, in that system, he’s been a leader, far more than our president has been a leader.”
Sept 8, 2016 -

“I don’t know Putin…I don’t know Putin.”
Oct 9, 2016 -

“I don’t know Putin. He said nice things about me. If we got along well, that would be good… [I’m] no [Putin] puppet. You’re the puppet…

“[Hillary Clinton] has no idea whether it is Russia [who interfered in our election], China or anybody else… Our country has no idea… She doesn’t like Putin because Putin has outsmarted her at every step of the way. Putin has outsmarted her in Syria, he’s outsmarted her every step of the way…

“[I condemn interference in the election] by Russia or anybody else… Of course I condemn, of course I condemn – I don’t know Putin. I have no idea- … I never met Putin. This is not my best friend. But if the United States got along with Russia, it wouldn’t be so bad. Let me tell you, Putin has outsmarted her and Obama at every single step of the way… She has been outsmarted and outplayed worse than anybody I’ve ever seen in any government whatsoever…

“Our country is so outplayed by Putin.”
Oct 19, 2016 -

“I think [the U.S. intelligence agencies’ assessment that Russia interfered in our election is] public relations, frankly… People are hacking all over the place and nobody knows. They don’t know if it’s Russia. They can’t guarantee it’s Russia. And it may be. I mean, it may be Russia. I have nothing to do with Russia. [Hillary Clinton] likes to put the narrative about Donald Trump with Russia. I have nothing to do with Russia. I don’t know money. I don’t have deals in Russia. I don’t know Putin.”
Oct 27, 2016 -

“[The congratulatory note Putin sent me was] beautiful.”
Nov 9, 2016 -

“[I recieved] a very nice letter from Vladimir Putin; his thoughts are so correct.”
Dec 23, 2016 -

“Vladimir Putin said today about Hillary and Dems: ‘In my opinion, it is humiliating. One must be able to lose with dignity.’ So true!”
Dec 23, 2016 -

“Great move on delay (by V. Putin) – I always knew he was very smart!”
Dec 30, 2016 -

“As far as hacking, I think it was Russia. But I think we also get hacked by other countries and other people… [Putin] shouldn’t be doing it. He won’t be doing it… He shouldn’t have done it. I don’t believe that he will be doing it more now. We have to work something out, but it’s not just Russia. Take a look at what’s happened… 22 million accounts were hacked in this country by China.”
Jan 11, 2017 -

“I do respect him… I respect a lot of people but that doesn’t mean I’m going to get along with him… He’s a leader of his country. I say it’s better to get along with Russia than not… There are a lot of killers. We’ve got a lot of killers. What, you think our country is so innocent?”
Feb 4, 2017 -

“I don’t know Putin, have no deals in Russia, and the haters are going crazy”
Feb 7, 2017 -

“[Putin told me] ‘If we did [hack the US election], we wouldn’t have gotten caught because we’re professionals.’ I thought that was a good point because they are some of the best in the world.”
July 8, 2017 -

“I strongly pressed President Putin twice about Russian meddling in our election. He vehemently denied it.”
July 8, 2017 -

“I went down just to say hello to Melania, and while I was there I said hello to Putin. Really, pleasantries more than anything else. It was not a long conversation, but it was, you know, could be 15 minutes. Just talked about — things. Actually, it was very interesting, we talked about adoption… We talked about Russian adoption. Yeah. I always found that interesting. Because, you know, he ended that years ago. And I actually talked about Russian adoption with him, which is interesting because it was a part of the conversation that Don [Trump Jr.] had in that meeting.”
July 19, 2017 -

“[Putin] said he didn’t meddle — I asked him again. You can only ask so many times. I just asked him again. He said he absolutely did not meddle in our election. He did not do what they are saying he did. Every time he sees me he says, ‘I didn’t do that,’ and I really believe that when he tells me that, he means it. I think he is very insulted by it, which is not a good thing for our country.”
Nov 11, 2017 -

“I believe that [Putin] feels that he and Russia did not meddle in the election. As to whether I believe it, I’m with our agencies. As currently led by fine people, I believe very much in our intelligence agencies.”
Nov 12, 2017 -

“[I called Putin congratulate him on his victory and] we had a very good call. We will probably be meeting in the not-too-distant future.”
March 19, 2018 -

“They’re going ‘Will President Trump be prepared, you know, President Putin is KGB and this and that.’ You know what? Putin’s fine. He’s fine. We’re all fine. We’re people. Will I be prepared? Totally prepared. I’ve been preparing for this stuff my whole life.”
July 5, 2018 -

“I’m meeting with President Putin on Monday… We will, of course, ask your favorite question about meddling. I will be asking that question again… Well, he may [deny meddling in the US election]. I mean, look, he may. You know, what am I going to do? He may deny it. I mean, it’s one of those things. All I can do is say, ‘Did you’ and ‘Don’t do it again.’ But he may deny it. You’ll be the first to know. Okay? …

“We have NATO, then we have the UK, and then we have Putin. And I said, Putin may be the easiest of them all…

“He’s not my enemy. And hopefully, someday, maybe he’ll be a friend.”
July 12, 2018 -

“During today’s meeting, I addressed directly with President Putin the issue of Russian interference in our elections. I felt this was a message best delivered in person. We spent a great deal of time talking about it, and President Putin may very well want to address it, and very strongly — because he feels very strongly about it, and he has an interesting idea…

“I didn’t know the President. There was nobody to collude with…

“All I can do is ask the question [did Russia interfere in the 2016 election]. My people came to me — Dan Coats came to me and some others — they said they think it’s Russia. I have President Putin; he just said it’s not Russia. I will say this: I don’t see any reason why it would be… But I have — I have confidence in both parties… I have great confidence in my intelligence people, but I will tell you that President Putin was extremely strong and powerful in his denial today. And what he did is an incredible offer; he offered to have the people working on the case come and work with their investigators… I think that’s an incredible offer.”
July 16, 2018 -

“While I had a great meeting with NATO… I had an even better meeting with Vladimir Putin of Russia. Sadly, it is not being reported that way – the Fake News is going Crazy!”
July 17, 2018 -

“In a key sentence in my remarks I said the word ‘would’ instead of ‘wouldn’t.’ The sentence should have been: ‘I don’t see any reason why it wouldn’t be Russia.’ Sort of a double negative. I accept our intelligence community’s conclusion that Russia’s meddling in the 2016 election took place. It could be other people also. A lot of people out there.”
July 17, 2018 -

“The Summit with Russia was a great success, except with the real enemy of the people, the Fake News Media. I look forward to our second meeting so that we can start implementing some of the many things discussed, including stopping terrorism, security for Israel, nuclear.”
July 19, 2018 -

“I would say [a second meeting with Putin is] in the works. We had a tremendous discussion on many things… We had a tremendous meeting. We had — I think it was a very good press conference, I mean except for the fake news I really think I did very well at the press conference… We got along very well. Look, the fact is we got along very well… I think I’d have a good relationship with Putin.”
July 20, 2018 -

“I didn’t [ever say anything harsh about Putin publicly]?… I think I’m very tough with him personally. I had a meeting with him. The two of us. It was a very tough meeting and it was a very good meeting…

“Probably he is [involved in assassinations and poisonings], yeah. Probably. I mean, I don’t — But I rely on them, it’s not in our country.”
Oct 11, 2018 -

“I would [release the details of my private conversation with Putin in Helsinki]. I don’t care. I’m not keeping anything under wraps. I couldn’t care less. [We had a] a great conversation.”
Jan 12, 2019 -

“Yes, of course I will [tell Russia to not meddle in the 2020 election]. [In mock seriousness:] Don’t meddle in the election, President [Putin]. Don’t meddle in the election.”
- June 28, 2019

“It was the G-8 for a long time, and now it’s the G-7, and a lot of the time we talk about, we talk about Russia. We’re talking about Russia because I’ve got to numerous G-7 meetings. And I guess President Obama, because Putin outsmarted him, President Obama thought it wasn’t a good thing to have Russia in, so he wanted Russia out. But I think it’s much more appropriate to have Russia in, it should be the G-8 because a lot of the things we talk about have to do with Russia. So I could certainly see it being the G-8 again, and if somebody would make that motion I would certainly be disposed to think about it very favorably. But as you know most of the time it was the G-8, it included Russia, and President Obama didn’t want Russia in, because he got outsmarted. Well, that’s not the way it really should work.”
Aug 20, 2019 -

“The Russian collusion was a scam. You can ask Putin. Nobody has been rougher on Russia than Donald Trump, okay? Now, with that being said, it would be great to get along with Russia. And we will get along with Russia, because it’s smart. But nobody has been tougher on Russia than Donald Trump.”
Oct 2, 2019 -

“I have never discussed [Russian bounties on US troops in Afghanistan] with [Putin]… frankly that’s an issue that many people said was fake news.”
Jul 28, 2020 -

“John Bolton…states often that I respected, and even trusted, Vladimir Putin of Russia more than those in our Intelligence Agencies. While of course that is not true, if the first people you met from so called American Intelligence were Dirty Cops who have now proven to be sleazebags at the highest level like span class=’link-int’>James Comey, proven liar James Clapper, & perhaps the lowest of them all, Wacko John Brennan who headed the CIA, you could perhaps understand my reluctance to embrace!”
Aug 11, 2020 -

“Well, I think we have to look at it very seriously if [Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny was poisoned by Russia], and I think we will. There’s nobody been tougher on Russia than I have. We get along…

“We’ve taken stronger action against Russia than any other country in the world, as you know. I’ll tell you, President Putin would tell you that right now. But the fact that I — the fact that I get along with Russia… I do get along with — with President Putin. But I’ve been tougher on Russia than anybody else, by far.”
Sept 4, 2020 -

“‘He gets along with Putin, that’s a terrible thing’ — no, it’s a good thing if I get along, that’s good. He likes me — I like him. Not so bad. ‘He gets along with Kim Jong-un, that’s a terrible thing’ — no, it’s a good thing… It’s okay not to go to war, it’s really okay.”
Sept 10, 2020 -

“The only thing I can tell you for sure: President Xi from China, President Putin from Russia, Kim Jong-un, North Korea, and I could name 40 others, they’re sharp as a tack. They don’t want to deal with Sleepy Joe. One of them said to me, one of the leaders said, ‘We don’t want to deal with somebody that sleeps all the time.’”
Oct 26, 2020 -