Donald Trump disavows 'bromance' with Vladimir Putin, says he knows 'nothing about him, really'

On Thursday's Tonight Show, Jimmy Fallon asked Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump about his apparent "bromance" with Russian President Vladimir Putin, and Trump said there's no such thing. "Well look, I don't know him, and, you know, know nothing about him, really," Trump said. "I just think if we get along with Russia, that's not a bad thing." As for Putin, "the Democrats are trying to say I like him so much — I don't like him, I don't dislike him, I don't have any feelings one way or the other," Trump added. "It's not going to matter what he says about me, if he says good things or bad things about me, I'm going to make great deals for our country."

Fallon asked about the upcoming debates with Hillary Clinton, especially the one hosted by NBC's Lester Holt, and Trump said he's looking forward to them, with one reservation. "Frankly, I thought Matt Lauer did a fantastic job, and they're trying to game the system by saying that Trump won the debate because Matt Lauer wasn't as tough on Trump as he was on Hillary Clinton, and that wasn't it," he said, referring to a recent "commander-in-chief forum" moderated by the Today show host. "They're trying to make it so Lester comes out and he's really tough on me, and I think it's unfair. I mean, they're trying to game the system."

Also on Thursday, Trump told The Washington Post — "unprompted," according to reporter Robert Costa — that he doesn't "think Anderson Cooper should be a moderator, because Anderson Cooper works for CNN and over the last couple of days, I've seen how Anderson Cooper behaves." Cooper will be "very biased, very biased," he added. "I don't think he should be a moderator." On The Tonight Show, Trump suggested a debate without moderators, then returned to Lester Holt. "I think there's a lot of outside pressure being placed on Lester that is unfair." Watch below. Peter Weber

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up