Quotables
Trump says he's a 'very suspicious person,' but will keep an open mind dealing with world leaders
During his interview Wednesday with Reuters, President Trump revealed he is a "very suspicious person" who does not go around "trusting lots of people," but is willing to meet and work with Russian President Vladimir Putin because he's the head of the "second most powerful nuclear power on Earth."
Both presidents love their countries, he said, "but I do things the way I do things, and it's just worked out." Their meeting last Friday during the G-20 summit was "very productive," he said. "Including the fact that I think we have a good shot at piece by piece getting Syria to stop fighting. Ultimately Ukraine. And other things, including the destruction of terrorists as we know them." Trump said the cease-fire in Syria is "totally holding" because "Putin told them, as opposed to somebody that nobody ever heard of. Putin and I agreed to it, and we have a four-day cease-fire. That means many lives have already been saved because of four days."
Trump asserted he was "very tough with President Putin," and called their relationship "very important. It's going to be a relationship where lots of lives could be saved, like as an example with the cease-fire, which nobody else could have gotten but me." Trump took credit for oil prices going down and the United States military having more equipment, and said because of that, he can't be sure if Putin likes him. "It's really the one question I wish I would have asked Putin: 'Were you actually supporting me?'" he said. "I would bet that inwardly, Putin would have been against me."
Before the interview was over, Trump declared the mood in the White House is "fantastic," despite reports, featuring interviews with his inner circle, that state otherwise, and said he's done "more in five months than practically any president in history."