Politics

Trump Praises Putin: ‘I Always Knew He Was Very Smart’

REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst

Alex Pfeiffer White House Correspondent
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President-elect Donald Trump praised Russian President Vladimir Putin statement Friday announcing no response to President Barack Obama’s sanctions against Russia.

“Great move on delay (by V. Putin) – I always knew he was very smart!” Trump wrote on Twitter.

The White House announced Thursday that 35 Russian diplomats will be expelled from the United States, among other sanctions, due to the government’s claim that Russia was behind a hacking effort meant to undermine the American presidential election.

Putin said in a statement that while Russia reserves the right to respond it won’t resort to “‘kitchen’ diplomacy.” The Russian president added that Russia “will plan our further steps to restore Russian-US relations based on the policies of the Trump Administration.”

Trump similarly dismissed Obama’s sanctions and said in a statement Thursday, “It’s time for our country to move on to bigger and better things.”