Former US President Donald Trump discussed his past interactions with Russian President Vladimir Putin during a his interview with Tesla CEO Elon Musk on Musk’s platform X (formerly known as Twitter).
Trump in the Monday conversation recalled a specific discussion with Putin about Ukraine. “We would talk a lot about Ukraine. It was the apple of his eye. But I said, ‘Don’t ever do it.Don’t ever do it,’” Trump told Musk.
“I said to Vladimir Putin, ‘Don’t do it. You can’t do it, Vladimir. You do it, it’s gonna be a bad day. You cannot do it.’ And I told him things that what I do, and he said, ‘No way,’ and I said, ‘Way,’ and you know, it’s the last time we ever had the conversation.”

The former president highlighted his rapport with the Russian leader, saying, “I know Putin very well. I got along with him very well. He respected me. And it’s just one of those things. And he would, we would talk a lot about Ukraine. It was the apple of his eye, but I said, don’t ever do it.”

Trump also addressed accusations of being overly friendly with Russia and Putin during his presidency. “They say I loved Russia, I was a friend of Putin, and I loved Russia. No,” Trump said. “He actually said to me one time, he said, ‘If you’re my friend, I’d hate to see you as an enemy.’ I shut down his pipeline. The biggest pipeline.”