President Trump Donald John TrumpUS reimposes UN sanctions on Iran amid increasing tensions Jeff Flake: Republicans 'should hold the same position' on SCOTUS vacancy as 2016 Trump supporters chant 'Fill that seat' at North Carolina rally MORE says in a new interview he was "very tough" with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

"I was very tough with President Putin. We have a very important relationship," Trump told Reuters on Wednesday.

"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," he said about a truce in a portion of the interview about the ongoing Syrian civil war.

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Trump said he campaigned strongly on "military, strong borders and low oil prices" and raised questions about why Putin would have supported his candidacy.

"Look what I’ve done – oil prices have been driven down. We’re sending [liquefied natural gas] to Poland, massive shipments to Poland," he said.

"That’s not what Putin wants. And for the military, we’ve got $56 billion more of equipment than anybody ever thought of, in the last budget. Putin doesn’t want that – so why would Putin want me?” he continued.

“It’s really the one question I wish I would have asked Putin: Were you actually supporting me?"

Trump added he is big on energy and "very strong" on cybersecurity.

"I would bet that inwardly Putin would have been against me," Trump said.

Trump met with Putin earlier this month during the Group of 20 summit in Germany. Trump said he pressed Putin strongly during the meeting about Russian election meddling and the Russian leader denied it.

Trump's recent comments come as his eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., faces controversy after he released a chain of emails detailing his conversations about setting up a meeting with a Russian lawyer who offered damaging information on Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham ClintonJeff Flake: Republicans 'should hold the same position' on SCOTUS vacancy as 2016 Momentum growing among Republicans for Supreme Court vote before Election Day Warning signs flash for Lindsey Graham in South Carolina MORE.