Vladimir Putin is not Donald Trump's best friend, not even close, not even a little bit, if you ask Donald Trump.

At Wednesday's night third presidential debate, Trump denied he is buddies with the Russian president. Hillary Clinton wanted to know, once and for all, if Trump could leave Putin out of this election. Trump said Putin wasn't even in the election.

"I don't know Putin. He said nice things about me. If we got along well, that would be good," Trump snapped back. Later, he backed up that statement, "I don't know Putin ... I've never met Putin. This is not my best friend."

Funny that. He's either been dumped as a bestie or Trump is lying.

Trump once very clearly stated he had a "relationship" with Putin. MSNBC's Thomas Roberts interviewed Trump about his relationship with Putin back in 2013 in Moscow. "I do have a relationship ... I do have a relationship with him," Trump gushed in the interview. "He does a brilliant job at what he represents and who he represents."

Once again, the truth gets lost somewhere between here and Moscow.