Donald Trump's ties to Russia are again under the spotlight after reports emerged alleging he directed his estranged ex-lawyer Michael Cohen to lie to Congress about his company’s plans to build a new Trump Tower in Moscow.

According to law enforcement sources who spoke to Buzzfeed News, the president instructed his one-time confidant to say negotiations over the proposed construction project had been curtailed much earlier in 2016 than they actually were.

Since May 2017, special counsel Robert Mueller and his team have doggedly investigated ties between the Trump camp and the Kremlin to determine whether America’s former Cold War foe attempted to influence the outcome of the 2016 presidential election to win the White House for its preferred candidate.

Mr Mueller has secured the co-operation of ex-national security advisor Michael Flynn, former campaign manager Paul Manafort and now Cohen in exchange for more lenient sentences after they were charged with an array of misdemeanours, financial and diplomatic, exposed by his investigators.

A backdrop to all this has been Mr Trump’s personal admiration for Russia’s authoritarian president Vladimir Putin. Below is a collection of the billionaire's statements about his Kremlin counterpart, from the campaign trail to the Oval Office.

2013

While he was still best-known as the host of the NBC reality show The Apprentice, Donald Trump visited Moscow in November 2013 to host the Miss Universe Pageant, a trip on which the events recorded on the mythical “pee tape” are said to have occurred.

In advance of his jetting out, Mr Trump said he had invited President Putin to attend the gala and speculated on whether the strongman would “become my new best friend”.

He praised Mr Putin for his criticising the long-standing notion of “American exceptionalism” on CNN on 13 September 2013: “You think of the term as being fine, but all of sudden you say, what if you’re in Germany or Japan or any one of 100 different countries? You’re not going to like that term. It’s very insulting and Putin really put it to him [President Barack Obama] about that.”

In October, he told Larry King Mr Putin had done “a really great job outsmarting our country” and told David Letterman that he himself had done “a lot of business with the Russians” and that Mr Putin was “a tough guy”.

Interviewed by MSNBC ahead of the pageant, he said: “I do have a relationship [with Vladimir Putin] and I can tell you that he’s very interested in what we’re doing here today... He’s probably very interested in what you and I are saying today, and I’m sure he’s going to be seeing it in some form, but I do have a relationship with him and I think it’s very interesting to see what’s happened.”

2014

Subsequently reflecting on the ceremony in an interview with Fox and Friends on 10 February 2014, Mr Trump commented: “When I went to Russia with the Miss Universe pageant, [President Putin] contacted me and was so nice. I mean, the Russian people were so fantastic to us.”

“I’ll just say this, they are doing – they’re outsmarting us at many turns, as we all understand. I mean, their leaders are, whether you call them smarter or more cunning or whatever, but they’re outsmarting us. If you look at Syria or other places, they’re outsmarting us.

A month later, he returned to the same show to discussion Russian aggression in Ukraine.

“Well Mitt Romney was so right [in calling Russia “a geopolitical foe”], and nobody knew how right he was going to be, and you look at Obama’s response and just take a look at what’s going on... Syria was propped up by Russia. Syria’s now back in their fold 100 per cent and that whole deal is coming to an end because Russia’s taken over.

“Russia is not strong economically and we could do a lot of different things to really do numbers on them if we wanted to.”

No longer boasting of Mr Putin as an influential friend, preferring to use his flouting of international law as a stick with which to beat President Obama, Mr Trump told NBC’s Today Russia should face sanctions: ”We have to show some strength. I mean, Putin has eaten Obama’s lunch, therefore our lunch, for a long period of time.

“And I just hope that Obama, who’s not looking too good, doesn’t do something very foolish and very stupid to show his manhood. I just hope that doesn’t happen.”

More dramatically, he tweeted on 21 March: “I believe Putin will continue to re-build the Russian Empire. He has zero respect for Obama or the U.S.!”

He returned to Fox on 24 March to repeat his praise of Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney’s foresight about the threat Russia represented before completely reversing his position on 12 April, saying how “nice” Mr Putin had been at the pageant and praising the annexation of Crimea: “He’s done an amazing job of taking the mantle.”

That same day, Mr Trump said at an event in New Hampshire that: “Russia is like, I mean they’re really hot stuff... and now you have people in the Ukraine – who knows, set up or not – but it can’t all be set up, I mean they’re marching in favor of joining Russia.”

On 28 April, the real estate mogul tweeted: “Putin has shown the world what happens when America has weak leaders. Peace Through Strength!”

Interviewed by The American Spectator, he repeated his endorsement of President Putin’s attack on “American exceptionalism”: “You know, he said, ‘Why are they exceptional? They have killings in the streets. Look at what’s going on in Chicago and different places. They have all of this turmoil, all of the things that are happening in there.’”

Returning to his characterisation of Mr Putin as the bogeyman of world politics, Mr Trump tweeted on 25 November: “Can you imagine what Putin and all of our friends and enemies throughout the world are saying about the U.S. as they watch the Ferguson riot.”

2015

Donald Trump gives an interview to The Daily Mail in the UK in March in which he addressed his “great” relationship with the Russian premier, revealing the latter gave him “a gift – an award and a beautiful letter” in Moscow.

In a brace of interviews on Fox News with heavyweight anchors Bill O’Reilly and Sean Hannity in June, Mr Trump continued glorying in his memories of the Miss Universe Pageant and claims Mr Putin hates President Obama, refusing to elaborate when pushed.

On 8 July 2015, he toldAnderson Cooper of CNN the Russians would release whistleblower Edward Snowden to US custody if he were to become president, adding: “He hates Obama. He doesn’t respect Obama. Obama doesn’t like him either. But he has no respect for Obama. Has a hatred for Obama. And Snowden is living the life.”

In August, he told Fox of his hopes of meeting with President Putin when he next visited New York to attend the UN General Assembly: “Frankly, I’d get along great with him. You gotta get along with these people.”

“I actually think that he is somebody that can be dealt with,” he told Maria Bartiromo, of the same channel. “I think his dislike of President Obama is so intense, that it really has affected the whole relationship.

“We’ve driven them into the arms of China, so that now these two are together, which is also a been the great sin. Don’t ever let Russia and China get together. We’ve driven them together. I think he is somebody that I would have a very decent relationship with if I ever win.”

Interviewed by O’Reilly again on 29 September, he speculated on what grade he would give Vladimir Putin if political leadership were assessed like school homework: ”I will tell you that I think in terms of leadership, he is getting an ‘A’ and our president is not doing so well. They did not look good together.”

On 11 October, he congratulated CBS on Face the Nation for an earlier 60 Minutes feature comparing the two men: ”I think the biggest thing we have is that we were on 60 Minutes together and we had fantastic ratings. One of your best-rated shows in a long time. So that was good, right? So we were stablemates.”

Two days later, Mr Trump told The Guardian he believed Russia would move in to Syria to fight Isis: He’s going to want to bomb Isis because he doesn’t want Isis going into Russia and so he’s going to want to bomb Isis. Vladimir Putin is going to want to really go after Isis and if he doesn’t it’ll be a big shock to everybody.”

Asked at a Republican debate on 10 November what he would do as president in response to Russian aggression, Mr Trump dissembled: “Well, first of all, it’s not only Russia. We have problems with North Korea where they actually have nuclear weapons. You know, nobody talks about it, we talk about Iran, and that’s one of the worst deals ever made.”

Speaking to Joe Scarborough, host of MSNBC’s Morning Joe, on 18 December, Mr Trump attempted to refute allegations that President Putin “kills journalists that don’t agree with him”.

“I think our country does plenty of killing also, Joe, so you know. There’s a lot of stupidity going on in the world right now, a lot of killing going on, a lot of stupidity.”

2016

Donald Trump again appeared on Ms Bartiromo’s Fox Business show and this time answered questions about state involvement in the 2006 murder of ex-secret service agent Alexander Litvinenko in London.

“Have they found [Vladimir Putin] guilty? I don’t think they’ve found him guilty. If he did it, fine. But I don’t know that he did it. You know, people are saying they think it was him, it might have been him, it could have been him. But Maria, in all fairness to Putin—I don’t know. You know, and I’m not saying this because he says, ‘Trump is brilliant and leading everybody’ —the fact is that, you know, he hasn’t been convicted of anything.”

By 17 February, Mr Trump had begun to deny any association with Mr Putin, but not without repeating some possibly exaggerated praise: ”I have no relationship with him other than he called me a genius. He said, ‘Donald Trump is a genius and he is going to be the leader of the party and he’s going to be the leader of the world or something’.”

That spring, the Republican presidential candidate began to claim he would make a better negotiator with the Kremlin than his rivals as a key selling point and, outrageously, attacked the media for ”falsely” claiming he admires Russia's premier.

US President Donald Trump (R) and Russia's President Vladimir Putin talk during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) leaders' summit (AFP/Getty)

“Putin said good things about me. He said, ‘He’s a leader and there’s no question about it, he’s a genius.’ So they all said, the media, they said – you saw it on the debate – they said, ‘you admire President Putin.’”, he told a rally in Vandalia, Ohio, on 15 March 2016.

“I said, I don’t admire him. I said he was a strong leader, which he is. I mean, he might be bad, he might be good. But he’s a strong leader.”

On 28 April, he told O’Reilly: “If we can make a great deal for our country and get along with Russia that would be a tremendous thing. I would love to try it.” He repeated this line throughout the campaign, regularly expressing his respect for the premier as a “strong leader” while distancing himself incrementally from Moscow.

Speaking to a CBS-affiliated local broadcaster in Miami, Florida, on 27 July, Mr Trump completes his about-turn: “I have nothing to do with Russia, nothing to do, I never met Putin, I have nothing to do with Russia whatsoever.”

Repeating the line at a press conference later that day, he went even further: “I don’t know who Putin is.”

President Trump: a year of high drama at home and abroad Show all 36 1 /36 President Trump: a year of high drama at home and abroad President Trump: a year of high drama at home and abroad Reuters photographer Hannah McKay (Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May and U.S. President Donald Trump walk away after holding a joint news conference at Chequers) "This was the third and final time I was photographing Donald Trump during his working visit to the UK. I'd noticed he had a tendency to hold Theresa May by the hand when they used stairs, so I lay on the floor for fifteen minutes waiting for the pair to exit via some steps. As they did, Trump took May by the arm and shouted over his shoulder, "Yes" in response to the question "Mr. President, will you tell Putin to stay out of the U.S elections?" - from a reporter in the press conference." Reuters President Trump: a year of high drama at home and abroad Reuters photographer Kevin Lamarque (President Trump confers with White House Communications Director Hope Hicks as Press Secretary Sarah Sanders listens) "I stayed in the room after our reporters had left, and seemingly unnoticed like the cliched 'fly on the wall', I was witness to this unusual moment." Reuters President Trump: a year of high drama at home and abroad Reuters photographer Chris Bergin (A supporter of Trump and Republican senate candidate Mike Braun at an election night party in Indianapolis) "I saw the colour-coordinated woman in the back of the ball room while covering mid-term elections. She stood out to me because she was lit by a single overhead light that created deep shadows." Reuters President Trump: a year of high drama at home and abroad Reuters photographer Shannon Stapleton (Stormy Daniels, puts her shoe back on after passing through a security screening, as she arrives at federal court) "On the morning that I took this picture there was a mad scrum outside the courthouse to get a picture of Stormy Daniels. She didn't enter the regular entrance of a media gauntlet that was set up for her. I placed myself by a window where I saw her passing through the metal detector. Shooting through the window was difficult but I was able to make the frame." Reuters President Trump: a year of high drama at home and abroad Reuters photographer Carlos Barria (President Trump appears on the South Portico of the White House with the Easter Bunny during the annual White House Easter Egg Roll) "There are many holiday events at the White House, but one of the most light-hearted happens during Easter, when the President shows up at the balcony of the South Portico accompanied by someone in a big Easter bunny costume. I didn't have the best position, but towards the end, the bunny stood behind the President and I was able to take this shot." Reuters President Trump: a year of high drama at home and abroad Reuters photographer Kevin Lamarque (Melania Trump wearing a jacket with the phrase "I Really Don't Care. Do U?" on the back after a visit to the US-Mexico border in Texas) "I could not see the words on Melania's jacket when she boarded Air Force One. I only heard about it once airborne. But there was no way I was going to miss it again, and to my utter astonishment, she was wearing it once more upon her return to Washington." Reuters President Trump: a year of high drama at home and abroad Reuters photographer Jonathan Ernst (A White House staff member reaches for the microphone held by CNN's Jim Acosta as he questions President Trump during a news conference following the midterm congressional elections) "Covering politics has always felt to me like photographing a live theatre production - the actors and stage are usually set in a familiar way. But even if you've seen a specific play many times, there is always the possibility that there will be something exciting or new. It became obvious during this exchange that the dialogue was going in a different direction than expected, and I took it as a cue to make sure I gave the scene extra attention." Reuters President Trump: a year of high drama at home and abroad Reuters photographer Leah Millis (Trump boards Air Force One for travel to Ohio) "We photograph departures and landings hundreds of times. Sometimes, as in this case, the clouds or the light can give you a little gift." Reuters President Trump: a year of high drama at home and abroad Reuters photographer Jonathan Ernst (Donald and Melania Trump stand beside French President Emmanuel Macron and his wife on a visit to the estate of the first US President George Washington) "I'm always happy for events that take us off the White House campus and provide new visual opportunities. This day, when the Trumps feted the Macrons at George Washington's historic estate, it provided just the right contrast for the stylish leader-couples as they took their spots for an otherwise posed moment." Reuters President Trump: a year of high drama at home and abroad Reuters photographer Kevin Lamarque (President Trump gestures after arriving in Pennsylvania to take part in the annual September 11 observance) "Celebratory fist pumps on a national day of mourning and reflection caught even the most seasoned of us off guard." Reuters President Trump: a year of high drama at home and abroad Reuters photographer Peter Nicholls (Demonstrators fly a baby Trump blimp in London's Parliament Square, during his UK visit) "I took this picture of the Trump blimp from a wall at the back of Parliament Square, to get a clear view from above the crowd, as it was revealed for the first time, prior to a day of protests during his visit to the UK, mid-July." Reuters President Trump: a year of high drama at home and abroad Reuters photographer Jonathan Ernst (President Donald Trump and North Korea's leader Kim Jong-un walk together before their working lunch during their summit in Singapore) "On a historic and difficult day, it was fun to look for the odd angle or expression. Here, Trump and Kim walk away after impromptu remarks to reporters - which clearly pleased the North Korean leader." Reuters President Trump: a year of high drama at home and abroad Reuters photographer Ronen Zvulun (Ivanka Trump and US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin stand next to the dedication plaque at the new US embassy in Jerusalem) "I shot this picture when I was standing on a platform really close to Ivanka Trump. I knew exactly where to stand and what lens to use because I did a tour the day before. I knew this was the key picture we had been waiting for since the story broke some weeks before." Reuters President Trump: a year of high drama at home and abroad Reuters photographer Leah Millis (The imprint of French President Emmanuel Macron's thumb across the back of Trump's hand at a bilateral meeting at the G7 Summit) "This is taken right after the first photo-op the two presidents had at the G7 summit after they had a tense back-and-forth on Twitter. They were smiling but Macron gripped Trump's hand quite hard and I noticed that it left a visible impression on Trump's hand." Reuters President Trump: a year of high drama at home and abroad Reuters photographer Kevin Lamarque (President Trump meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Helsinki) "Body language can give an ordinary photo much more meaning, and here, Trump and Putin did not disappoint." Reuters President Trump: a year of high drama at home and abroad Reuters photographer Joshua Roberts (A father of a Florida shooting victim tries to shake hands with Brett Kavanaugh during his US Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation) "This moment happened in a break in testimony. Kavanaugh seemed surprised as Guttenberg approached but as he turned away he looked anxious. Kavanaugh later said he did not understand who Guttenberg was at the time." Reuters President Trump: a year of high drama at home and abroad Reuters photographer Carlo Allegri (First lady Melania Trump visits the Pyramids in Cairo) "The First Lady had taken a tour of African nations and could not depart the continent without a visit to the incredible pyramids of Egypt where I, as part of the traveling press pool, was able to make this photo of her looking out over Giza Pyramid Complex." Reuters President Trump: a year of high drama at home and abroad Reuters photographer Brian Snyder (Trump and Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel hold a joint news conference in the White House) "The East Room felt tense even before President Trump and Chancellor Merkel entered for their joint news conference. With Merkel's podium behind the President's from my vantage point, she seemed to want to keep an eye on him. The East Room was very full for the joint news conference, with photographers on ladders all around the perimeter." Reuters President Trump: a year of high drama at home and abroad Reuters photographer Leah Millis (White House counselor Kellyanne Conway gives an interview at the White House) "This is a fairly common scene at the White House, especially with Kellyanne Conway. Often the press will wait yards off while she or another member of the Trump administration gives a live interview. Conway will then walk past the rest of the press, and everyone hopes that she will give another interview to the group." Reuters President Trump: a year of high drama at home and abroad Reuters photographer Francois Lenoir (President Trump attends a meeting of the North Atlantic Council during a NATO summit in Brussels) "I like the contrast in the photograph. The presence of U.S. President Trump posing smiling and the lack of interest of the officials in the background." Reuters President Trump: a year of high drama at home and abroad Reuters photographer Leah Millis (Thomas Musolino wears a mask of President Trump while holding his daughter Gianna during a Trump campaign rally) "The President's rallies are well-known at this point, we attend a lot of them as members of the White House travel pool. This father-daughter situation really stood out from the crowd because of the juxtaposition of the mask and the tenderness between the two of them." REUTERS/Leah Millis SEARCH "TRUMP POY" FOR FOR THIS STORY. SEARCH "REUTERS POY" FOR ALL BEST OF 2018 PACKAGES. TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY. LEAH MILLIS Reuters President Trump: a year of high drama at home and abroad Reuters photographer Carlos Barria (President Trump observes a demonstration with US Army 10th Mountain Division troops as he visits Fort Drum) "President Trump often talks about how much he likes big planes and tanks, and the 'beautiful military.' This summer he had a up-close look during a visit to a military base in New York state, where he signed the National Defense Authorization Act." Reuters President Trump: a year of high drama at home and abroad Reuters photographer Jim Bourg (Christine Blasey Ford closes her eyes as she is sworn in before testifying to the Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation hearing for Trump's Supreme Court nominee Judge Brett Kavanaugh) "The moment looks peaceful as if Christine Blasey Ford had closed her eyes in thought, but the image actually reflects the fact that in the nine seconds that she had her hand up to be sworn in to testify, she blinked several times. Blasey Ford began her testimony by saying: 'I am here today not because I want to be. I am terrified. I am here because I believe it is my civic duty to tell you what happened to me while Brett Kavanaugh and I were in high school.'" REUTERS/Jim Bourg SEARCH "TRUMP POY" FOR FOR THIS STORY. SEARCH "REUTERS POY" FOR ALL BEST OF 2018 PACKAGES. TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY. JIM BOURG Reuters President Trump: a year of high drama at home and abroad Reuters photographer Carlos Barria (Supporters listen as President Trump speaks during a campaign rally in Montana) "As a White House photographer I'm always looking for a way to connect the President, Donald Trump, with a place. Before the mid-term elections Trump spent six days campaigning across the country, and at most of the rallies the visual elements were so similar that it was impossible to say whether we were in Florida or Alaska. In this case, though, the context was obvious. We arrived at a rally in Montana and I noticed a group of Native Americans wearing traditional headdresses behind the podium. For me this was the picture of the day." Reuters President Trump: a year of high drama at home and abroad Reuters photographer Carlos Barria (Trump meets with supporters from a group called "Bikers for Trump" at the Trump National Golf Club in New Jersey) "President Trump likes to be celebrated by supporters, and none better than a group known as "Bikers for Trump," who visited him at Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, New Jersey, this summer. Unfortunately, it poured down that day and plans for an outdoor event gave way to a short visit inside the clubhouse for a group photo." Reuters President Trump: a year of high drama at home and abroad Reuters photographer Kevin Lamarque (A protester is removed during acting CIA Director Gina Haspel's testimony at her Senate Intelligence Committee confirmation hearing) "Just like sports, you have to follow the action. This time, I followed it out of the hearing room and into the hallway." Reuters President Trump: a year of high drama at home and abroad Reuters photographer Leah Millis (President Trump speaks at the International Association of Chiefs of Police Annual Convention) "I took this photograph as the pool was being ushered out to leave right before Trump's speech was supposed to end. These are the images we take after we have taken the literal, newsy ones." Reuters President Trump: a year of high drama at home and abroad Reuters photographer Kevin Lamarque (President Trump and Melania at the Flight 93 National Memorial) "A somber moment, this image came together because of the scale and symmetry of the wall panels and the people in the photo." Reuters President Trump: a year of high drama at home and abroad Reuters photographer Carlos Barria (US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo awaits the start of a news conference) "I always say that as photojournalists we photograph through the lens of the lives we live, including the books we read, the music we listen to, the movies we watch. As I was waiting for President Trump to arrive at an event one day, I noticed US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo standing right behind me in classic dark sunglasses. The image of John Belushi in the movie "The Blues Brothers" crossed my mind." Reuters President Trump: a year of high drama at home and abroad Reuters photographer Carlos Barria (President Trump speaks during the commemoration ceremony for Armistice Day at the Suresnes American Cemetery and Memorial in Paris) "During a recent visit to France and just days after a gunman opened fire at a Pittsburgh synagogue, President Trump visited a WWI cemetery to honor American soldiers. As he spoke, I noted a gravestone at a side angle Ã‘ a single Star of David in the middle of rows and rows of crosses. I felt in this moment, the image carried more meaning than the words." Reuters President Trump: a year of high drama at home and abroad Reuters photographer Leah Millis (Alex van der Zwaan goes through security at the US District Court after arriving for his sentencing) "Everyone has to go through security, no matter who you are. He seemed to embrace the inevitable as the woman with the wand asked him to turn around, facing him back towards the doors where many of the news media were still gathered." Reuters President Trump: a year of high drama at home and abroad Reuters photographer Carlos Barria (President Trump speaks at a campaign rally in Missouri) "In a last push before the mid-term elections, President Trump traveled for six consecutive days, attending two or three rallies a day, to boost Republican candidates. Most of the rallies were held in airport hangars for an easy flight in and out. Sometimes, the rallies were held in the middle of the night, like this one at Columbia Regional Airport in Columbia, Missouri." Reuters President Trump: a year of high drama at home and abroad Reuters photographer Jonathan Ernst (President Trump holds his prepared questions as he hosts a listening session with high school students and teachers to discuss school safety at the White House) "This event was loaded with raw emotion as school shooting victims from across the country described their experience as student-survivors or as friends and family who never stop mourning dead children. President Trump was given a hand-written card by one of his aides to help him navigate the emotional meeting, and pictures of the card helped tell the story of the day." Reuters President Trump: a year of high drama at home and abroad Reuters photographer Carlos Barria (President Trump behind the reflection of a House chamber railing as Trump delivers his State of the Union address to a joint session of the US Congress) "The State of the Union speech is one of the most important political events at the beginning of the year. We usually photograph it from several fixed positions, but this year I was assigned to be the 'rotating' photographer, meaning I could move around on the balcony and shoot from different angles, but only during short windows of time. During one of those windows, I found an interesting play of light reflected off a gold-colored railing, which, at a certain angle, could be seen to fall over the president." Reuters President Trump: a year of high drama at home and abroad Reuters photographer Jonathan Ernst (President Trump arriving at Nashville International Airport) "One of my favorite photographers, Sam Abell, likes to quote his father: "Bad weather makes good pictures." In addition to the weather, the controlled chaos of White House press handlers and Secret Service agents help make pictures like this possible." Reuters President Trump: a year of high drama at home and abroad Reuters photographer Leah Millis (White House Communications Director Hope Hicks leaves after attending the House Intelligence Committee closed door meeting) "This is the product of about seven hours of waiting and lots of team work involving constant coordination to guess where to wait in order to capture Hope Hicks as she left the hill. Luckily, there were several cameramen along for the moment and their lighting captured her perfectly." Reuters

Later, the candidate told George Stephanopoulos on ABC: “He’s not going into Ukraine, OK, just so you understand. He’s not going to go into Ukraine, all right? You can mark it down. You can put it down. You can take it anywhere you want.”

As the presidential campaign reached its climax, Mr Trump was more ambiguous, telling a rally on 5 October: “I don’t love, I don’t hate. We’ll see how it works. We’ll see. Maybe we’ll have a good relationship. Maybe we’ll have a horrible relationship. Maybe we’ll have a relationship right in the middle.”

Accused by Democratic rival Hillary Clinton at the third presidential debate on 19 October of being Russia’s puppet, he responded: “No puppet. You’re the puppet.”

2017

Since securing his shock election victory, President Trump has been much more cautious about even mentioning the Russian leader although he has continued to be asked about him.

Bill O’Reilly wondered whether he considered President Putin “a killer” on 16 February 2017, provoking the surprising answer: “There are a lot of killers. Do you think our country is so innocent? Do you think our country is so innocent?”

Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin meet at G20 summit

The presidents spoke on the phone in April regarding the St Petersburg subway attack and in May on strategy in Syria before meeting at the G20 in Hamburg, Germany, on 7 July. Twelve days later, he assured CBS he “would hold Putin responsible” if election meddling could be proved.

Asked about Russia’s human rights record on 60 Minutes on 15 October and whether the Putin adminstration had ordered the Sergei Skripal poisoning in the UK, Mr Trump said, “probably... but it’s not our country”.

Donald Trump admits Vladimir Putin 'probably' involved in poisonings 'but it's not in our country'

They met again in person at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Meeting in Da Nang, Vietnam, on 11 November and Mr Trump addressed the election meddling accusations by saying: “Every time he sees me he says, ‘I didn’t do that,’ and I really believe that when he tells me that, he means it. I think he is very insulted by it, which is not a good thing for our country.”

2018

President Trump was explicitly briefed by aides not to congratulate his Russian counterpart on his re-election victory over suspicions about the fairness of the contest, but ignored them and called up the Kremlin to do exactly that on 20 March.

He was criticised for his performance when the pair met for a bilateral summit in Helsinki, Finland, in July 2018, having pledged to ask the American people about the interference allegations while warning there would be no “gotcha” moment.

Putin says he had to tell Trump several times that he did not interfere in US election

“All I can do is ask the question – my people came to me, Dan Coats [director of national intelligence] came to me and some others, they said they think it’s Russia,” he said.

“I have President Putin here, he just said it’s not Russia. I will say this, I don’t see any reason why it would be but I really want to see the server but, I have confidence in both parties.”

The naval crisis in the Kirch Strait in November found Mr Trump caught in a difficult position and his response was non-commital: “We do not like what’s happening either way. We don’t like what’s happening, and hopefully it will get straightened out.” He subsequently cancelled a proposed meeting between the pair at the G20 in Argentina.