Mark Wilson/Getty Images Trump on Giuliani: ‘Rudy’s great, but Rudy is Rudy’

President Donald Trump on Friday brushed aside a question over whether his personal attorney Rudy Giuliani is causing headaches, saying Giuliani is “doing a very good job,” but added “Rudy is Rudy.”

Giuliani, the former New York City mayor who joined Trump’s legal team to help deal with the federal probe into Russian election meddling in 2016 and ties to the Trump campaign, has grabbed headlines in recent weeks with a string of bombastic statements.


Giuliani stoked controversy earlier this week when said he did not hold the same respect for adult film actress and producer Stormy Daniels, who says she was paid to keep quiet about a sexual relationship with Trump in 2006, as he did for women in other professions.

Asked whether he was concerned about the former New York City official’s public comments, Trump voiced approval for Giuliani’s job performance.

“Look, Rudy’s great, but Rudy is Rudy,” Trump told reporters outside the White House on Friday. “But Rudy is doing a very good job, actually. He’s doing a very good [job].”

Pressed on Giuliani’s remarks about Daniels, Trump added, “I'm not going to disagree with him on that.”

During an event in Tel Aviv earlier this week, Giuliani disparaged Daniels’ work as a pornographic actress.

"I respect all human beings. I even have to respect criminals. But I'm sorry, I don't respect a porn star the way I respect a career women or a women of substance or a woman who has great respect for herself as a women and as a person and isn't going to sell her body for sexual exploitation," the attorney said.

The remarks earned a swift rebuke from Michael Avenatti, the attorney representing Daniels in the case over her non-disclosure agreement with Michael Cohen, Trump’s longtime personal attorney who allegedly paid her $130,000 to keep quiet about the affair.

Giuliani also drew attention at the same event for commenting that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un got “on his hands and knees and begged” for Trump to relaunch their historic summit in Singapore next week. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Thursday Giuliani does not speak for the Trump administration on the matter when asked about the remarks.