Trump: I could have 'very good relationship' with Putin At a joint news conference with Baltic leaders, the president said 'getting along with Russia is a good thing.'

President Donald Trump on Tuesday said he might get along quite well with Russian President Vladimir Putin — or that he might not.

“I think I could have a very good relationship with President Putin,” Trump said. “There is also a great possibility that that won't happen. Who knows, OK?”


Speaking at a White House joint news conference with the presidents of three Baltic states, Trump boasted that “nobody has been tougher on Russia," but insisted more open lines of communication between himself and the controversial Russian leader would benefit the U.S.

“I think we'll be able to have great dialogue, I hope,” Trump said. "Getting along with Russia would be a good thing, not a bad thing."

He added: "And just about everybody agrees to that, except very stupid people."

The comments come after White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said in a statement Monday that Trump and Putin had “discussed a bilateral meeting in the ‘not-too-distant future’” after their most recent phone conversation, and that the White House was one possible venue.

It was during that same March 20 phone call that Trump congratulated the Russian leader on his reelection, despite deep skepticism about the integrity of the Russian election process. The warm words further stoked criticism that Trump is overly cozy with Putin, even as special counsel Robert Mueller continues to probe whether Trump's campaign colluded with Russians trying to meddle in the 2016 election.

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Trump on Tuesday said the U.S. will look to strengthen business ties with the three Baltic states — Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia — during the White House summit, remarks that comes as their leaders have called on the president to take a tougher stance against Putin and bolster U.S. defenses against Russia in NATO’s eastern bloc.

The three states, along with the U.S., moved to impose sanctions on Russia in response to the assassination attempt against ex-spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter in England last month, an attack that foreign officials have largely linked to the Kremlin. As part of the international response, the Trump administration last week announced plans to expel 60 Russian diplomatic officials believed to be spies following a nerve agent attack against Skripal.

Despite diplomatic actions by his administration, the president has yet to forcefully condemn Putin and Moscow for the attack.

Addressing reporters alongside Presidents Kersti Kaljulaid of Estonia, Dalia Grybauskaite of Lithuania, and Raimonds Vejonis of Latvia, the U.S. leader praised the Baltic states for their contributions toward NATO defense spending, while arguing other nations had been "delinquent" in supporting the alliance. Trump also vowed to deepen economic ties between their nations.

“The Baltic countries remain a key market for U.S. aircraft, automobiles, machinery and medical equipment, and we welcome increased bilateral trade with all three nations based on the principle of fairness and reciprocity,” Trump told the foreign leaders.

Representatives from the Department of Commerce and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce are slated to host Baltic political and business leaders at a summit Tuesday, a meeting Trump said he hopes will “expand the mutual trade and investment between our nations.”

