He may well have been, but some Russian leaders did not seem to think so.

Sergei Aksyonov, leader of Russia's prized, annexed region of Crimea, wrote a Facebook post that took Trump at his word. And not only that, Aksyonov implied that Trump's remarks are a reflection of the American people's increasing pro-Russia sentiment. Trump probably made Aksyonov very happy when he also said, in the same Florida news conference, that he would consider recognizing Crimea as part of Russia, not Ukraine. Russia annexed Crimea in 2014.

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"Trump says only what his voters want to hear. This means there is a desire to improve ties with Russia in American society," Aksyonov wrote, according to the Russian state news agency TASS. "If part of the US political establishment, such as Trump, is ready to recognize the reality, we can only welcome this."

What Donald Trump is doing on the campaign trail share Share View Photos View Photos Next Image U.S. Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump speaks at a campaign event at Trump Doral golf course in Miami, Florida, U.S. July 27, 2016. REUTERS/Carlo Allegri (Carlo Allegri/Reuters)

Konstantin Kosachev, chairman of the International Affairs Committee of Russia's upper house of parliament, also took to Facebook to praise Trump's statements.

"Trump has repeatedly proven that he, like no one else, understands the public’s demand for a change in course, and the attitudes of a large part of voters who have grown tired of the Clintons and the Bushes," Kosachev wrote on his Facebook page. "The fact that a presidential candidate is speaking out in favor of improving relations with Russia means that similar sentiment is becoming more and more popular in US, and it can bring political points."

Russian officials at times can seem obsessed with the idea that the American public is obsessed with what Russia is up to. Polling numbers from early 2015 show that 70 percent of Americans actually have a negative view of Russian President Vladimir Putin. In those polls, Republicans have slightly more negative views than Democrats of Putin. Trump, however, has gone the opposite way in many statements over the years. He also said recently that Putin has far greater leadership skills than President Obama.

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Intelligence officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss an issue under investigation, said there is little doubt that agents of the Russian government hacked the Democratic National Committee. They said that it was not clear to them how those emails were passed along to the anti-secrecy site WikiLeaks but that the White House had been informed months ago of Moscow’s actions.

Trump's fellow Republicans were quick to try to douse the firestorm set off by their presidential nominee's comments encouraging the Russians' hacking of a U.S. political party.

His running mate, Indiana Gov. Mike Pence, warned of "serious consequences" if Russia interfered in the election. And a spokesman for House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R) said: “Russia is a global menace led by a devious thug. Putin should stay out of this election."

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Meanwhile, at the Kremlin, the reaction was largely one of bemusement.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, who has denied any Russian involvement in the hacking of the DNC email servers, said the allegations were a "vivid example of the use of anti-Russian sentiment for electoral purposes in the United States."

"We know perfectly well that candidates in the heat of a preelection struggle say one thing, but that later, when under the weight of responsibility, their rhetoric becomes more balanced," Peskov said.

Natasha Abukkumova in Moscow contributed to this report.