A million books, a dozen operas and even a Broadway show may end up being written about the relationship between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin.

The US president has repeatedly refused to criticise him and even heaped praise. Despite that, Mr Trump tweeted that “I don’t know Putin, have no deals in Russia, and the haters are going crazy”.

However, one person responded to Mr Trump’s tweet with a link to a video from 2013 in which Mr Trump was interviewed on MSNBC about his relationship with the Russian leader.

In that interview, journalist Thomas Roberts, pointed out that the rapport between Barack Obama and Mr Putin was tense. He then asked if Mr Trump had any sort of relationship - “a conversational relationship” - with the Russian leader.

“I do have a relationship, and I can tell you that he’s very interested in what we're doing here today, Mr Trump said. “He’s probably very interested in what you and I am saying today, and I’m sure he's going to be seeing it in some form.”

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He added: “But I do have relationship with him and I think it’s very interesting to see what is happening. Look, he has done a very brilliant job, in terms of the what he represents and who he is representing.”

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He said that when it came to the situation in Syria and on a range of other issues, Mr Putin had performed very well. “He’s eaten our president’s lunch. He has put Russia at the forefront of the world.”

Mr Trump for weeks refused to accept a conclusion by US intelligence that Russia had tried to influence the outcome of the presidential election in favour of the New York tycoon. He has repeatedly talked of his desire to reset relations with Moscow and said it would be a benefit for the world if the US and Russia got on better.

At the same time, Mr Trump has declined to comment on human rights abuses in Russia, or condemn Russian expansionism, in places such as Crimea or eastern Ukraine.

Earlier this week, Mr Trump sparked controversy during an interview on Fox News when host Bill O’Reilly called Mr Putin a “killer”.

“There are a lot of killers. We got a lot of killers, what, you think our country is so innocent,” said Mr Trump.