Trump praises Putin for not expelling US diplomats

President-elect Trump praised President Putin for not retaliating against the US's expulsion of 35 Russian diplomats.

US President-elect Donald Trump on December 30 used his personal Twitter to praise Russian President Vladimir Putin for not "retaliating" against the US for expelling 35 diplomats and closing two Russian facilities in New York and Maryland on December 29, according to Independent.

"Great delay by Putin. I always knew he was smart," Trump wrote.

US President-elect Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin. Photo: Proud Liberal

Putin made it clear that he could react further, but he did not reduce Russia to the level of interfering in diplomatic “kitchen” affairs. Moscow’s next steps depend on what Mr. Trump does when he takes office on January 20.

Trump said on December 29 that the US needs to focus on more important issues than believing in the reports of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). Trump once said the CIA was wrong in claiming that Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein possessed weapons of mass destruction, so accusations of Russian hackers interfering in the US election cannot be trusted.

US authorities on December 30 seized two “luxury resorts” where Russian diplomats went swimming, boating and relaxing. They included a 40-acre villa in Maryland along the Corsican River that the Soviet Union bought in 1972 for its diplomatic staff living near Washington.

The second facility seized was a mansion on Gold Coast, Long Island, New York, purchased by the Soviet Union in 1952. Russian diplomats left the two facilities at noon on December 30 under the supervision of US State Department agents.

According to VNE