Donald Trump told Vladimir Putin he’d ‘act tough for cameras’, book claims
- Book by Stephanie Grisham, Trump’s ex-spokeswoman, coming out next week
- Excerpts offer details about former president’s meetings with Russian leader Putin
Former White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham’s book, I’ll Take Your Questions Now, obtained ahead of publication by The Washington Post, reveals a much more nuanced relationship between Trump and Putin than previous reports portrayed.
According to Grisham, Putin used tricks to try to trigger and intimidate Trump at their meeting at the G20 summit in Osaka, Japan. Trump, on the other hand, was far less stern off-camera than he presented to the American public and media.
Grisham said she saw Trump lean in to tell Putin at the summit: “OK, I’m going to act a little tougher with you for a few minutes. But it’s for the cameras, and after they leave, we’ll talk. You understand.” The discussion at hand was regarding sanctions against Russia for interfering in the 2016 election and for various human rights abuses.
Earlier this summer, Trump said of his relationship with Putin: “I got along great with President Putin. I liked him. He liked me.”
