Trump praises 'very smart' Putin for not expelling U.S. diplomats in wake of Obama's sanctions for election-year 'hacking'
Intervention: The dramatic move by Trump puts him in the middle of the Cold War-style standoff Obama was having with Putin - and likely to be accused by Democrats of being too close to the Kremlin strongman
Donald Trump has praised Vladimir Putin for not retaliating against President's Obama's sanctions for Moscow's alleged hack of the presidential election.
In a dramatic intervention which puts him directly at odds with Obama, Trump said the Russian president is 'very smart.'
Putin had said he would keep his powder dry until Trump was in office, and seemed to go out of his way to praise America's president-elect in a New Year's message to world leaders.
Trump said in a tweet that it was a 'great move,' adding: 'I always knew he was very smart!'
He then tweeted later in the day: 'Russians are playing @CNN and @NBCNews for such fools - funny to watch, they don't have a clue! @FoxNews totally gets it!'
The official Twitter account of the Russian Embassy in Washington quickly retweeted the message.
In a dramatic intervention which puts him directly at odds with Obama, Trump said the Russian president is 'very smart.'
Putin had said he would keep his powder dry until Trump was in office, and seemed to go out of his way to praise America's president-elect in a New Year's message to world leaders.
Trump said in a tweet that it was a 'great move,' adding: 'I always knew he was very smart!'
He then tweeted later in the day: 'Russians are playing @CNN and @NBCNews for such fools - funny to watch, they don't have a clue! @FoxNews totally gets it!'
The official Twitter account of the Russian Embassy in Washington quickly retweeted the message.
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