WASHINGTON — Former President Donald Trump has kept a toe in foreign policy since he left the White House, talking not just to Russian President Vladimir Putin — whom he reportedly has spoken to seven times since he left office, a revelation that has raised eyebrows.
At his homes in Manhattan and Palm Beach, Florida, foreign delegations from Israel and Ukraine have sat opposite Trump and his campaign staffers as if they were holding a bilateral meeting — then shared remarks before a bank of news cameras, a set-up that evokes some of the trappings of a state visit.
Staying tapped into foreign policy allows Trump to argue that he could easily slide back into office, but it also carries risk for Trump, who faced criticism while he was in office for his close ties to Russia and complaints about how talkative he was with other leaders.
In office, Trump reveled in his one-on-one interactions with other leaders, and he argued in a speech at a rally Wednesday that having an open dialogue helped cut bring hostile adversaries down to size. Asked about those relationships in a podcast interview, Trump said, “The tougher they were, the better I did with them,” adding that it was a good thing he got along with Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping. “The other ones are easy to handle,” he said.
For years, Trump has argued that he would end the war in Ukraine — a point that Democratic Party critics say would require Ukraine’s complete surrender to Russia — and return American journalist Evan Gershkovich even before he was sworn back into office. Gershkovich, a Wall Street Journal reporter, was held by the Russian government on false charges of espionage and released after the Biden administration negotiated a large prisoner swap.
Trump’s insistence that he could have gotten Gershkovich released drew skepticism this year, particularly because U.S. law prohibits civilians from engaging in foreign policy without the government’s permission, and there had been no indication that Trump was communicating with the Biden administration’s blessing.
A new account details his purported communication with Putin, whom, according to journalist Bob Woodward’s forthcoming book, “War,” Trump spoke to since he left office “maybe as many as seven” times, including earlier this year, when, the book says, a senior aide said they were left to loiter outside his Mar-a-Lago office after Trump shooed them out of the room. Trump has denounced the account as “wrong.”
Trump’s relationship with Putin has stoked criticism from his political adversaries, and allegations of phone calls — barely four weeks out from Election Day — have offered Democrats a hook.
But Putin is not the only foreign leader Trump is talking to. And it is hardly unusual for a presidential nominee to begin holding some talks with foreign leaders.
Trump has hosted foreign leaders at both of his homes, including recently having British Prime Minister Keir Starmer for dinner and hosting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy for the first time in five years. At other times, he has spoken by phone, including with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in an impromptu call this spring, or with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu last week, as Iran launched a hail of missiles at Israel.
In a new memoir published Tuesday, Melania Trump detailed how her family has maintained a friendship with the British royals into their post-White House life and exchanges letters with King Charles “to this day.” At the Republican National Convention this summer, foreign officials courted Trump and his allies with abandon.
After the first attempt to assassinate Trump, in July, foreign leaders quickly moved to offer him their well-wishes. On Truth Social, Trump posted a letter he received from Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.
Trump and Polish President Andrzej Duda sat down in New York in April as Duda sought to underscore the urgency of Washington’s support for Ukraine.
Trump has hosted Netanyahu and his wife, Sara, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, former Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso and former British Prime Minister David Cameron when he was the U.K.’s foreign secretary.
A U.S. official said that while there may be some annoyance about Trump’s meetings with foreign leaders, the administration understands the dynamic and recognizes that it routinely meets with opposition leaders in foreign countries and welcomes them at home.
Some Trump contacts, such as Orbán or Putin, give more pause.
But for the most part, Trump’s tête-à-têtes remain minor irritants and are viewed as aboveboard — provided he refrains from any policymaking.
Other former officials say the conversations have long been worthwhile given Trump’s standing in the polls.
“It’s smart to reach out to the Republicans. It’s smart to reach out to Trump world,” said Daniel Fried, a top U.S. diplomat on European affairs for former Presidents Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack Obama. He was the ambassador to Poland in the Clinton administration.
Of America’s European allies, he added, “I’ve especially encouraged them to do so.”
Fried said the conversations are useful to “get past a lot of abrasive rhetoric.” And “in a lot of cases, they’re going into the substance,” he said, explaining that Trump’s onetime foreign counterparts are making the case to him that they are buying American weapons and doing their part and are “not just a bunch of freeloaders.”
Keith Kellogg, a foreign policy adviser to Trump who would most likely be considered for a Cabinet role should Trump win, said he advises officials searching for insight to simply pick up the phone and get Trump on the line. (Trump’s campaign has emphasized that any discussion of whom Trump may appoint in a second term is not final.)
However, Fried said Trump’s alleged calls with Putin are different. For one thing, Trump has never publicized the alleged calls — unlike other meetings and conversations that were disclosed almost immediately.
“If true, it does explain a possible basis for Trump’s staggering confidence in his own abilities to work things out with Putin, a confidence that seems ill-placed,” Fried said. “We know from Putin’s relationship with other leaders that he is a master of playing to their desires, fears.”
He’s not alone in voicing skepticism. “It’s really weird that a former president now running for the office again would keep these lines of communication active and open,” said Brian Katulis, a senior fellow and vice president of policy at the Middle East Institute, and more so given what he said was Trump’s “poor record of handling very sensitive classified information.”
Katulis was referring to the trove of classified documents Trump kept from his time in office that have become the subject of a criminal case, many of them about his communications with foreign leaders. Trump has denied any wrongdoing.
Katulis called it “a U.S. counterintelligence officer’s worst nightmare” and said: “Americans serving in U.S. national security lost a lot of sleep during Trump’s first term when he was careless in sharing classified information with adversaries like Russia.” That purported record, he said , “risks getting people killed.”
The allegations in Woodward’s book come just weeks before Election Day, but friends and foe alike say they appear unlikely to blunt Trump’s chances.
“In an ordinary election environment, these stories would cause serious damage,” he said. “In today’s America, half of the voters will probably shrug their shoulders, and the other half will point their fingers in accusation.”
Said a Trump ally about whether the relations would register with voters: “The people we are trying to reach don’t even know who Woodward is.”
Speaking at a rally this week, Trump defended his dialogue with hostile leaders and said it was effective for delivering progress from intractable situations.
“Biden, he said, ‘Oh, that’s a tough situation in North Korea,’” Trump said, drawing a contrast with his successor and adding that for him, it was “no problem.”
“I got along with him very good; a little rough at the start, right? Remember Little Rocket Man?” Trump continued. “Remember when he said, ‘I have a red button on my desk?’ That was a very threatening sound, ‘I have a red button on my desk.’ I said, ‘I have a red button on mine, too, but mine’s much bigger. Mine works.’ And then he called me, and he asked for a meeting, and we had a meeting.”
In a statement, Trump’s campaign said foreign leaders see Trump as poised to return to office and want to ensure their ties to him are strong.
“World leaders want to speak and meet with President Trump because they know he will soon be returning to the White House and will restore peace around the globe,” said Karoline Leavitt, the campaign’s national press secretary.
For now, Trump’s campaign isn’t saying much more about the contents of his calls. A spokesperson said the campaign had “nothing to add” after communications director Steven Cheung attacked Woodward’s reports alleging calls with Putin and said the book comprised “made-up stories.” The book also details an apparent gift of Covid-19 testing equipment that Trump reportedly gave Putin during the pandemic, a claim the Kremlin says is true. Trump called the reporting “wrong” in a Newsmax interview Tuesday.
