Trump defends Putin over journalist death

"If Putin says I'm brilliant and some very nice things, accept on behalf of our country, because it is good for us to relate well with Russia," said mogul

After being called "brilliant" by the Russian president this week, the American tycoon Donald Trump returned the favor and defended Vladimir Putin on Sunday of charges that would be responsible for the death of a journalist.

"If Putin says I'm brilliant and some very nice things, accept on behalf of our country, because it is good for us to relate well with Russia," said Trump, in an interview with ABC.

In the same interview, Trump still has a long defense of the president, after the journalist George Stephanopoulos said Putin was suspicious death of Russian investigative reporter Anna Politkovskaya in 2006.

"There were accusations of course I've seen, but no one has proved that he killed people," said Donald Trump.

"To be fair to Putin, you say you killed people. Not that I'm concerned. I do not know if you did it. Can you prove it? You know the names of the journalists he killed him?" He insisted.

"I think it would be terrible if he had done it, but I saw no evidence that he killed any journalist," he added.

"And in fact, he denies totally killing journalists. He denies completely," said Trump.

The exchange of friendly words between Putin and Trump is an unusual fact in the United States - even more involved by Republicans. In general, this refers to the Russian party leader as the worst enemy of the United States internationally and accuses Democratic President Barack Obama of having a passive attitude in relation to conflicts of Ukraine and Syria.

Apparently dismayed, Mitt Romney, Republican candidate defeated by Obama in the 2012 presidential election, corrected Trump on Twitter, writing: "important distinction: the bandit Putin kills journalists and opponents, our presidents kill terrorists and enemy combatants."

"Our influence diminishes in the world, and Putin increases. It is not an ally. It is a dictator," he said on Sunday Jeb Bush, brother and son of former presidents and Republican presidential candidate, which is quite behind Trump in surveys of voting intentions.


For months, the entrepreneur appears as favorite presidential candidate in the running of the Republican primaries for the presidential election in 2016.