Trump has kept a toe in foreign policy since he left the White House, talking not just to Russian President Vladimir Putin — whom he has reportedly 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 discussed 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.
