Donald Trump Reacts After Putin ‘Endorsed’ Kamala Harris

Donald Trump said he doesn’t know “what to say” following Russian President Vladimir Putin’s apparent tongue-in-cheek endorsement of Kamala Harris in the 2024 election.
Putin told an economic forum in Russia that since President Joe Biden endorsed Harris after ending his reelection campaign, the Kremlin will “do the same; we will support her.”
“She laughs so expressively and infectiously that it means that everything is fine with her,” Putin added, which was seen as meaning Harris would not impose further sanctions on Russia amid its invasion of Ukraine.
Both Putin and the event moderator were smiling after the Russian president gave the wry backing of Harris, Reuters reported.
Trump appeared to show mixed emotions while discussing Putin’s comments at the Economic Club of New York on Thursday.
“Putin came out today; he endorsed Kamala,” Trump said. “And I didn’t know, was I supposed to call him up and say ‘thank you very much; I appreciate it?’ But he endorsed Kamala—I don’t know—I don’t know exactly what to say about that. I don’t know if I’m insulted or if he did me a favor.”
Newsweek reached out to Harris’ campaign team via email for comment.
Trump frequently touts his strong relationship with Putin as a positive, including suggesting Russia would never have invaded Ukraine if he was still in the White House.
Trump was also heavily condemned for praising Putin for the steps he took ahead of the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 as “genius” and “very savvy.”
Rebekah Koffler, a former Defense Intelligence Agency officer and author of Putin’s Playbook, said people should not take the Russian leader’s comments on Harris at face value.
“The Russians don’t really endorse anyone in the traditional sense. When it comes to preference, Putin and his regime prefer Kamala to deal with as a future U.S. president,” Koffler told Fox News Digital.
“Putin believes that he can manipulate Harris easily, unlike Trump, whom the Russians profiled as unpredictable and difficult to read,” she said.
“By issuing these statements, the Russians are just messing with us, specifically with the Harris team,” Koffler added. “It’s a classic influence operation to unbalance your adversary by mocking, teasing, and pleasing them, or rather, appearing to please.”
During his talk, Putin added that “ultimately, the choice is up to the American people, and we will respect that choice.”
The comments drew a strong rebuke from the White House.
“Mr. Putin ought to stop talking about our elections, period. He shouldn’t be favoring anybody one way or another,” John Kirby, the White House’s national security communications adviser, told reporters.
“The only people who should get to determine who the next president of the United States is is the American people. And we would greatly appreciate it if Mr. Putin would A, stop talking about our election and B, stop interfering in it.”
U.S. intelligence has determined that Russia intervened in the 2016 election by seeking to undermine Trump’s democratic challenger Hillary Clinton’s campaign. The Kremlin has long denied such allegations.