Former Trump administration officials are speaking out about more of the president’s phone calls with foreign leaders. The gist of the conversations were relayed anonymously to The Washington Post. The leaks come after a partial transcript of Donald Trump’s call with the president of Ukraine led to an impeachment inquiry.
Among the calls reported by the Post:
- Donald Trump reportedly “fawned over Russian President Vladimir Putin, telling the man who ordered interference in America’s 2016 election that he was a great leader and apologizing profusely for not calling him sooner.“
- In a separate call with Putin, Trump also asked the former KGB agent how to best forge a friendship with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
- Trump spoke to Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte and told him he was doing an “unbelievable job on the drug problem.” Duterte has been accused or overseeing a brutal campaign that has led to thousands of extrajudicial killings of suspected drug dealers.
- And, according to the Post, “[Trump] pestered Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe for help in recommending him for a Nobel Prize, according to an official familiar with the call.“