Former New York City Police detective Bo Dietl does not see any harm in President Donald Trump congratulating Russian President Vladimir Putin for his election win because it is important to "keep your enemies close."
During an appearance on Newsmax TV's "Newsmax Now," Dietl addressed the topic that has made headlines since Trump and Putin spoke on the phone Tuesday.
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"Nothing wrong with him congratulating Putin," Dietl said. "We have to work with our enemies. You keep your enemies close, because we don't want to have a nuclear arms race with Russia again. We want to be able to talk to each other and we can tell them what we don't like.
"And the president, when the time comes, will say, 'Mr. Putin, we found out you guys were eavesdropping on our elections. I know we do that kind of stuff too, but maybe we can have a truce line.' That's Donald Trump, how he will talk."
Critics, including Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., said Trump should not have congratulated Putin on winning a fourth term because of Russia's aggressive actions — meddling in the U.S. presidential election, its military moves in Ukraine, allegations its government was behind a recent nerve agent attack in Great Britain, and others.
According to a White House leak, West Wing officials did not want Trump to congratulate Putin during the call.
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