Trump Talks to Putin, Then Tells Governors to “Dominate” Protesters

Donald Trump has always admired leaders who lead with a strongman style. He has been complimentary of people like Recip Tayyip Erdogan, Kim Jong Un and Rodrigo Duterte. But the President has always maintained his strongest praise for Vladimir Putin of Russia.

The Kremlin revealed that Trump and Putin spoke on the phone on Monday morning. It can be assumed that the current unrest in the United States came up. Following the call between the two men, Trump made a call to the country’s Governors, urging them to “dominate protesters.”

Jesse Rodriguez of MSNBC tweeted, “The Kremlin has confirmed Pres Trump and Putin spoke today.” Writer Cheri Jacobus followed with, “first he spoke to Putin, then the governors.”

first he spoke to Putin, then the governors.

— Cheri Jacobus (@CheriJacobus) June 1, 2020

And according to people on the call, the President was quite aggressive. CBS News’ Ed O’Keefe reports that Trump said to the lawmakers, “You have to dominate, if you don’t dominate you’re wasting your time. They’re going to run over you, you’re going to look like a bunch of jerks. You have to dominate.”

Trump reportedly continued, “You’re making a mistake because you’re making yourselves look like fools. And some have done a great job. But a lot of you, it’s not – it’s not a great day for our country.”

And the President closed with further advice for the governors. “You know when other countries watch this, they’re watching this, the next day wow, they’re really a push over. And we can’t be a push over. And we have all the resources – it’s not like we don’t have the resources. So, I don’t know what you’re doing.”

TRUMP ADDS: "You know when other countries watch this, they’re watching this, the next day wow, they’re really a push over. And we can’t be a push over. And we have all the resources – it’s not like we don’t have the resources. So, I don’t know what you’re doing."

— Ed O'Keefe (@edokeefe) June 1, 2020