‘Putin is a better leader than Obama’: Trump

ABC
Sep 09, 2016, updated Sep 09, 2016

Donald Trump's tax returns were a flashpoint of the election campaign. Photo: AAP

Donald Trump has declared that Russia’s Vladimir Putin has been a better leader than United States President Barack Obama, as the Republican presidential nominee used a televised forum to argue that he’s best equipped to reassert the US’s global leadership.

Mr Putin is “very much of a leader,” Mr Trump said in a televised interview, where he and Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton were separately grilled over their national security and military credentials.

Mr Trump has made no secret of his admiration for Mr Putin, who last year praised the US businessman as “very outstanding”.

Mr Putin “has very strong control over a country,” Mr Trump said.

“It’s a very different system, and I don’t happen to like the system.

“But certainly in that system he’s been a leader, far more than our president has been a leader.”

Mr Trump’s praise of Mr Putin and his suggestion that the United States and Russia form an alliance to defeat Islamic State (IS) militants could raise eyebrows among foreign policy experts, who feel Moscow is interfering with efforts to stem the Syrian civil war.

Trump praised Putin for his control of Russia. Photo: ABC

“If he says great things about me, I’m going to say great things about him,” Mr Trump said of Mr Putin.

Mr Trump called Mr Obama “the founder of ISIS” in stump speeches several weeks ago.

The statement drew broad criticism, prompting him to take a more disciplined approach to campaigning.

Trump ‘wacky’ and ‘uninformed’: Obama

Speaking in Laos, Mr Obama lashed Mr Trump as “wacky” and “uninformed” after the comments.

Mr Obama said that every time Mr Trump spoke it became clearer that the Republican was not qualified to be president.

“I don’t think the guy’s qualified to be president of the United States and every time he speaks, that opinion is confirmed.”

“I can tell you from the interactions I have had over the last eight or nine days (at the ASEAN and G20 summits) with foreign leaders that this is serious business.

“You actually have to know what you are talking about and you actually have to have done your homework. When you speak, it should actually reflect thought-out-policy you can implement.”

– with the BBC