OSAKA, JAPAN – JUNE, 28, Trump points to Putin during bilateral summit on G20 Osaka summit … [+]
Donald Trump wrote a personal letter to Vladimir Putin in 2007, congratulating the Russian president on being named “Person of the Year” in TIME magazine, according to a nearly 1,000-page report released by the U.S. Senate Select Committee on Intelligence on Tuesday.
“Dear President Putin,” the letter began. “Congratulations on the name ‘Man of the Year’ from Time magazine – you really deserve it. As you have probably heard, I’m a big fan of yours! Take care of yourself. With best wishes, From the bottom of my heart, Donald J. Trump. The future US president put his famous signature on the letter with a thick marker, which he also uses to underline the words “I’m a big fan of yours!”
The U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee has released a report including this 2007 letter from … [+]
Trump has long had an interest in Russia, where he has pursued several potential projects. “The idea came to me after I had lunch with Soviet Ambassador Yuri Dubinin,” Trump said in his 1987 bestseller The Art of the Deal. Even during the 2016 campaign, Trump continued to hunt down a potentially intangible asset in Moscow, with his colleagues working on the plans while pursuing the presidency.
Trump has also long been interested in TIME’s “Person of the Year” designation. In 2015, when his presidential campaign drew headlines from almost every major outlet in the country, he complained that TIME had chosen Angela Merkel as the person of the year. “I told you @TIME Magazine would never pick me as Person of the Year despite being the big favorite,” Trump tweeted. “They have chosen person to ruin Germany.”
The following year, Trump thought the TIME editors would select the right person. “Thank you so much to Time Magazine and Financial Times for naming me ‘Person of the Year’ – a great honor!” hy tweeted.
The following year, however, he left, once again, frustrated: “Time Magazine called to say I would be named PROBABY as ‘Man of the Year’, like last year, but I would have to agree to an interview and a big photo shoot. I probably said no and took a pass. Thank you! ”
