During the last U.S. presidential election campaign, an assassination attempt was made on Donald Trump. Upon hearing the news, Russian President Vladimir Putin rushed to a local church to pray for Trump’s safety. This revelation was made by Steve Witkoff, a special representative of the Trump administration, in a podcast on March 21. The U.S. news outlet Politico reported the story.
Witkoff shared this information on a podcast hosted by former Fox News journalist Tucker Carlson. He mentioned that he had recently visited Moscow for the second time to negotiate a ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine. During the discussions, the topic of the assassination attempt on Trump last summer came up.
According to Witkoff, upon learning about Trump being shot, Putin immediately went to a church, met with the presiding priest, and prayed for Trump’s recovery. Witkoff described Trump and Putin as having a friendly relationship, which is why Putin was deeply concerned about Trump’s safety. After learning about Putin’s reaction, Trump reportedly became emotional.
In July last year, while addressing supporters in Butler, Pennsylvania, Trump was shot and wounded. At that time, a Kremlin spokesperson accused Trump’s political opponents of orchestrating the attack.
Witkoff also revealed that Putin had a famous Russian artist paint a portrait of Trump and gifted it to him.
Trump, in turn, has often praised Putin, calling him a “talented” and “skilled leader.” Critics have expressed concerns over Trump’s soft stance on Putin, but Trump has largely ignored such criticisms.
This week, Trump and Putin held a nearly two-hour phone conversation discussing the ongoing war in Ukraine. After the call, Trump described the discussion as “positive.”