US President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that he has no problem meeting with dictators as long as it’s “good for the United States”.
During a speech at the Economic Club in New York, Trump said, “When I meet with the leaders of countries as they come in — kings and queens and prime ministers and presidents and dictators — I meet ’em all.”
“Anybody wants to come in. Dictators? It’s OK. Come on in. Whatever’s good for the United States. We want to help our people”, Trump further said.
The President’s visits with dictators, as well as his praise of them, has proved controversial in the past. He referred to North Korea’s Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un as a “friend” in August, downplaying the extent to which the country was engaging in weapons testing.
Trump has also said that Saddam Hussein “did well” at killing terrorists at a campaign rally. “We would be so much better off”.
He said that if Muammar Gaddafi was in charge of Libya during the Republican presidential debates.
Trump took to Twitter and retweeted a quote from Benito Mussolini and said it was ok because “it’s a very interesting quote.
Ex-Presidents including Barack Obama met with dictators such as Ratil Castro, but Trump stood out in his occasional praise of specifical dictatorial leaders.