"Both cruel and smart". Trump speaks about Xi, Putin and the red carpet in Alaska

U.S. President Donald Trump commented on rolling out the red carpet for Russian dictator Vladimir Putin during a meeting in Alaska and called him and Chinese leader Xi Jinping "people you can't play with." He said this in the 60 Minutes program on CBS News.

When asked who was harder to deal with-Putin or Xi-Trump replied: "Both are tough. Both are smart. Both... Listen, they are both very strong leaders. You can't play with these people. These are people who need to be taken very seriously. They don't... they don't come in and say: "Oh, isn't it a great day? Look how beautiful it is. The sun is shining, it's so nice." These are serious people. These are people who are tough, smart leaders.".

Commenting on rolling out the red carpet in front of Putin, he said he was rolling it out "for everyone.".

• Trump and Putin met in Alaska on August 15. This meeting was a "de-isolation" of the Russian dictator.
• At the time, Trump rated the almost three-hour meeting with Putin as "10 out of 10" and changed his mind about imposing sanctions on Russia. Although no agreements were reached.
• However, on October 22, the United States imposed sanctions against major Russian oil companies Rosneft and Lukoil and called on Moscow to immediately agree to a ceasefire.