President Trump offered some candid and revealing thoughts on his Russian and Chinese counterparts Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping during a CBS 60 Minutes interview which aired Sunday.
Trump has not appeared on the program in a half-decade, but had much to say, especially regarding America’s two top ‘superpower’ rivals. He called Putin and Xi “very strong leaders” who are “tough” and “smart” but which are “not to be toyed with.”
When asked which of the two was more difficult to deal with, Trump replied “both”. He described they are “Both tough. Both smart. They’re both very strong leaders. These are people not to be toyed with” – and seemed conciliatory without going on the verbal attack.
He followed with more commentary which suggested a high degree of respect for them as leaders. “They’re serious people, not the type to walk in talking about how nice the weather is,” Trump conceded.
Trump also in the interview took the opportunity to reiterate that the Russia-Ukraine war would never have occurred under his leadership.
“That was a war that would’ve never happened if I was president,” he said, and then noted Putin had himself acknowledged this. “I inherited a country where Putin thinks he’s winning. Joe Biden was the president when it happened.”
It was at this point in the interview that Trump said he has “a very good relationship” with Putin while expressing hope that the US-Moscow relations can be turned around.
Despite setbacks, including the effective cancelation of the Budapest summit, Trump expressed he hopes to get a lasting truce in Ukraine “in a couple months” – though battlefield realities suggest this remains wishful thinking and not based in any solid developments toward peace or compromise.
“We’re gonna get it done… [Putin] wants to come in and he wants to trade with us, and he wants to make a lot of money for Russia, and I think that’s great,” Trump said.
As for China, one notable moment was addressing rare-earth minerals and potential tit-for-tat amid a trade war. “We got no rare-earth threat… We have tremendous amounts of dollars pouring in, because we have very big tariffs, almost 50%,” Trump explained.
Russian media has been taking note…
‘Putin & Xi NOT to be toyed with’ — Trump pic.twitter.com/PpS6bdjdUZ
— RT (@RT_com) November 3, 2025
This rhetoric from the president in the 60 Minutes interview seems a marked change compared to that of early September, wherein he said the following:
President Donald Trump accused Chinese President Xi Jinping on Tuesday of “conspiring against” the United States as North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and Russian President Vladimir Putin attended China’s military parade commemorating the end of World War II and victory over Japan.
“May President Xi and the wonderful people of China have a great and lasting day of celebration. Please give my warmest regards to Vladimir Putin, and Kim Jong Un, as you conspire against The United States of America,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
Still, the general vibe and tone of the fresh CBS appearance seemed a return to Trump as ‘peace president’ who is more interested in major deal-making around the globe as opposed to starting conflicts. However, we should note that Venezuela would certainly not agree with such a characterization of Washington policy at this point.
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