MOSCOW (Reuters) – The Kremlin denied on Friday an assertion by a former senior U.S. White House official that Russian President Vladimir Putin thought he could play U.S. President Donald Trump “like a fiddle” and found it easy to manipulate him.
John Bolton, Trump’s former national security adviser, was quoted on Thursday by ABC News on Twitter saying “I think Putin thinks he can play him like a fiddle”.
Asked to comment on a conference call with reporters, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said “No, Putin can’t play Trump like a fiddle”.
(Reporting by Tom Balmforth; Editing by Catherine Evans)
