Trump praises Putin, Xi as very smart people

US ex-President Donald Trump praised Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese leader Xi Jinping as very smart people.

"He [incumbent US President Joe Biden] can't put two sentences together. And he's representing us on nuclear weapons with Putin and Xi and all of these very smart people. Media hates when I say they're smart, but let me tell you, they're very smart and they're very cunning," Trump told his supporters in Iowa, according to footage by Fox News, TASS reports.

Earlier, Trump said he gets along very well with Putin as he reiterated that the Ukraine crisis would have never escalated, had he been US president.

Trump is the most likely Republican candidate to run for presidency in November. He has repeatedly said that bringing charges against him is an attempt to interfere in the election on the part of the Biden administration. Trump also views the incumbent US leader as the most corrupt and incompetent president in US history.