Trump Defends Putin, Claims Russian President Was 'Very Insulted' by G8 Expulsion: 'I Agree With Him'

President Donald Trump revealed that Russian President Vladimir Putin was offended by Russia's expulsion from the intergovernmental political forum G8 over a decade ago, going as far as to defend Putin.

Trump, alongside Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, stopped to speak to reporters in Canada ahead of the beginning of the Group of Seven (G7) summit.

"Putin speaks to me, he doesn't speak to anybody else, because he was very insulted when he got thrown out of the G8," Trump said. "He was thrown out by Trudeau, who convinced one or two people, along with Obama ... he doesn't even speak to the people who threw him out. And I agree with him."

Social media users took to online platforms to voice their disbelief at Trump's remarks.

"Btw, Russia was removed from the G8 not out of insult, but for invading Crimea, a violation of international law. And for context, economically, Russia doesn't belong in the G8: its GDP is smaller than Italy's, Canada's and Brazil's," wrote one user. "This isn't about Trudeau or Obama, it's about consequences for aggression. Trump siding with Putin says more about him than global diplomacy."

"Trump likes Russia more than our allies," said another.

"Dude, no one wants Russia back in after their public genocide and brutality. Is Trump developing amnesia?" said a third user.

"Imagine telling someone in 2012 that a future US president would go to Canada and take Putin's side because he felt bad that Russia got kicked out of the G8 for lawlessness," a fourth chimed in.

Trump took to his social media platform, Truth Social, to reveal that he had a legnthy phone call with the Russian President on Saturday.

"President Putin called this morning to very nicely wish me a Happy Birthday, but to more importantly, talk about Iran, a country he knows very well. We talked at length. Much less time was spent talking about Russia/Ukraine, but that will be for next week," Trump began.

"He is doing the planned prisoner swaps - large numbers of prisoners are being exchanged, immediately, from both sides. The call lasted approximately 1 hour. He feels, as do I, this war in Israel-Iran should end, to which I explained, his war should also end," he continued.