- Vladimir Putin said Donald Trump was upset in 2020 because he thought Putin wanted Joe Biden to win.
- Putin said Trump accused him of wanting "Sleepy Joe to win."
- Last month, Putin expressed his preference for a second Biden term over a Donald Trump win in 2024.
Russian leader Vladimir Putin said former President Donald Trump was upset with him in 2020 over his supposed preference for President Joe Biden in that year's election.
"Here's what's curious. Even in his last year as president, Trump, who is a presidential candidate today, reproached me for the fact that I like Biden," Putin said in an interview with the state-owned television channel Russia-1 on Wednesday.
"This was more than four years ago. He told me in one of our conversations, 'You want him to win.' Excuse me, I'll say it like he did, it's just direct speech, 'You want Sleepy Joe to win.' He told me this when he was still president," Putin continued.
Putin shared the anecdote after he was asked about his earlier remarks about Biden and Trump in a separate interview that aired last month. The Russian leader said previously that he'd prefer Biden to win the 2024 presidential race instead of Trump.
"Biden, he's more experienced, more predictable, he's a politician of the old formation," Putin said in February.
But Trump didn't seem unhappy when Putin expressed his preference for a second Biden term. The GOP presidential candidate said Putin's remark was a "great compliment" to him.
"President Putin of Russia has just given me a great compliment, actually," Trump told rallygoers in South Carolina last month, per ABC News. "He just said that he would much rather have Joe Biden as president than Trump."
"He doesn't want to have me. He wants Biden because he's going to be given everything he wants, including Ukraine," Trump said then.
When asked about Putin's remarks, a representative for the Trump campaign told Business Insider that Putin is endorsing Biden "because he wants another four years of a weakened America."
To be sure, a Biden victory would not necessarily be a boost to Putin's fortunes in the Ukraine war. Under the Biden administration, the US has channeled more than $44 billion in military assistance to Ukraine since Russia's invasion began in February 2022.
Republicans have also blocked further military assistance to Ukraine as it grapples with dwindling ammunition supplies.