For over two years, Donald Trump has claimed that he doesn't have any ties back to Russia, especially in regards to the Kremlin's hacking of the 2016 presidential election. After the news broke that Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin recently took part in a private phone call, critics wasted no time firing back.

Putin and Trump

During the early stages of his campaign for president. questions were raised as to what link Donald Trump had to Russia. While the former host of "The Apprentice" found time to trash his political opponents and many world leaders, Trump refused to criticize Russia, while taking time to actually praise Vladimir Putin.

As the months moved on, speculation grew as many wondered if Trump was in cahoots with the Russian leader, which increased after he refused to release his tax returns, making him the first major political candidate not to do so in 40 years. Following Trump's election win over Hillary Clinton, various well-respected news outlets and government agencies confirmed that Russia hacked the election with a Trump victory as the goal. Trump and Russia have since denied any wrongdoing, though the current investigation into the interference has shown otherwise. As reported by the Washington Examiner on December 17, Putin recently called Trump to thank him for helping to stop a terrorist attack.

In a tweet sent out by White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders on Sunday morning, it was confirmed that Vladimir Putin called Donald Trump to personally thank him for information that led to preventing a terrorist attack in Russia.

According to the Associated Press, the information from the White House led to the arrest of seven suspected terrorists who have been linked to the Islamic State.

Twitter reacts

Once the news was made public of the conversation between the two world leaders, critics of Donald Trump wasted no time firing back.

"Did they hold each other? Was it a FaceTime thing?" Molly Jong-Fast tweeted out.

"Sarah, who hung up first?

Did they do one of those, "Okay, on the count of three" things?" Parker Molloy wrote. "Dontcha think it's weird you keep having to confirm that Trump and his BFF Russian dictator Putin have spoken?? No? Not at all? Like AT ALL weird??? Okay." another tweet read.

"Can you explain why we keep finding out about these calls and meetings from the Kremlin instead of the White House?" an additional tweet wondered.

"Another lie from @PressSec about Putin’s call. He actually asked @realDonaldTrump if he needed to be airlifted out of Washington and offered him asylum in Russia..." one Twitter user wrote with humor. The backlash to Trump and the Kremlin continued as the Russian investigation moves forward.
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