Former US President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump praised the authoritarian leaders of Russia and China during a campaign rally in Grand Rapids, Michigan on July 20.

The speech was Trump’s first campaign event since surviving an assassination attempt at a rally in Pennsylvania on July 14.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping are “smart, tough” leaders who “love their country,” Trump said during a lengthy speech.

The remarks are similar to comments Trump made shortly after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. At a rally in March 2022, weeks after the invasion, he praised Putin’s intelligence.

“They asked me if Putin is smart. Yes, Putin was smart,” Trump said.

During the July 20 meeting, Trump claimed that Xi had approached him with words of support after the assassination attempt.

“(Xi) wrote me a nice note the other day when he heard what happened,” Trump said.

Trump also called Xi “brilliant” and said “he controls 1.4 billion people with an iron fist.”

The campaign speech comes a day after Trump spoke by phone with President Volodymyr Zelensky, in their first conversation since Trump left office.

Trump reportedly called it a “very good conversation,” while sources close to Zelensky said the conversation went “exceptionally well.” Zelensky had previously said that working with a Trump White House would be “hard work.”

Trump’s new running mate, outspoken Ukraine critic JD Vance, also spoke briefly at the rally before Trump took the stage.

Vance did not speak directly about the war in Ukraine, but said that he and Trump, if elected, would work to end U.S. involvement in foreign conflicts that are “none of our business.”

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