Trump Ripped for Photo of Him and Vladimir Putin Inside White House — As Prez Is Accused of Wanting to Follow Russian Leader's Footsteps

Donald Trump was slammed for keeping a photo of him and Vladimir Putin in the White House as critics accused him of admiring the Russian leader and wanting to follow in his footsteps, RadarOnline.com can reveal.

The commentary was sparked after Fox News aired a segment that showed footage inside the Palm Room. While photos of Trump, 79, appearing alone were scattered on the walls, a sole image of him standing next to Putin was seemingly the only group photo displayed there that could be seen in the clip.

As the clip made rounds on X and Instagram, social media users slammed the POTUS for allowing an image of Putin to have a place at the White House.

One person claimed it was on display because he "lowkey likes and respect him," as another user agreed that the "picture says it all."

Another X user chimed in, "Tells a lot about Trump: he has not a picture of previous President Biden, but Russia’s dictator is present," and a fourth added, "Trump wants to follow Putin's lead."

A fifth critic wrote, "Priorities: Trump puts up a single photo with a foreign leader in the White House Palm Room-and it's with dictator Putin. So much for 'America First' and being tough. The facts are right there on the wall."

This is far from the first time Trump has appeared to show respect for or compliment the highly controversial Russian leader over the years.

Back in 2007, long before his steady political career, Trump talked about Putin during a sit-down with Larry King.

"Look at Putin – what he's doing with Russia – I mean, you know, what's going on over there," he said, according to a transcript from CNN. "I mean this guy has done – whether you like him or don't like him – he's doing a great job in rebuilding the image of Russia and also rebuilding Russia period."

Seven years later, he heaped praise on Putin during an appearance on Fox and Friends.

"When I went to Russia with the Miss Universe pageant, he contacted me and was so nice," Trump said at the time. "Their leaders are – whether you call them smarter or more cunning or whatever – but they’re outsmarting us. If you look at Syria or other places, they’re outsmarting us."

However, he's also given a number of lukewarm to critical remarks about Putin while also maintaining that they've had a good rapport.

In 2016, during his campaign for president, Trump claimed Putin was a "strong leader" at a rally in Ohio, but seemingly attempted to distance himself from him at the same time.

"Putin said good things about me. He said, ‘He’s a leader and there’s no question about it, he’s a genius,’" he told the crowd. "So they all said – the media – they said, you saw it in the debate, they said, ‘You admire President Putin.’ I said, ‘I don’t admire him. I said he was a strong leader, which he is. I mean, he might be bad, he might be good. But he’s a strong leader.’"

In 2019, at a G20 summit in Japan, he said he's had a "very, very good relationship" with the Russian president.

Trump has also made positive remarks about other widely criticized leaders, including Hungary's Viktor Orban, North Korea's Kim Jong Un and Chinese President Xi.

Back in 2017, Hillary Clinton reflected on Trump's behavior surrounding certain leaders, as she expressed fears that he was being deceived.

"[Trump is] being played by these dictators in a way that undercuts our credibility and the capacity to come up with a diplomatic solution in that region" she noted at the time. "I'm deeply concerned, and I think in many ways the Trump presidency poses a clear and present danger to our country and to the world."

Earlier this year, she worried Trump had been inspired by Putin's own leadership techniques during an interview with Morning Joe.

"I don’t care what you call yourself politically," she said, "if you are an American, you care about American democracy here in our 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, then we want to be independent of the kind of behavior that you see coming from Trump, which is an effort to model himself on Vladimir Putin."