Topics: Donald Trump, Vladimir Putin, US News, Russia, Religion
Russian President Vladimir Putin reportedly commissioned a portrait of the US President and prayed at church after an assassination attempt took place on Donald Trump's life last year.
Back in July 2024, prior to becoming the 47th president of the US, Trump was rushed off stage mid-speech after being shot at during a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.
As a result of Trump 'turning his head', the bullet simply grazed Trump's ear and the 20-year-old shooter was taken out by the Secret Service during the incident.
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Following his near-death experience, Trump said it was God who 'prevented the unthinkable happening'.
He continued to write on social media: "We will fear not, but instead remain resilient in our Faith and Defiant in the face of Wickedness."
And it would appear that Putin thought of God too, not only rushing to commission a portrait of Trump but also taking to church to pray - according to Trump's chief negotiator Steve Witkoff that is.
During an interview with ex-Fox News anchor Tucker Carlson on Friday (March 21), Witkoff said shortly after the assassination attempt on Trump's life President Putin 'commissioned a beautiful portrait of President Trump, from the leading Russian artist'.
Witkoff said Putin 'actually gave' the portrait to him and 'asked [him] to take it home to President Trump'.
"It was such a gracious moment, and [he] told me his story… about how when the president was shot, he went to his local church and met with his priest and prayed for the president," Witkoff continued. "Not because he was the president of the United [States]... but because he had a friendship with him, and he was praying for his friend."
Alas, the assassination attempt on Trump's life in Pennsylvania didn't turn out to be the only one to take place that year either.
A second attempt on Trump's life was carried out in Florida on September 15.
Trump was enjoying an afternoon at his golfing resort in West Palm Beach when shots were 'fired in his vicinity'.
His ear got off lucky this time and a man named Ryan Routh was later charged with the attempted assassination of Trump.
Witkoff's sharing of the story of Trump and Putin's 'friendship' comes amid ongoing discussions between Putin, Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in a bid to end the war in Ukraine which first began over three years ago when Russia invaded on February 24, 2022.
