Political commentator Dan Bongino said President Donald Trump’s Russia critics don’t realize how tough he’s been on Russian President Vladimir Putin and the country’s government, Monday on Fox & Friends.

Bongino said Trump must project an image of strength during the summit and remind Putin of America’s economic supremacy.

“This may be one of those face-to-face sessions where they just want to get a better feel of one another,” Bongino said. “I don’t know what can possibly come out of this. I know President Trump has a strong character. So does Putin. But nobody’s been stronger on Putin than Trump.”

Bongino also cited American military attacks against Russian mercenaries in the Middle East and claimed Russia cannot afford to interrupt stable economic relations with the United States.

“People forget it was just a few months ago that the American military wiped out a couple hundred Russian mercenaries in Syria and had the Russians scrambling because they didn’t want to claim credit that they were actually Russian,” Bongino continued.

“I don’t think Putin expected Trump to respond that way. That was not an insignificant incident over there. And his comments about the gas pipeline as well. The Russians need this other pipeline,” he concluded. “The Russians are not an economic powerhouse. They’re a small sliver of the United States economy. And they need that money and … Trump confronted them on it.”

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