Former President Trump’s old friend and ally, conservative host Bill O’Reilly, firmly believes that Trump “has something” on Russian President Vladimir Putin that he’s using to control him.
The unconfirmed report of a possible blackmail scenario suggests that Trump might have more leverage over Putin than people realize.
The tidbit of information surfaced during a video interview with independent journalist Tucker Carlson on X on Wednesday. O’Reilly pointed out to the former Fox News host that everything with Trump is a deal. Everything.
“He was an effective president,” O’Reilly commented. “He’s a populist, not a conservative, doesn’t have any of that stuff going on. It’s deal after deal after deal after deal.”
Ep. 26 The Bill O’Reilly Interview pic.twitter.com/yHabD7W9NO
— Tucker Carlson (@TuckerCarlson) September 28, 2023
O’Reilly candidly commented to Carlson that is how the 77-year-old former president controlled Putin while he was in the White House.
“He won’t tell me what he has on Putin,” O’Reilly, 74, stated. “But I know he has something.”
O’Reilly has made similar comments before about the power the US holds over Russia, claiming in a 2022 Newsmax interview that America’s weapons could “wipe” Putin off the “face of the earth” in less than a day.
O’Reilly has previously dissed Russia’s military capabilities, claiming they don’t stand a chance against the United States.
“Putin is saber-rattling about using nukes, and ‘I’m going to do this, and I’m going to do that,” he told Newsmax at the time while promoting his book “Killing the Killers: The Secret War Against Terrorists.”
“The weaponry of the United States is far beyond anything that Putin has. If we chose to, we can wipe him and his government off the face of the earth in less than a day. We have those weapons in space right now, aimed right at Vlad,” O’Reilly claimed.
Interesting. In the @TuckerCarlson interview with @BillOReilly Bill discussed how Trump is a man who makes deals bc of leverage. He said Trump has something on Putin that gives him leverage.
— MizDonna (@donwill94062871) September 28, 2023
The segment with Carlson has received over 9.1 million views according to Newsweek. It aired on the same night and at the same time as the chaotic second GOP presidential primary debate on Fox News and once again allegedly left the network in the dust.
“Also an ex-Fox News host, O’Reilly published The United States of Trump: How the President Really Sees America in 2019. A long-time friend of the business mogul, the book was pitched as an ‘insider’s look at the life of Donald Trump,'” Newsweek reported.
“The United States of Trump featured exclusive interview material with the politician and examined how his childhood and career influenced his worldview and presidency. In the book, O’Reilly described Trump as ‘essentially a loner, with few close friends’ and an avid watcher of cable news opinion shows,” the news media outlet added.
O’Reilly also interviewed Trump’s children for the book.
Donald Trump Jr. reportedly told O’Reilly concerning his father, “I don’t second-guess because there’s always a method to the madness with him.”
Man of the people https://t.co/XPTSeRiHgV
— Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) September 28, 2023
“In December 2021, Trump and O’Reilly embarked on The History Tour together. The series of events across the U.S. promised to discuss the history of the Trump administration with O’Reilly and their audience, although the tour was reportedly poorly attended,” Newsweek asserted, parroting a leftist claim concerning the tour.
Another large crowd for the Trump/O’Reilly History Tour show in Dallas. pic.twitter.com/Km1fNLf5xM
— Bill O’Reilly (@BillOReilly) December 19, 2021