Intel chairman: We would like to be friends with Russia

Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Calif.) said Sunday the U.S. would like to be friends with Russia, but he isn’t sure if that is feasible.

Nunes, the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, was asked during an interview on “Fox News Sunday” about a tweet President-elect Donald Trump sent out Saturday saying having a relationship with Russia is a “good thing.”

“He wouldn’t be the first president to want to be buddies with President Russia,” Nunes said.

{mosads}”Clearly, three presidents have tried to be friends with Putin. All three have failed.”

But Nunes said he’s cautioned the incoming Trump administration to “be careful” with Putin.

“Because I think he is a bad actor,” Nunes said.

“Although it remains true, the fact of the matter is: We would like to be friends with the Russians. I just don’t know if it’s possible. We’ve had a lot of experience with Putin. He just doesn’t seem to be a guy that we can work with.”

Nunes added that the president-elect is surrounding himself with people who understand the “Russia threat.”  

Trump has in the past tweeted his praise of the Russian president. On Saturday, the president-elect said only “‘stupid’ people, or fools” would think it was a bad idea to have a good relationship with Russia.