--- title: Donald Trump Thanks Putin for Expelling U.S. Diplomats description: President Trump said that he is "very thankful" to Russian President Vladimir Putin for expelling 755 U.S. diplomats canonical: https://time.com/4896396/donald-trump-vladimir-putin-diplomats-russia-expel/ author: Julia Zorthian article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-08-10T21:27:13.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-19T07:45:10.504Z article:section: Politics og:title: Trump Thanks Putin for Expelling U.S. Diplomats from Russia og:description: "Now we have a smaller payroll" og:url: https://time.com/4896396/donald-trump-vladimir-putin-diplomats-russia-expel/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd66c42f543bcea5f/6988d94797cdffe3b46b1f93/trump-putin-expel-diplomats-cut-payroll-tanks.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3864 og:image:height: 2174 og:image:alt: trump putin expel diplomats cut payroll tanks.jpg og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Trump Thanks Putin for Expelling U.S. Diplomats from Russia twitter:description: "Now we have a smaller payroll" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd66c42f543bcea5f/6988d94797cdffe3b46b1f93/trump-putin-expel-diplomats-cut-payroll-tanks.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # President Trump Thanks Vladimir Putin for Expelling U.S. Diplomats from Russia: 'Now We Have A Smaller Payroll' > Sponsored content. 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Brief is TIME's Washington newsletter, written by senior correspondent Philip Elliott. It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. It reaches 85,000 subscribers with a 37.0% open rate as of August 2026. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters.  by [Julia Zorthian](https://time.com/author/julia-zorthian/)  ## Julia Zorthian Aug 10, 2017 9:27 PM UTC  US President Donald Trump speaks during a security briefing on August 10, 2017, at his Bedminster National Golf Club in New Jersey. US President Donald Trump speaks during a security briefing on August 10, 2017, at his Bedminster National Golf Club in New Jersey. NICHOLAS KAMM—AFP/Getty Images  by [Julia Zorthian](https://time.com/author/julia-zorthian/)  ## Julia Zorthian Aug 10, 2017 9:27 PM UTC President Trump said that he is “very thankful” to Russian President Vladimir Putin for expelling 755 U.S. diplomats because eliminating their payrolls has cut government costs. Trump spoke on Thursday [from his golf club](http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/346108-trump-thanks-putin-for-expelling-us-diplomats-we-want-to-reduce-our) in Bedminster, N.J., where he is on [an extended “working vacation.”](http://time.com/money/4886714/bedminster-donald-trump-vacation-golf-club/) His remarks were the first time he has discussed Russia kicking out the hundreds of U.S. diplomats and staff [at the end of July](http://time.com/4880000/putin-russia-staff-us-diplomats-diplomatic-sanctions/). “I want to thank him because we’re trying to cut down our payroll and as far as I’m concerned I’m very thankful that he let go of a large number of people because now we have a smaller payroll,” Trump said. “There’s no real reason for them to go back. I greatly appreciate the fact that we’ve been able to cut our payroll of the United States. We’re going to save a lot of money.” The Kremlin ordered the diplomats to leave by September in response to [U.S. sanctions against Russia](http://time.com/4880000/putin-russia-staff-us-diplomats-diplomatic-sanctions/) for interfering in the 2016 presidential election. Shortly after Russia announced the decision, the [State Department said the move was](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jul/30/russia-us-sanctions-retaliation-sergei-ryabkov) “a regrettable and uncalled for act.” Trump himself did not respond, and his silence [was noticeable](https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/president-trump-silent-on-russia-after-putin-announced-expulsion-of-us-diplomats/2017/07/31/35a99ce6-7611-11e7-9eac-d56bd5568db8%5Fstory.html). ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4896396/donald-trump-vladimir-putin-diplomats-russia-expel/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4896396/donald-trump-vladimir-putin-diplomats-russia-expel/"},"headline":"President Trump Thanks Vladimir Putin for Expelling U.S. Diplomats from Russia: 'Now We Have A Smaller Payroll'","datePublished":"2017-08-10T21:27:13.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-19T07:45:10.504Z","description":"Putin expelled 755 diplomats from Russia","url":"https://time.com/4896396/donald-trump-vladimir-putin-diplomats-russia-expel/","keywords":["White House","putin","russia","2016 Election","Donald Trump","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd66c42f543bcea5f/6988d94797cdffe3b46b1f93/trump-putin-expel-diplomats-cut-payroll-tanks.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Julia Zorthian","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/julia-zorthian/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd66c42f543bcea5f/6988d94797cdffe3b46b1f93/trump-putin-expel-diplomats-cut-payroll-tanks.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"trump putin expel diplomats cut payroll tanks.jpg","caption":"trump putin expel diplomats cut payroll tanks.jpg","creditText":"NICHOLAS KAMM—AFP/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/white-house/","name":"White House"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4896396/donald-trump-vladimir-putin-diplomats-russia-expel/","name":"President Trump Thanks Vladimir Putin for Expelling U.S. Diplomats from Russia: 'Now We Have A Smaller Payroll'"}}]}] ```