--- description: President Trump said that he is "very thankful" to Russian President Vladimir Putin for expelling 755 U.S. diplomats title: Trump Thanks Putin for Expelling U.S. Diplomats from Russia image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd66c42f543bcea5f/6988d94797cdffe3b46b1f93/trump-putin-expel-diplomats-cut-payroll-tanks.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Politics](/section/politics/) ## Politics Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [White House](/tag/white-house/) ## White House Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # President Trump Thanks Vladimir Putin for Expelling U.S. Diplomats from Russia: 'Now We Have A Smaller Payroll'  by [Julia Zorthian](/author/julia-zorthian/)  ## Julia Zorthian Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Aug 10, 2017 9:27 PM CUT  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](/author/julia-zorthian/)  ## Julia Zorthian Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Aug 10, 2017 9:27 PM CUT 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 "undefined") in Bedminster, N.J., where he is on [an extended “working vacation.”](http://time.com/money/4886714/bedminster-donald-trump-vacation-golf-club/ "undefined") 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/ "undefined"). “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/ "undefined") 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 "undefined") “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 "undefined"). ```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":"2026-02-23T16:57:01.997Z","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 topic","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'"}}]}] ```