STEVE DOOCY (CO-HOST): There you've got the former secretary of defense under Bush and Obama, and he says they have been tough.
BRIAN KILMEADE (CO-HOST): But not tough enough when he said when he had Vladimir Putin on the phone after the Mueller report came out, he said he missed an opportunity to blister him over his infiltration into our election in 2016. And he said the take away from the Mueller report is the Russians did it, and they're going to do it again. Forget the politics. I thought that was the most salient message.
AINSLEY EARHARDT (CO-HOST): But haven't you all noticed though, the president, that's his style. Like when he talks about the North Korean leader, when he talks about China's leader he says, “He's my friend. I actually enjoyed it,” or things like that, he says after his interviews or after his meetings with them. I think it's his way of saying look, we can disagree on certain things but we're better being allies -- or not allies, but we're better being in agreement on certain things, or me to be nice to them so that we can come to the table again.
KILMEADE: Right. But the risk is being misinterpreting as being soft and hey, he doesn't mind. We might as well try it again. It didn't affect our relationship.