U.S President Donald Trump has 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.

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 and he said:

‘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’.

He continued to say, ‘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’.