Trump reacts to damning testimony by claiming he barely knows Sondland: 'He seems like a nice guy'

Donald Trump has responded to shocking testimony that he personally directed a "quid pro quo" – which Democrats say amounts to bribery – by again saying that he barely knows the witness, Gordon Sondland, but adding: "He seems like a nice guy though."

Weeks after praising Mr Sondland, whom he appointed US ambassador to the EU, as a "great American" and "highly respected", the president told reporters outside the White House: "I don't know him very well. I have not spoken to him very much.

"This is not a man I know well. He seems like a nice guy though."

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