The Donald Trump/Vladimir Putin bromance continues with late night phone calls and public mash notes to each other.

Courtesy of Sky News:  

Vladimir Putin has revealed he and Donald Trump are on first name terms, as the Russian President spoke to the media during his four-hour, end-of-year news conference. 

"This is how relations should be between people like us," Mr Putin said to reporters at the marathon annual event. 

He praised Mr Trump's "accomplishments", saying: "I'm not the one to evaluate the (US) President's work. That needs to be done by the voters, the American people. 

"(But) we are objectively seeing that there have been some major accomplishments, even in the short time he has been working. 

"Look at how the markets have grown. This speaks to investors' trust in the American economy."

Putin also claimed that allegations that Russia tampered in the 2016 election are made up by the US media.  (Perhaps forgetting that a number of Russian media outlets have confirmed that as well.)

Courtesy of Yahoo News: 

"All of this has been invented, made up by people who are in opposition to President Trump with a view to shedding a negative light on what President Trump is doing " Putin said, translated from Russian, and going on to call it "nonsense."

Personally I'm just amazed he restrained himself from calling it "fake news," because you know he wanted to.

For his part as soon as he learned that his boyfriend and complimented him, Donald Trump gave him a ring.

Courtesy of USA Today: 

Russian President Vladimir Putin had some kind words for President Trump's handling of the U.S. economy on Thursday — so Trump called Putin to personally thank him. 

The two sides sent out only bare-bones summaries of the afternoon phone call, but the White House version of the call noted that Trump "thanked President Putin for acknowledging America’s strong economic performance" earlier in the day. 

In his annual freewheeling press conference Thursday, Putin remarked on the booming U.S. stock market — a regular Trump talking point — and said it was a sign that investors "trust in what President Trump has been doing in this field."

Jesus, get a room already. 

I heard a host on MSNBC today saying that Trump's consistent affection for Putin is "one of the greatest mysteries facing us right now." And that it "made no sense."

I beg to differ.

If somebody gifted you with the most powerful political office on the planet, wouldn't you be making goo goo eyes at them as well?