Putin refuses to expel US diplomats, Trump applauds

Washington : President-elect Donald Trump on Friday praised President Vladimir Putin for refraining from tit-for-tat expulsions of Americans in response to US punitive measures over alleged Russian interference in the November election.

Putin's decision came despite the foreign ministry asking him to send home 35 US diplomats after President Barack Obama had expelled the same number of Russian staff.

Trump's intervention -- in a tweet -- however illustrated the shifting political tide in Washington, barely three weeks before the Republican is due to succeed Obama at the White House.

"Great move on delay (by V. Putin) - I always knew he was very smart!" the incoming US president wrote.

Russia's embassy in Washington quickly retweeted the comment, which Trump pinned so it would appear at the top of his feed for several hours.

Trump's tweet enraged his Democratic foes as well as some members of his own Republican Party.

"@realDonaldTrump alternates between embracing Russian subversion & downplaying it, but his support for Putin is constant. We must know why," wrote Evan McMullin, who ran as an independent presidential candidate after serving as policy director for the House Republican Conference.

Claire McCaskill, a Democrat who serves on the Senate Armed Services Committee, wrote: "Our ENTIRE cyber intel community, best in world btw, agrees that this guy tried to mess in our election & the Russians are RT TrumpPutin love."

The alleged hacking of the US presidential election in November outraged Obama, culminating in the expulsions and other sanctions.