Noting that at the same time that President Joe Biden is meeting with the leaders of the NATO nations, Donald Trump is meeting with Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, a former adviser to the former president said it was entirely possible that Trump is using the Hungarian strongman as a cut-out to stay in contact with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Appearing on CNN with host Jim Acosta, former Trump national security adviser John Bolton claimed he wouldn’t be surprised if Trump was in communication with the Russian president during the run-up to the 2024 presidential election.

After watching footage of Trump with the prime minister down at Mar-a-Lago, Acosta asked, “Is it possible that Trump is communicating to Putin through Orbán? What do you think?”

“Well, it’s possible, it’s possible,” Bolton conceded. “[That] Trump is communicating with him a lot of different ways. You know, Trump believes that the relations between countries are entirely bound up in the personal relationships between the heads of government. So he thinks if he has a good relationship with Vladimir Putin then US/Russia relations are fine. ”

“And I think what we’re seeing here is he’s getting ready for what he expects will be his second term and I don’t I don’t see any good news it.”