'Russian-backed wrecking ball': Critics left shocked by Trump's Chicago interview

Former President Donald Trump stunned many online critics on Tuesday during an interview in Chicago with Bloomberg Editor-in-Chief John Micklethwait at the Economic Club of Chicago.

During his interview, Trump once again reiterated his love for slapping tariffs on foreign-produced goods despite the fact that instituting such fees is highly likely to reignite inflation and send prices of consumer goods skyrocketing.

Trump also raised more than a few eyebrows when he dodged a question about whether he personally spoke multiple times with Russian President Vladimir Putin after leaving office.

"If I did, it is a smart thing," said the former president.

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This remark angered former Democratic Senate candidate Amy McGrath, who tore into Trump on Twitter.

"He had private conversations with the leader of a country AT WAR against our partners in Ukraine," she fumed. "No one else in the room. No accountability. [Oh by the way], he stole classified material in the past etc..."

Democratic political strategist Simon Rosenberg took issue with Trump's apparent determination to spark trade wars around the planet.

"To repeat — Trump is a Russian-backed wrecking ball fighting to end: The global economy that has made us prosperous; the Western alliance that has kept us safe; American democracy that has keep us free," he wrote. "We cannot let this deranged, traitorous old man win."

Mashable's Chris Taylor, meanwhile, used Trump's cagey answer about Putin to draw a parallel with another infamous celebrity.

"'If I did it' … he’s literally doing the OJ thing now," he wrote.

Mother Jones' David Corn expressed puzzlement that Trump said that "tariff" was his favorite word in the entire English language.

"A better word than 'love,' 'friend,' 'family,' 'bacon,' or....?" he asked.