Bernie Ecclestone has been a long-time self-proclaimed Vladimir Putin supporter. The business magnate recently faced immense backlash from fans, and even Lewis Hamilton, for his comments in support of the Russian President. However, another controversial public figure Ecclestone respects is former American President Donald Trump.

Although a well-known fact about Ecclestone, the former F1 CEO had voiced his adoration for Trump’s ascent to power. In a podcast with Mercedes champion Nico Rosberg, Ecclestone proclaimed, “Trump is the best thing that’s happened to the world in the last few years. He’s woken everybody up, you know.”

When Rosberg asked his guest to name the best two things that the then-American President had done, Ecclestone shared his take on Trump’s approach to the immigration crisis. “He’s in the position to dictate a lot of policies.” 

Although having met the man in person, Ecclestone believed there was no bias in the statements made above. Instead, the billionaire had a very different perspective on the President. “When I met him, I wasn’t impressed.” However, Trump’s term as President caused a shift in this opinion. “He hadn’t done anything, particularly those days… He wanted to be famous.”

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Ecclestone shared his insights into Trump’s behavior. ” [There’s a] big difference between being well-known and famous. I think he always liked to be famous- wanted to be famous. And I suppose you couldn’t do much more than what’s he’s done to be famous. And he’s used that, and he doesn’t care what he says and what he does, and he gets on with it.” 

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In an earlier interview, Ecclestone also divulged his unique relationship with the President. Labeling himself a ‘Trump Supporter’, he explained his solid support for the American leader. In fact, there were discussions of the two working together on an F1 race. However, the deal never saw the light of day.

“He wanted to be completely in charge, which is not the way we operate. I’d like to feel I’m in charge.”

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The man who is largely responsible for what the sport is today explained why the external influence wasn’t to his taste, “He wanted ‘Trump’ everywhere, and I said to the guys, we better remind him because he hasn’t asked for Trump to be put on the toilet paper.”

Although a hard pass for the mogul, he understood why the man standing in front of him made such demands. “He was doing nothing wrong.”

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Although Ecclestone later retracted his recent praise for Putin, the damage was done. Regardless, the F1 mogul slowly finds himself back in the sport’s controversies- now with tax fraud against his name as well.