President Trump expressed sympathy Friday for former campaign chairman Paul Manafort, who was sentenced to 47 months in prison for tax and bank fraud.
“I feel very badly for Paul Manafort,” Mr. Trump told reporters at the White House. “It’s been a very, very tough time for him.”
The president said he was “very honored” that the federal judge in the Manafort case said Thursday night it has “nothing to do with collusion with Russia” in the 2016 presidential campaign.
“There was no collusion. I don’t collude with Russia,” the president said.
Mr. Trump said the more important news was that the unemployment rate dropped to 3.8 percent Friday, and that average hourly earnings over the past year have risen by 3.4 percent.
“I think the big news really was that wages went up and that’s great for the American worker,” he said.
• Dave Boyer can be reached at dboyer@washingtontimes.com.
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