Snowden on Trump: He’s ‘a man who has never really known a love that he hasn’t had to pay for’

Edward Snowden said President Trump “has never really known a love that he hasn’t had to pay for” in an interview with Brian Williams that will air later Monday.

Snowden, the whistleblower who leaked classified information about the National Security Agency’s surveillance programs, made the comments from exile in Russia in an interview for MSNBC’s “The 11th Hour with Brian Williams.” He described the president as “simple to understand.” 

“Donald Trump strikes me like nothing so much as a man who has never really known a love that he hasn’t had to pay for,” Snowden said. “And so everything that he does is informed by a kind of transactionalism.”

What does Edward @Snowden think of Pres. Trump? See him discuss that and much more — including your cell phone and your privacy — ahead of the release of his memoir “Permanent Record.” Catch this #11thHour exclusive at 11PM ET only on @MSNBC.https://t.co/Y6kvXi4snr#11MSNBC pic.twitter.com/Petg0xXtMh

— 11th Hour (@11thHour) September 16, 2019

Snowden added that he thinks Trump aims for “people to like him.”

“I think and what he’s actually looking for is simply for people to like him. Unfortunately that produces a lot of negative effects,” he said.

Snowden is participating in his first interviews with U.S. media outlets in years ahead of the release of his book “Permanent Record.”

He also appeared on “CBS This Morning,” saying he would like to return to the United States after he and officials can settle on negotiations for a “fair trial.”