The owner of the New England Patriots recently revealed how Donald Trump helped him through the difficult days after he lost his wife to cancer in 2011 and said that his loyalty to the President is a very personal, not merely a political affinity.
In a recent interview, Kraft recounted how Trump and his wife Melania helped him through the grief process when he lost his wife of 48 years and that their friendship had a very close and personal dimension.
“When Myra died, Melania and Donald came up to the funeral in our synagogue, then they came for memorial week to visit with me,” Kraft told the New York Daily News.
“Then he called me once a week for the whole year, the most depressing year of my life when I was down and out. He called me every week to see how I was doing, invited me to things, tried to lift my spirits.”
Kraft also pointed out that he had been close to the Trumps for years before The Donald decided he would run for the White House.
The billionaire’s relationship with Trump isn’t his first brush with a world leader. He also found himself in an unexpected controversy as a result of a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, as The Daily Mail reminded readers.
Kraft met Putin at a gala at the Waldorf-Astoria in 2013 where Putin asked about the Super Bowl ring he wore. Kraft made the regrettable decision to take off the ring and hand it to Putin. But instead of looking it over and handing it back, Putin put it in his pocket and walked off as Kraft stood gaping in shock.
The NFL owner recounted a conversation he had with a member of the State Department as he sought to get the ring back.
“I really didn’t want this. I had an emotional tie to the ring, it has my name on it,” Kraft said. “I don’t want to see it on eBay. Then, there was a pause on the other end of the line, and the voice repeated, ‘It would really be in the best interest if you meant to give the ring as a present.'”
Eventually Kraft gave up and decided it was to be a gift in the pursuit of world diplomacy.
“I decided to give him the ring as a symbol of the respect and admiration that I have for the Russian people and their leadership,” Kraft eventually said of the incident.
To this day the ring remains on display in the Kremlin library.
Follow Warner Todd Huston on Twitter @warnerthuston or email the author at igcolonel@hotmail.com.
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