[little jeremiah]

Hmm, I thought I read he did not, and thus a translator was required when speaking with Trump. That of course could be a ruse.

[Publius]

Translators are always there to make sure the conversation is translated faithfully. I’ve heard that Gorbachev’s English was passable, as was Andropov’s. Considering who was running things at KGB when Putin was coming up, I would not be surprised if he had a good grasp of English.

[JockoManning]

Hmm, I thought I read he did not, and thus a translator was required when speaking with Trump. That of course could be a ruse.

Many leaders do that. It does a couple of things, at least:
1> It insures that they get a precise, clear & accurate understanding regardless of their skill in the other language.

2. It gives the image that they are standing up for their own language and culture by being loyal to it as much as workable. i.e. not kowtowing to the foreign language and the foreign leader..

[defconw]

It’s a ruse.