Watch: Trump Calls The Mafia ‘Very Nice People’ in Resurfaced Video

President Donald Trump once called the New York Mafia ‘very nice people.’ A newly resurfaced video shows Trump on David Letterman’s CBS talk show in 2013. Trump was asked whether he’d ever had dealings with the Mafia and his response was very similar to comments he would make during his presidency.

“Have you ever knowingly done business with organized crime?” Letterman asked.

“I’ve really tried to stay away from them as much as possible,” Trump said.

“You know, growing up in New York and doing business in New York, I would say there might have been one of those characters along the way, but generally speaking I like to stay away from that group.”

“I have met on occasion a few of those people. They happen to be very nice people,” Trump said.

“You just don’t want to owe them money,” he said. “Don’t owe them money.”

His comments echo his defense of neo-Nazis in Charlottesville in 2017. In the aftermath of the widely reported Unite the Right march and the death of a counter-protester, Trump said there were ‘very fine people on both sides.’

Trump Tower was built partly using concrete owned by members of the city’s Mafia.

Watch the video above, via YouTube.