Trump Celebrates Christmas at Rally Talking Putin Praise

— -- Christmas appears to have come early for Presidential candidate Donald Trump as he basked in the praise received from Russian President Vladimir Putin while on the campaign trail in Iowa Saturday.

"Russia's got plenty of problems. But I'll tell you what, if Putin likes me and he thinks I'm a good, smart person, that's a good thing. Not a bad thing," Trump said.

Acknowledging that Trump's GOP rivals didn't exactly think an endorsement from Putin was something to gloat about, the billionaire businessman told the Cedar Rapids, Iowa, crowd in his best Jeb Bush voice "Putin called him brilliant, that's not good."

Tune in Saturday at 8/7 PM CT to watch the ABC News Democratic Debate in New Hampshire

Accusing Bush and others of wanting to ignite "World War III," Trump pondered what it would be like if Russia and the U.S. could "knock out an enemy together."

"This would be a great start if you think about it. The money we spend on fighting everybody," Trump told his Christmas themed rally.

Weighing in on Saturday night's Democratic presidential debate, Trump called Hillary Clinton "a snake" and Bernie Sanders a "poor guy ... gave this whole thing away," referring to the first debate when Sanders said, "Enough with the damn emails," and said he would not criticize Clinton about her controversial use of a private server while she was secretary of state.

When discussing the Second Amendment, an issue near and dear to many Iowans, Trump brought his son Donald Trump Jr. and his family on stage. It was Trump's two grandchildren who stole the show.

"Thank you for supporting my Grandpa and thank you for being here on this beautiful day," said Trump's 8-year-old granddaughter Kai Madison.

Then Trump's grandson Donnie also had a message for his grandfather's supporters: "Merry Christmas everyone."