President Trump told reporters on Friday that he was “surprised” to see Robert Kraft charged with soliciting prostitution, emphasizing that the Patriots owner denies the allegations. “It’s very sad. I was very surprised to see it,” Trump said. “He’s proclaimed his innocence totally. I’m very surprised to see it.” Trump and the billionaire businessman are close friends, with Kraft having visited Trump’s Florida estate Mar-a-Lago multiple times. Kraft has been charged with soliciting prostitution as part of a sprawling human-trafficking investigation. Authorities said a video obtained as evidence shows the Patriots owner engaging in an illegal sex act.

Kraft has been loyal to Trump despite being a lifelong Democrat who donated to former President Barack Obama’s campaigns. When Kraft’s wife died in 2011, Trump reportedly attended her funeral. “Then he called me once a week for the whole year, the most depressing year of my life when I was down and out,” Kraft told the New York Daily News. “... He was one of five or six people that were like that. I remember that.”