US lashes ‘traitorous’ Trump
DONALD Trump’s compliant appearance alongside Russian President Vladimir Putin has sparked anger and disbelief in the US, where Republicans and commentators questioned his judgment and accused him of being played by the former KGB intelligence officer.
Mr Trump’s decision to hold the US and Russia equally responsible for their poor relationship, and his failure to criticise Mr Putin in a 46minute press conference after their summit in Helsinki, infuriated American conservatives.
There was also anger that he appeared to accept Mr Putin’s denials over Russian election meddling, rather than the findings of multiple intelligence agencies including the CIA and FBI, and bodies including the Justice Department, House and Senate intelligence committees.
The Director of National Intelligence Daniel Coats issued an immediate response, saying, “We have been clear in our assessment of Russian meddling in the 2016 election and their ongoing, pervasive efforts to undermine our democracy, and we will continue to provide unvarnished and objective intelligence.”
In Australia, leaders woke to the news on the fourth anniversary of the downing of MH17, an airliner shot down by Russian-backed militia over Ukraine with the loss of 298 lives including 38 Australians.
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull backed the US agencies, telling 3AW the evidence of Russian election meddling was “very compelling”.
“President Putin himself said, ‘you shouldn’t trust anybody’,” Mr Turnbull said.
“I certainly don’t trust President Putin when he says he wasn’t responsible for the shooting down of MH17.’’
Opposition Leader Bill Shorten agreed, saying “I don’t trust him (Putin).
“I have never been satisfied that President Putin has ever satisfactorily told the truth to the families of the victims of the Malaysian Airlines flight,” Mr Shorten said.
In the US, former Republican Joe Walsh attacked the president on Twitter, before concluding: “Trump was a traitor today. I cannot & will not support a traitor. No decent American should.’’
The US House Speaker Paul Ryan said the President “must appreciate that Russia is not our ally” and that there was “no question’’ the Russians had meddled in the election.
“There is no moral equivalence between the US and Russia, which remains hostile to our most basic values and ideals. The US must be focused on holding Russia accountable and putting an end to its vile attacks on democracy,” Mr Ryan said.
Trump critic and Republican Senator John McCain said the joint press conference was “one of the most disgraceful performances by an American president in memory’’.
“The damage inflicted by President Trump’s naivety, egotism, false equivalence and sympathy for autocrats is difficult to calculate,’’ Senator McCain said.
“President Trump proved not only unable, but unwilling to stand up to Putin.’’
Even Fox News, a supporter of Mr Trump, expressed concern, with host Neil Cavuto describing the press conference as a “disgusting” display.
Leaving Helsinki, Mr Trump appeared to realise the firestorm he had ignited, and defended himself on his favoured platform, Twitter.
“As I said today and many times before, ‘I have GREAT confidence in MY intelligence people’. However, I also recognise that in order to build a brighter future, we cannot exclusively focus on the past — as the world’s two largest nuclear powers, we must get along!’’ he said.
Frequent critic and former CIA director John Brennan claimed on Twitter that Mr Trump’s behaviour was “nothing short of treasonous’’.