Shadowed by Russia
Trump’s Asia trip ends as it begins
President Donald Trump’s lengthy Asia trip wound down as it began, with a visit meant to be centred on trade and North Korea shadowed by questions about Russia.
Trump was in the Philippines, the final stop of his trip, on Monday, poised to hold formal talks with President Rodrigo Duterte, who has overseen a bloody drug war that has featured extrajudicial killings and fears of vigilante justice. But Trump remains dogged by things he has said, and has not said, about Russia.
Days before he left for the five-nation Asia trip, Trump’s campaign chairman was indicted on charges he laundered millions of dollars through overseas shell companies and a campaign adviser pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI. And while White House aides have been pleased with the president’s messaging through stops in Japan, South Korea and China, Trump has brought Russia to the forefront again as he makes his final stops.
He tried to have it both ways Sunday on the issue of Russian interference in last year’s presidential race, saying he believes both the U.S. intelligence agencies when they say Russia meddled and Russian President Vladimir Putin’s sincerity in claiming that his country did not. “I believe that he feels that he and Russia did not meddle in the election,” Trump said of Putin at a news conference in Hanoi with Vietnam’s president.
“As to whether I believe it, I’m with our agencies,” Trump said. “As currently led by fine people, I believe very much in our intelligence agencies.”
U.S. intelligence agencies have concluded that Russia meddled in the 2016 election to help the Republican Trump defeat Democrat Hillary Clinton. A special counsel’s examination of potential collusion between Moscow and Trump campaign aides so far has led to indictments against Trump’s former campaign chairman and another top aide for crimes unrelated to the campaign, and a guilty plea from a Trump foreign policy adviser.
Multiple congressional committees are also investigating.
On Saturday, Trump lashed out at former heads of the U.S. intelligence agencies, claiming there are plenty of reasons to be suspicious of their findings and dismissing them as “political hacks.”