Trump pulls back on Russia cyber unit talk
WASHINGTON US President Donald Trump backtracked on his push for a cyber security unit with Russia, tweeting that he did not think it could happen, hours after his proposal was harshly criticised by Republicans who said Moscow could not be trusted.
Trump said on Twitter on Sunday that he and Russian President Vladimir Putin discussed on Friday forming “an impenetrable Cyber Security unit” to address issues like the risk of cyber meddling in elections.
The idea was immediately scorned by several of Trump’s fellow Republicans, who questioned why the US would work with Russia after Moscow’s alleged meddling in the 2016 US election.
Trump returned to Twitter on Sunday to play down the idea, which arose at his talks with Putin at a summit of the Group of 20 nations in Hamburg, Germany. “The fact that President Putin and I discussed a Cyber Security unit doesn’t mean I think it can happen. It can’t,” Trump said on Twitter.
He then noted that an agreement with Russia for a ceasefire in Syria “can & did” happen.
Republican Senator John McCain of Arizona acknowledged Trump’s desire to move forward with Russia, but added: “There has to be a price to pay.”
G20 SEAT: PRESIDENT DEFENDS IVANKA
Trump defended his daughter, White House adviser Ivanka Trump, on Monday after she raised some eyebrows over the weekend by taking his place at a table with world leaders at a G20 meeting.
Trump called the arrangement “very standard” in a tweet where he also noted that German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who was hosting the G20 summit, agreed.
Merkel had dismissed the move at a news conference after the G20 ended. “Ivanka belongs to the US delegation,” Merkel, who has worked with her on various issues, said last week.
Nikki Haley, the US ambassador to the United Nations, also defended Ivanka.