At Putin’s side, Trump gives Russia clean chit
‘TIES RESET’ Presidents meet in Helsinki, dismiss talk of meddling in US polls
President Putin was extremely strong and powerful in his denial today (of poll collusion) DONALD TRUMP, US President
HELSINKI: United States President Donald Trump said after meeting Vladimir Putin on Monday he saw no reason to believe his own intelligence agencies rather than trust the Kremlin leader on the question of whether Russia interfered to help him win the 2016 election.
On a day when he faced pressure from critics, allied countries and even his own staff to take a tough line, Trump said not a single critical word about Moscow on any of the issues that have brought relations between the two powers to the lowest ebb since the Cold War.
Instead, he denounced the “stupidity” of his own country’s policy, especially the decision to investigate election interference.
Trump’s performance is likely to create a political storm in the United States, where the White House has struggled for months to dispel a suggestion that Trump was unwilling to stand up to Putin. His performance was denounced as “treasonous” by a former CIA chief and condemned as “shameful” by a Republican senator, although other Republicans were more cautious.
Trump held his meeting with Putin just days after a special prosecutor in the US indicted 12 Russian agents for stealing Democratic Party documents to help him win the vote. Asked if he believed US intelligence agencies, which concluded that Russia interfered in the 2016 election to help him defeat Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton, he said he was not convinced.
“I don’t see any reason why it would be” Russia, Trump said.
“Putin was extremely strong and powerful in his denial today.” The two leaders vowed a fresh start to troubled relations between their countries at their first summit on Monday. After their meeting in Helsinki, Trump and Putin expressed a desire to cooperate on challenges facing the world.