Putin ‘probably’ involved in killings, but not in US: Trump
Challenges claim that he has been reluctant of criticising Putin
WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump has said he believes President Vladimir Putin is “probably” involved in “assassinations” and “poisonings” but sought to downplay the assessment, his harshest yet of his Russian counterpart, saying the killings were “not in our country”.
Trump’s remarks came in an interview with CBS News’ 60 Minutes programme, in which he also said China meddles in US elections, the trade war with China was actually a “skirmish”, and that he doesn’t think climate change is a hoax, but remains doubtful of who or what caused it.
“Probably he is, yeah. Probably. I mean, I don’t...,” Trump said in response to a question if he agreed Putin is involved in assassinations and poisoning. He added, “But I rely on them, it’s not in our country.”
The US joined Western allies in August to slap sanctions on Russia for allegedly poisoning former spy Sergei Skirpal and his daughter in the UK. Russia has denied it, as it has all previous instances and allegations of murders and assassinations of those critical of the government.
Trump has rarely ever had harsh things to say about Putin and took a lot of criticism for his performance at a joint news conference in Helsinki, during which the American president had seemed to have granted equal weightage to the US intelligence assessment that Russia interfered in the 2016 election and to Putin’s denial of it.
Asked if Russia interfered in the elections, a matter being investigated by special counsel Robert Mueller, Trump said: “They... meddled. But I think China meddled too.”
Trump tends to view any suggestion of Russian interference as casting doubt on his election and questioning the legitimacy of his presidency. He has thus been reluctant to get behind the combined assessment of US intelligence. He has begun accusing China of meddling in US polls and in connection with Beijing’s selective targeting of Trump’s voter base for retaliatory measures against tariffs imposed by the US on Chinese imports. After alluding to it in recent remarks, Trump launched a frontal attack on China at a UN Security Council meet he chaired recently.
“I think China meddled also,” Trump insisted in the interview. “And I think, frankly, China is a bigger problem.”
Trump’s views on China have shifted markedly from the accommodation and warmth he showed in the early months of his administration. He has slapped tariffs on imports from China worth $250 billion, accusing it of employing unfair trade practices, theft of intellectual property and denying market access, and slapped sanctions on it for buying Russian defence gear.
Trump said he wants a trade deal with China but doesn’t think Beijing is ready for it. He disputed the interviewer’s characterisation of escalating trade tensions as war. “I called it a battle. But actually, I’m gonna lower that. I consider it a skirmish.”
He also revisited the issue of climate change in view of super storms that have hit the US in recent months — Michael in Florida and Georgia the past week, coming on the heels of Florence in the Carolinas, Maria in Puerto Rico and Harvey in Texas.