Trump ‘moves forward’ with Putin
UNITED STATES: President Donald Trump yesterday sought to move past allegations of Russian interference in the 2016 US election, effectively dismissing the importance of the intelligence community’s definitive conclusion about a foreign adversary in pursuit of a collaborative partnership with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Issuing his first public comments since sitting down with Putin in Germany, Trump vowed to ‘‘move forward in working constructively with Russia’’ and said the two leaders were discussing a cyber security unit that would protect against the kinds of illegal intrusions that US intelligence agencies say Putin ordered in the US.
After Putin denied in his meet- ing with Trump any such election interference, the US president tried to turn the page altogether on the issue of Russian hacking. As special counsel Robert Mueller investigates Russian interference and possible collusion with Trump campaign officials, Trump has repeatedly labelled the issue a hoax.
Trump’s pledge to partner with Putin drew swift and stern denunciations from both Democratic and Republican officials, who cast the US president as dangerously naive for trusting his Russian counterpart and said Russia must be forced to pay a price for its election interference.
Trump responded to the criticism yesterday, tweeting his own doubts that a cyber unit could work. ‘‘The fact that President Putin and I discussed a cyber security unit doesn’t mean I think it can happen. It can’t – but a ceasefire can, & did!’’ he wrote, referring to an agreement among the US, Russia and Jordan in a region of Syria.
Trump said he ‘‘strongly pressed’’ Putin twice about Russian meddling and Putin ‘‘vehemently denied it’’. Trump did not indicate whether he accepted Putin’s denial, saying only, ‘‘I’ve already given my opinion’’.
Trump delivered his account of the meeting with Putin, held on the sidelines of the Group of 20 summit in Hamburg, via several defiant tweets fired off yesterday just before he visited a golf course – as opposed to in a news conference such as the one Putin held with journalists on Sunday.
Putin and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Trump believed Putin’s assurances that Russia did not interfere in the election.
‘‘It seemed to me that he took it into account and agreed,’’ Putin said, ‘‘You should ask him.’’
Initially, US officials travelling with Trump would not dispute Putin’s and Lavrov’s accounts when asked by reporters.
Yesterday, however, White House chief of staff Reince Priebus, who remained in Washington during the trip, rejected the Russian characterisation.
’’It’s not true. The president absolutely did not believe the denial of President Putin.’’
US intelligence agencies have concluded definitively that Russian authorities tried to influence the election in Trump’s favour with illegal hacking, propaganda and other activities.
Senators John McCain, Lindsey Graham, and Marco Rubio – three leading Republican hawks on Russia – said yesterday that Trump’s eagerness to partner with Putin was dangerous for the US.
‘‘We know that Russia tried to change the outcome of our election last November, and they did not succeed, but there was really sophisticated attempts to do so,’’ McCain said.
‘‘So far, they have not paid a single price for that.’’
Invoking the language of Trump’s tweet, McCain added, ‘‘Yes, it’s time to move forward, but there has to be a price to pay.’’ – Washington Post