‘Putin manipulating Trump with flattery’
A day after being criticized by US President Donald Trump, a former CIA director questioned whether Russian President Vladimir Putin was manipulating Trump with flattery during the president’s trip to Asia.
Trump’s trip was meant to be centered on trade and North Korea. But Trump remains dogged by things he has said, and not said, about Russia.
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 US intelligence agencies when they say Russia meddled and Putin’s sincerity in claiming that his country did not.
Former CIA director John Brennan said Trump was deriding them in an attempt to “delegitimize’’ the intelligence community’s assessment.