Trump backtracks on Us-russia security

President Trump has backtracked on plans for an “impenetrable” joint cybersecurity unit with Russia after harsh criticism from fellow Republicans, who said Vladimir Putin couldn’t be trusted.

Trump discussed the idea with Putin in their first face-to-face meeting at the G20 summit in Hamburg, Germany. He suggested it could be used to prevent the hacking of elections, keeping them “guarded and safe”.

But two days later he tweeted: “The fact that President Putin and I discussed a cybersecurity unit doesn’t mean I think it can happen. It can’t [see screenshot].”

The proposal had been widely ridiculed by US politicians, who asked why they should cooperate with Russia after it allegedly interfered in last year’s US election.

Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina said: “It’s not the dumbest idea I have ever heard but it’s pretty close”.