A wink, a handshake ... and a US President accused of treason
DONALD Trump was attacked for being in the ‘pocket of Putin’ yesterday after the pair met at a historic summit.
The US President shied away from criticising Moscow following their behind- closed- door talks – and instead attacked American ‘foolishness’ for ruining their relationship.
Mr Trump hailed their two-hour long discussions in Helsinki as ‘deeply productive’ and declared the relationship between the two countries has now ‘changed’.
At the start of the summit yesterday, he even greeted Vladimir Putin with a wink before the cameras.
But he was met with a barrage of criticism after he appeared to side with Mr Putin – over his own intelligence agencies – on the issue of Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.
He said he saw no reason for Russia to have meddled, and suggested he believed Mr Putin’s ‘strong and powerful’ denial of the allegations.
It prompted a fierce attack from former CIA director John Brennan – who said his behaviour was ‘nothing short of treasonous.’ The summit comes just days after the US indictment of 12 Russian military intelligence agents for hacking in the 2016 election. It came as:
Mr Putin praised Mr Trump for de-escalating tensions with North Korea, while Mr Trump praised Russia for one of the ‘best ever’ World Cups;
The two countries agreed to maintain ‘open communication’ between security agencies to fight the ‘scourge of radical Islamic terrorism’ and work towards peace in Syria;
The Novichok poisonings were not discussed publicly – despite Downing Street expecting Mr Trump to raise the issue;
Theresa May told MPs Western allies must continue to ‘deter and counter’ Russia’s efforts to undermine their interests and values.
As the pair shook hands at the start of the summit, Mr Putin appeared to brace himself against a chair while shaking Mr Trump’s hand – not wanting to fall victim to the US leader’s notoriously strong and prolonged handshakes.
During the press conference, Mr Trump said they had spent ‘a great deal of time’ talking about alleged Russian interference in the election, adding Mr Putin felt ‘strongly’ about it. He said Mr Putin has an ‘interesting idea’ on the issue – although he did not disclose it.
When asked about the allegations, Mr Trump replied: ‘I have great confidence in my intelligence people, but I will tell you that President Putin was extremely strong and powerful in his denial today. I don’t see any reason why Russia would interfere in the 2016 election.’
Instead he attacked the US probe into the alleged meddling – saying it has been a ‘disaster’ for America. He said: ‘This had a negative impact upon the relationship between the two biggest nuclear powers of the world. There was no collusion.’ He added Mr Putin had made an ‘incredible offer’ to allow Russia and the US to work together on cyber attack allegations.
Mr Putin dubbed claims the Kremlin had gathered compromising material on Mr Trump during a trip to Moscow before he became president ‘sheer nonsense’. But he agreed he had wanted Mr Trump to win because he was in favour of ‘normalising’ Russian-US relations.
Mr Putin also presented Mr Trump with a football, which Mr Trump hurled to his wife Melania.
At the beginning of the press conference,
‘His comments are imbecilic’
Mr Trump declared: ‘Our relationship has never been worse than it is now, however that changed as of about four hours ago. I truly believe that. To refuse to engage would not accomplish anything.’
But his remarks provoked fury. Mr Brennan said: ‘Donald Trump’s ... performance in Helsinki rises to and exceeds the threshold of “high crimes and misdemeanors”. It was nothing short of treasonous. Not only were Trump’s comments imbecilic, he is wholly in the pocket of Putin.’ US Senator John McCain accused Mr Trump of ‘ one of the most disgraceful performances by an American president in memory.’ He added: ‘The damage inflicted by President Trump’s naiveté, egotism, false equivalence, and sympathy for autocrats is difficult to calculate ... No prior president has ever abased himself more abjectly before a tyrant.’
Last night the US Justice Department charged a Russian woman with infiltrating US political groups at the direction of a senior Kremlin official.