Trump congratulated Putin despite warning
US PRESIDENT Donald Trump was warned in briefing materials to refrain from congratulating Russian President Vladimir Putin on his re-election but he did so anyway, a senior administration official has said.
Aides included a section in Mr Trump’s briefing materials for the Tuesday morning call stating: “DO NOT CONGRATULATE,” the official said.
The White House said in a statement it is a “fireable offence” to leak Mr Trump’s briefing papers to the press.
The message was first reported by The Washington Post.
It was unclear whether Mr Trump, who prefers oral briefings, read the talking points prepared by his national security team before the call. Mr Trump’s call of congratulations drew him bruising criticism from members of his own party even before the Post reported that aides had given him instructions not to do so. “An American president does not lead the free world by congratulating dictators on winning sham elections,” said Republican Senator John McCain. The US president also said that he and Mr Putin might meet “in the not too distant future” to discuss the arms race.