Trump disputes Russian election meddling
Donald Trump has appeared to cast doubt on intelligence assessments that Russia meddled in the 2016 US election, as officials said that he will meet Vladimir Putin in Helsinki next month. Mr Trump tweeted: “Russia continues to say they had nothing to do with meddling in our election.”
DONALD TRUMP has appeared to cast doubt on US intelligence assessments that Russia meddled in the 2016 presidential election as it was announced Helsinki would host his first summit with Vladimir Putin next month.
The US president tweeted yesterday: “Russia continues to say they had nothing to do with meddling in our election.” He went on to question why US law enforcement agencies weren’t investigating other perceived influences on the election, which he has repeatedly said was rigged for his Democrat opponent Hillary Clinton.
The comment has fuelled fears that Mr Trump’s meeting with the Russian president could further drive a wedge between the US and its European Union allies.
The summit, on July 16, comes at the end of a visit to Europe that will see Mr Trump visit Brussels for a Nato meeting, London for talks with Theresa May and the Queen and possibly Scotland for a few rounds of golf.
Mrs May is among European leaders clamouring for a tough line on Russia in the wake of the poisoning of Sergei and Yulia Skripal in Salisbury earlier this year.
However, Mr Trump, eager to improve relations with Moscow, despite the federal investigation into his campaign’s links to the country, has been critical of Nato. US media reports surfaced yesterday stating that the president had recently renewed his attacks on Nato – an alliance of 29 countries formed after the Second World War.
Mr Trump told fellow world leaders at a meeting this month that “Nato is as bad as Nafta”, according to the news website Axios, adding: “It’s much too costly for the US.”
Nafta, or the North American Free Trade Agreement, is a pact between America, Mexico and Canada that Mr Trump has threatened to tear up unless it is renegotiated.
There are fears Mr Trump could call for the halting of Nato military exercises in Eastern Europe, something that would be a boost for Mr Putin.
The US president made a similar move after meeting North Korean leader Kim Jong-un when he unexpectedly cancelled American-south Korea “war games” on the Korean peninsula.
There are also concerns that Mr Trump could refuse to sign a joint communiqué at the end of the Nato gathering – something he did at the G7 meeting of world leaders this month – and attack allies for not spending more on defence.
The White House and the Kremlin announced the Trump-putin summit in joint statements yesterday. Helsinki held a number of historic Cold War talks in the past. The pair have yet to hold a formal summit since Mr Trump took office last January, but have met a number of times and talked more than half a dozen times on the phone.
An investigation by special counsel Robert Mueller into Russian election meddling continues to hang over Mr Trump. Yesterday the president claimed Mr Mueller had “conflicts of interest”. Mr Trump is reportedly prepared to push for Russia’s help in solving the Syria crisis in what would be a remarkable change in policy from his predecessor Barack Obama.
The 72-year-old hopes Mr Putin will agree to drive Iran out of southern Syria in return for keeping president Bashar al-assad in power, according to a CNN report.
The US president is expected to be in Britain from the evening of July 12 to July 15. Mr Putin will have time to attend the World Cup final in Moscow on July 15 before his meeting with Mr Trump in Finland.
Mr Trump said earlier this week: “I think they’re doing a fantastic job with the World Cup right now. It’s in Russia, and I will tell you that it’s exciting. My son loves soccer, and he loves watching the World Cup. And they have really done a fantastic job with the World Cup.
“It’s exciting even if you’re a nonsoccer fan. I’m a soccer fan a little bit, but I don’t have much time.”
In a separate development, it emerged the Scottish leg of Mr Trump’s UK visit could see more than 5,000 police officers deployed in an operation costing about £5million.