‘Worst enemy’: Trump warns Putin even as second summit in works
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump continues to defend his Monday summit with Vladimir Putin and says he wants a second meeting soon — while also warning the Russian president he could become Putin’s “worst enemy.”
A day after his top spokeswoman announced Trump wants a follow-up summit in Washington this fall, the president said this of what would be a controversial visit by the Russian strongman who U.S. intelligence officials say led an interference operation in the 2016 presidential election: “I would say it’s in the works.”
The U.S. president has been under fire from Republican and Democratic members for being too conciliatory toward Putin during their Monday summit in Helsinki, Finland. But in an interview with CNBC that aired Friday morning, he tried a tougher line — though Putin was not standing a few feet away, like he was Monday during a joint news conference which GOP senators like Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and Foreign Relations Chairman Bob Corker of Tennessee say made Trump look weak and the United States look like, as the latter said, a “pushover.”
Should future rounds of talks fail to produce deals on topics like counterterrorism, the situation in Syria, paring U.S. and Russian nuclear arms stockpiles and other matters, “I’ll be the worst enemy he’s ever had,” Trump told the network.
“If that doesn’t work out,” the president said, he would become Putin’s “worst nightmare.”
The new, tougher line contradicts Trump’s long-stated goal of warming relations with Putin, including his recent talk of making sure the countries with the world’s largest atomic arsenals “get along.”
Lawmakers from both parties were so troubled by Trump’s tone in Finland that a group is working on legislation that would slap new sanctions on Moscow if it again meddles in the 2018 midterm elections. Even Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, who has signaled a vote on that legislation could happen in mere weeks, felt a need to send a message to Putin warning of retaliation if he again interferes as he and others are concerned Trump failed to do so.
But, ever the defiant contrarian, Trump again defended his Helsinki performance, including the news conference that former CIA Director John Brennan called “treasonous.” Trump at several points appeared to side with Putin over his own intel agencies on the 2016 meddling.
“I think it was a very good press conference,” said Trump, who blamed the “fake news” for skewing perceptions of it.
“I would like to see peace. I think we can do great things for the world,” he said. “I think I would have a good relationship with Putin.”
Trump blasted “fools from the media” who criticized his performance, saying he asked this after sampling some post-Helsinki coverage: “Are these people crazy?”