Don fawns over Vlad, slaps FBI
PRESIDENT TRUMP slammed the FBI and praised Vladimir Putin during an impromptu press conference on the White House lawn Friday morning.
Before leaving for a graduation ceremony at the National FBI Academy, Trump excoriated the bureau over its “really disgraceful” handling of the Hillary Clinton email investigation.
“We’re going to rebuild the FBI,” he pledged.
Just hours later, Attorney General Jeff Sessions distanced himself from those comments, telling reporters at the Justice Department that he does not share Trump’s assessment.
“I don’t share the view that the FBI is not functioning at a high level all over the country,” Sessions said.
The President has spent the past few weeks complaining about a perceived anti-Trump bias within the FBI, asserting over Twitter that “its reputation is in tatters.”
While he didn’t have many positive things to say about the FBI, Trump commended Putin for saying “very nice things” about him during a “great” phone call on Thursday.
“He said very nice things about what I have done for this country in terms of the economy, but he said also some negative things in terms of what is going on elsewhere,” Trump told reporters.
Trump added that he “would love” to have Russia’s help in putting pressure on the North Korean regime to drop its nuclear weapons ambitions.
Mirroring statements made by Putin, Trump also insisted that “there was no collusion” between his campaign and the Russian government, blasting special prosecutor Robert Mueller’s sweeping investigation as a “Democratic hoax.”
“It was an excuse for losing the election and it should have never been this way where they spend all these millions of dollars,” he said.
To date, Mueller’s probe has produced federal indictments against four Trump associates, and two guilty pleas. That includes ex-national security adviser Michael Flynn, who pledged to cooperate with investigators earlier this month after pleading guilty to lying to the FBI about his contacts with a Russian diplomat. WASHINGTON — The Department of Homeland Security is adding new requirements for countries that participate in the Visa Waiver Program as part of the Trump administration’s ongoing efforts to tighten border and travel security.
DHS announced Friday that the 38 countries participating in the program will now be required to use U.S. counterterrorism information to screen travelers crossing their borders as part of their existing information-sharing agreements.
The U.S. will also begin assessing how effectively the countries are protecting against insider threats to aviation security by making sure they vet their airport employees and ensure those employees aren’t corrupted.
The Visa Waiver Program allows citizens of 38 countries to travel to the U.S. for business or tourism for up to 90 days without having to obtain visas. About 20 million people travel on the program every year.