Trump has not talked bounties with Putin
Reports: Russians paid Taliban to kill US troops
WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump says he did not talk to Russia counterpart Vladimir Putin about reports the Russians paid bounties to Taliban rebels for killing U.S. troops in Afghanistan.
“I have never discussed it with him,” Trump said in a soon-to-be-aired interview with “Axios on HBO,” the Axios news website reported Wednesday.
Asked about the interview, Trump told reporters at the White House he would be “very angry” if evidence emerges that the Russians paid bounties for the deaths of U.S. soldiers. “I would respond appropriately,” Trump said as he left on a trip to Texas for campaign fundraising.
While some have said Trump is afraid to confront Putin over the allegations because he is so friendly with the Russian leader, Trump said his intelligence agencies have not been definitive over claims the Russians offered bounties for the deaths of American troops. Trump and Putin spoke just last Thursday, but Trump told Axios “that was a phone call to discuss other things” rather than bounties, “and frankly that’s an issue that many people said was fake news.”
Trump’s relationship with Putin is a frequent issue as the president pursues reelection. Democratic opponent Joe Biden and others say Trump is too chummy with the Russian autocrat and has refused to confront him on matters ranging from Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election to the allegations over bounties.
Citing reports that Russian bounties were mentioned in the Presidential Daily Brief as early as February, Biden said this month that “the idea that somehow he didn’t know or isn’t being briefed – it is a dereliction of duty if that’s the case. And if he was briefed and nothing was done about this, that’s a dereliction of duty.”
The New York Times reported in early July that intelligence officials believe that “a Russian military intelligence unit secretly offered bounties to Taliban-linked militants for killing coalition forces in Afghanistan – including targeting American troops – amid the peace talks to end the long-running war there.”
Russia has denied the allegations. Congressional committees are looking into the claims but have not provided much evidence.
Trump told reporters at the White House he would be “very angry” if evidence emerges that the Russians paid bounties for the deaths of U.S. soldiers. “I would respond appropriately.”