TRUMP EYES 2020 REELECTION, BLAMES OBAMA FOR RUSSIAN MEDDLING
LONDON— US President Donald Trump said he intended to run for reelection in 2020 because “everybody wants me to” and there were no Democratic candidates who could defeat him.
“Well I fully intend to. It seems like everybody wants me to,” Trump was quoted as saying by the Mail on Sunday, one day after a US federal grand jury indicted 12 Russian spies for hacking the computers of Hillary Clinton’s campaign and Democratic campaign committees.
‘Unbeatable’
Trump, the 45th president, said he did not see any Democrat who could beat him: “I don’t see anybody. I know them all and I don’t see anybody.”
Of the 44 people who served as US president, only Franklin Pierce, the 14th president, was not nominated for reelection by his own party.
Four others—John Tyler, Millard Fillmore, Andrew Johnson and Chester Arthur—were not nominated for reelection by their own party, but none of them were elected in their own right.
Trump announced his reelection plan before leaving Britain for a summit in Finland with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Uproarious trip
During an uproarious trip to Europe, Trump has harangued members of the Nato military alliance, scolded Germany for its dependence on Russian energy, and shocked Britain by publicly criticizing British Prime Minister Theresa May’s Brexit strategy.
Of his upcoming meeting with Putin on Monday, Trump was more guarded.
“I think we could probably get along very well. Somebody said are you friends or enemies? I said well it’s too early to say,” Trump was quoted as saying by the Mail on Sunday.
“Right now I say we’re competitors but for the United States, and frankly the UK and other places, to get along with Russia and China and all of these other places... that’s a good thing, that’s not a bad thing. That’s a really good thing.”
But a federal grand jury on Friday said Russian spies covertly monitored computers of Hillary Clinton’s campaign and Democratic campaign committees, and stole large amounts of data.
Obama’s fault
Trump on Saturday blamed his predecessor, Barack Obama, for not acting on the allegations of Russian meddling.
“The stories you heard about the 12 Russians yesterday took place during the Obama Administration, not the Trump Administration,” Trump said on Twitter.
“Why didn’t they do something about it, especially when it was reported that President Obama was informed by the FBI in September, before the Election?”
“Where is the DNC Server, and why didn’t the FBI take possession of it? Deep State?” Trump asked.—