Trump gets slammed for Putin call
WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump has called Russian President Vladimir Putin to congratulate him on his re-election, drawing bruising criticism from members of his own party, including a leading senator who scorned the election as a “sham”.
Mr Trump also said he and Mr Putin might meet “in the not too distant future” to discuss the arms race and other matters.
What they didn’t discuss on Tuesday was noteworthy as well: Mr Trump did not raise Russia’s meddling in the US elections or its suspected involvement in the recent poisoning of a former spy in Britain.
“An American president does not lead the free world by congratulating dictators on winning sham elections,” said Sen John McCain who chairs the Senate Armed Services Committee and has pressed the Trump administration to respond aggressively to Russia’s interference in the US presidential election.
Sen Jeff Flake of Arizona, a frequent Trump critic, called the president’s call “odd”. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said Mr Trump “can call whomever he chooses” but noted that calling Mr Putin “wouldn’t have been high on my list”.
At the State Department, spokeswoman Heather Nauert said it was “no surprise” that Mr Putin was re-elected, commenting that some people were paid to turn out to vote and opposition leaders were intimidated or jailed. She also cited a preliminary report by the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe that said Russia’s election took place in an overly controlled environment that lacked an even playing field for all contenders.
White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders defended Mr Trump’s call, and noted that former president Barack Obama made a similar call at the time of Mr Putin’s last electoral victory.
“We don’t get to dictate how other countries operate,” Ms Sanders said.
The action and reaction fit a Trump White House pattern of declining to chide authoritarian regimes for undemocratic practices.
Mr Trump’s call came at a period of heightened tensions between the two nations after the White House imposed sanctions on Russia for its interference in the 2016 US election.