Surprise and perplexity: Trump invites Putin to another summit in the United States

The announcement of the invitation of Donald Trump to visit the White House to President Vladimir Putin was greeted in the United States with astonishment and even confusion

. The news was revealed by White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders. who also wrote on Twitter that discussions to define the details of the meeting were already under way.

The two leaders held a first summit in Finland last Monday that generated a controversy between supporters and opponents of Trump for not being more firm with Putin.

After the meeting, the US president aligned himself with the Russian version by dismissing accusations from his intelligence services that Moscow had interfered in the 2016 presidential elections.

Then, in the middle a storm of criticism, Trump tried to retract saying that he had abused a word.

In Helsinki, Trump and Putin spoke to each other. or his translators present and there were not many details of what was discussed.

But on Thursday, Trump reiterated in his Twitter account that the talks had been a "big hit" and that he was waiting for his next meeting.

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The announcement of the invitation took by surprise the director of national intelligence of the United States, Dan Coats, who participated in a live interview at a forum on Colorado security

When the presenter of the event announced the invitation, Coats asked with astonishment: " Can you repeat that? "

Then he laughed and said, "It'll be special." The director of intelligence added that he was not yet aware of what had been said at the first meeting of the two presidents

Senate Democratic Caucus Leader Chuck Schumer called Trump to reveal what he had discussed with Putin

"Until we know what happened at this two-hour meeting in Helsinki, President I should not have more individual interactions with Putin, "he said. "Whether in the United States, Russia or elsewhere."

Trump-Putin, the sequel

In his recent tweet Donald Trump claimed not only that his summit with Putin It was a "big hit", but people with "highest levels of "Intelligence" were delighted with their press conference in Helsinki.

BBC correspondent in Washington, Anthony Zurcher, points out that The President wants to emphasize with his statement that plans for a second meeting are already underway.

This, despite the fact that the White House tried for three days to deal with negative reactions to the summit of part of the two parties or that the investigation into Russian interference in the elections continues its march.

Zurcher says that although the president's attitude in front of Russia bothers the general public, the latest polls indicate that his Republican base – that is a majority Be good with your performance.

"Trump can feel encouraged by this," says our correspondent. "With his base still supporting him, (the president) seems ready to go ahead with his goals."

BBC