Trump, seeking to calm the political storm on Putin's summit, says he's poorly expressed :: Kenya

U.S. President Donald Trump attempted on Tuesday to calm a storm over his inability to hold Russian President Vladimir Putin responsible for his interference in the 2016 US elections, saying that he had misrepresented himself during the weekend. a joint press conference in Helsinki.

Trump stunned the world by refusing to criticize the Russian leader for Moscow's actions to undermine the elections and cast doubts on US intelligence agencies, prompting some US lawmakers to impose tougher sanctions and sanctions. 39, other sanctions against Russia. ] ALSO READ:

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"I said that the word" would "instead of" would not ", Trump told reporters at the White House more than 24 hours after his appearance with Putin. "The sentence should have been:" I see no reason why it would not be Russia. "

A Reuters / Ipsos poll conducted after his press conference with Putin revealed that 55% of US voters disapproved of his handling of relations with Russia, while 37% approved.

Trump, who had the opportunity to publicly reprimand Putin at the press conference in Helsinki, congratulated the Russian leader for his "strong and powerful" denial of the findings of the US intelligence agencies that interfered in the election.

Standing alongside Putin in Helsinki, Trump told reporters that he was not convinced that it was Moscow. "I see no reason for that," said Trump.

Although he was faced with pressure from critics, allied countries and even his own staff to take a hard line, Trump said not a single derogatory word in public about Moscow on the planet. One of the issues that has brought the relations between the two nuclear powers to the lowest since the Cold War.

Republicans and Democrats accuse him of taking sides for an adversary rather than for his own country.

Despite a television interview and many posts on Twitter, Trump did not correct until 27 hours later. Reading mainly a prepared statement, Trump said on Tuesday that he had complete confidence in US intelligence agencies and accepted their findings.

He then forked off his script to warn who was responsible for the election interference: "It could be other people too, there are a lot of people out there."

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Its backtracking has failed to quell the controversy. Democrats rejected Trump's statement as a control of political damage.

"This must be acknowledged for what it is, which is simply an effort to clean up the mess that it did yesterday, which is beyond any statement to repair," he said. Adam Schiff, the top Democrat on the Intelligence Committee of the House of Representatives.

Senate Democrat Leader Chuck Schumer said Trump's comments on Tuesday were another sign of weakness, particularly his statement that "there could be other people" responsible for it. electoral interference.

"He made a horrible statement, tried to back down, but did not even manage to back down," Schumer said on the Senate floor. "This shows the weakness of President Trump that he is afraid to face Mr. Putin directly."

The political storm on Trump's performance in Helsinki

engulfed the administration and spread to his Republican colleagues, eclipsing most of the frequent controversies that erupted during the turbulent 18 months of Trump in power.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell told reporters that Russia was not a friend of the United States and cautioned against a repeat of election interference during the elections. November parliamentary elections.

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"Many of us fully understand what happened in 2016 and it is better not to do it in 2018, "said McConnell.

MORE ROBUST SANCTIONS

Some lawmakers have stated that they would seek remedies against Russia in Congress.

Several senators from both parties supported stronger sanctions against Russia. McConnell and House Speaker Paul Ryan, who described the Russian government as "threatening," said their chambers could consider additional sanctions against Russia.

Congress overwhelmingly pbaded a sanctions law last year against Moscow for electoral interference. In April, the US Treasury imposed sanctions on Russian officials and oligarchs in one of Washington's most aggressive actions aimed at punishing Moscow.

Even before the allegations of Russian interference, Moscow concerns about the expansion of NATO, the annexation by Russia of the Crimean peninsula to Ukraine in 2014 and the military support of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to the Syrian civil war.

Some US lawmakers have suggested adopting resolutions expressing support for intelligence agencies, or spending more to improve election security and prevent cyberattacks.

Republican Senator Bob Corker, chairman of the Senate Foreign Affairs Committee, said congressional leaders were looking for the most effective answer.

"We are trying to figure out what would be an appropriate way to push back," Corker told reporters. "You know that the president can do more damage in 15 minutes at a press conference that we can undo in six months to pbad resolutions."

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Corker said that "the first step" would be to hear US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who will testify next Wednesday before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

Senate Democrats said they wanted the US interpreter at the Helsinki meeting to testify to Congress what was said during Trump-Putin's private session.

U.S. Intelligence agencies concluded last year that the Russian government interfered in the 2016 election campaign and sought to tip the vote in favor of Trump, which Moscow denied. Special advocate Robert Mueller investigates this allegation and any possible collusion on the part of the Trump campaign.

Trump denied the collusion and casts Mueller's investigation as a witch hunt that aims to harm his electoral victory.

Not all Republicans were angry with Trump's conduct in Helsinki. "The president did a good thing meeting Putin," said Sen. Rand Paul on CBS's "This Morning" program, which earned him thanks from Trump on Twitter.

The political and media establishment of Russia announced the summit as a victory for Putin in the fight against the Western will to treat Russia as an outcast.

"The West's attempts to isolate Russia have failed," headlines the state daily Rossiisskaya Gazeta.

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