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HELSINKI – President Trump handed Russian President Vladimir Putin to a unalloyed diplomatic triumph during their summit here Monday as he refused to support the collective conclusion of U.S. intelligence agencies that Russia had interfered in the 2016 U.S. presidential election.
Trump's warm rhetorical embrace of Putin, who said to him an "extremely strong and powerful" denial that Russia assaulted US democracy, marked an extraordinary capstone to the first formal meeting between the leaders of the world's nuclear superpowers and sparked
A remarkable 46-minute joint news conference inside the Finnish presidential palace, Trump would not challenge Putin's claim that the Russian government played no role in trying to sabotage the US election , despite the Justice Department's indictments Friday, December 12th, 2010, Author:, Categories: Uncategorized Trump wins the election
Trump went on to condemn the expansive federal investigation of Russian interference as "a disaster for our country "and" a total witch hunt, "arguing that the probe, along with" foolish American politics, had severely impaired relations between the two countries.
The gathering along the glistening waterfront of this Nordic capital turned into a clear political victory for the Russian president, who seeks to expand his country's global influence by sowing discord within the United States and disrupting Western alliances
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov called the summit "fabulous" and "better than super," according to Russian news agencies, while Putin spokesman Dmitry Peskov was snickering with exuberance as he watched the news conference from the sidelines.
Trump and Putin, only joined by their interpreters. After the beginning of the head with the KGB agent, Trump appears to be the focus of his intelligence on Russia's behavior.
Both presidents are highly focused on projecting dominance and machismo, but Trump on Monday waffled beside A stone-faced Putin and avoided a confrontation When an Associated Press reporter asked Trump whether he believes US intelligence officials or Putin.
"They said they think it's Russia," Trump replied, referring intelligence officials. "I have President Putin – he just said it 's not Russia."
Trump added: "I will say this – I do not see any reason why it would be. . . . I would like to say that I would like to say that President Putin was extremely strong and powerful in his denial today. "
Trump declined an invitation by the AP reporter, Jonathan Lemire, to warn Putin, with the world
And with Trump looking on, Putin insisted that "the Russian state has never interfered and is not going to interfere with internal American affairs, including election process." [19659013] Putin suggested what Trump described as an "interesting idea" – that special counsel Robert S. Mueller III's investigators could come to Russia and help the question. Russian suspects, as long as Russians could do the same. carrying out crimes on Russian soil
[After being told of Russia indictments, Trump still aspired to be friends with Putin]
Trump's failure to confront Putin drew stern rebukes from leaders of both political parties in Washington and left the American national secu
Director of National Intelligence Daniel Coats responding by stating that the intelligence assessment of Russia's "ongoing, pervasive efforts to undermine our democracy" has been presented to Trump in an unvarnished and objective fashion.
CIA director John O. Brennan tweeted that Trump proved himself to be "wholly in the pocket of Putin" and that his comments were "nothing short of treasonous."
Meanwhile, House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R -Wis.) Said "there is no question that Russia interferes in our election and continues attempts at undermine democracy."
And Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) Called the Helsinki summit "a tragic mistake," arguing that Trump delivered "one of the most disgraceful performances by an American president in memory."
One of the few defenses in Washington came from Vice President Pence. "What the world saw, what the American people saw, is that President Donald Trump will always have the prosperity and security of America first," Pence said during an event at the Commerce Department.
As Trump returned to Washington aboard Air Force One, the president took to Twitter to defend his performance.
"As I said today and many times before, 'I have GREAT confidence in MY intelligence people.' However, I also recognize that in order to build a future brighter, We have not had a single focus on the past two years. "wrote the president, who has remained fixated on the achievements of his campaign two years ago.
The summit, Trump vented on Twitter and stewed in private with advisers over the indictments of Russian intelligence officers. The probe, overseen by Mueller, Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort, who is in jail.
Discussing the investigation here Monday with Putin at his side, Trump No doubt about the fact that he had no contact with Putin at the time
"I did not know the president," Trump said. "There was nobody to collude with. There was no collusion with the campaign. "
" What happened to the Pakistani gentleman's servers? "
Trump went on worked on the [Democratic National Committee]? "Trump asked. "Where are those servers? They're missing. Where are they? What happened to Hillary Clinton's emails? Thirty-three thousand emails gone – just gone. I think in Russia they would not be gone so easily. I think it's a disgrace that we can not get Hillary Clinton's 33,000 emails. "
Putin confirmed that he wanted Trump to defeat Clinton" because he talked about normalizing relations "between Russia and the United States. When asked whether the Russian government had compromising information on Trump or his family members, Putin did not answer directly and dismissed the question by saying, "It's hard to imagine greater nonsense." He told reporters, "Please throw this junk out of your head. "
Trump said his own country, rather than Russia, was to blame for hostilities between their two nations. Although most U.S. officials fault Russia's election interference, its alleged use of a nerve agent on British soil and its aggression in Ukraine and Syria, Trump instead faulted "U.S. foolishness and stupidity "in a tweet. The Russian Foreign Ministry's official Twitter account retweeted it and added, "We agree."
After sitting down with Putin, Trump said relations had warmed – and Putin agreed.
"The Cold War is a thing of the past, "Putin said, saying that he and Trump spoke" in a frank and businesslike atmosphere. "
In a show of bonhomie, Putin, who hosted the World Cup soccer tournament that concluded Sunday in Moscow, handed Trump has soccer ball remember. "Now the ball is in your court," Putin said. The United States, Canada and Mexico will be jointly host the World Cup in 2026, after Qatar in 2022.
Trump tossed the ball to first lady Melania Trump, who was sitting in the front row at the news conference, and said they would give it to their son, Barron, 12.
Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (RS.C.), who was critical of Trump's Monday performance, tweeted, "If it was me, I'd check the ball game for listening devices and never allow it in the White House."
The Trump-Putin is coming soon after the perennially tardy Russian president arrived in Helsinki. Their one-on-one meeting lasted on two hours, a half-hour longer than anticipated.
[Putin’s Helsinki showmanship starts with his limo]
Helsinki, which has moved across the Gulf of Finland from Putin's hometown of St. Petersburg, has hosted past diplomatic breakthroughs between American and Russian presidents because of Finland's stance of political neutrality. Although a member of the European Union, Finland is not part of NATO
Trump and Putin said they were discussing a range of issues – including the civil war in Syria
Heading into the summit, US officials said the meeting It was a "deliverable," and Trump said it would be future talks between the two presidents and their delegations.
"Putting the summit at a conclusion" . "
William Branigin and John Wagner in Washington contributed to this report.
Read more:
How the Kremlin turned Putin into a global icon
Trump's extremely defensive interview about Russia and Putin
Why Trump can not beat Putin at his own game
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