[ad_1]
(WASHINGTON) – President Donald Trump spent a second day managing the political aftermath of his much-criticized meeting with Vladimir Putin, changing positions and eliminating what the White House called anomalies.
Trump said Wednesday that he had told the Russian president at Monday's summit to stay out of the US elections "and that's how it will go."
This rhetoric marked a reversal of Trump, initially optimistic description of his sitting with Putin. Still, Trump has backtracked on whether Russia is currently targeting the US elections. When asked on Wednesday, he answered "no," an answer that contradicted recent public warnings from his own secret service
.
The zigzag has laid bare the White House 's search for a way forward that tainted from the start the administration' s discussions on Russia, but which wrapped itself up after Trump's trip to Helsinki. After days of criticism from Democrats and Republicans, Trump – a politician who celebrates his ruthless political inaccuracy – has appeared more sensitive than usual to the disgrace outside
The White House says that President Donald Trump believes Russia will return to the US elections. "The threat still exists" .This comes a few hours after Trump seemed to deny that Russia was still targeting the United States.
The magnitude of the bipartisan outcry at Trump's stance toward Putin was only rivaled by his disagreement of 2017 condemning the white supremacist protesters in Charlottesville, Virginia.
"I let him know that we can not have that," Trump told CBS News of his conversations with Putin. "We will not have it, and that's how it will be."
Would he personally condemn Putin for being responsible for any electoral interference? "I would, because he's in charge of the country."
The CBS interview came at the end of two days of changing statements.
On Monday, Trump appeared to question the findings of US intelligence agencies that Russia interfered in the 2016 election.
Its reservations, expressed for 18 months after its presidency he was standing next to Putin on foreign soil, provoked lively criticism at home, even of prominent Republican Republicans.
statement to "clarify" – his word – his remarks Monday. He said that he was mistaken in saying that he saw no reason to believe that Russia had interfered in the 2016 US elections.
Wednesday, at a Cabinet meeting, he was asked if Russia was still targeting the United States. no "without elaborating." This occurred a few days after the National Intelligence Director, Dan Coats, sounded the alarm when he compared the cyber threat to the way the US authorities were saying before September 11. Intelligence channels blinked red The press secretary of the House, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, said Wednesday that Trump was refusing to answer any other questions – even if he later spoke to Russia [19659004] of Trump's one-word answer She said that Sanders had clarified since then, she replied: "There is a reversing of the backing of the backing of the return?
Trump refined and honed his presentation in the two days following Helsinki.
At the press conference with Putin, he was asked if he would denounce what happened in 2016 and warn Putin never to do it. again, and he did not answer directly. Instead, he went in for a ragged response, including inquiries on Hillary Clinton's e-mail server and his description of Putin's "extremely strong and powerful" denial of interference
Trump asserted Wednesday at the White House that no other American president has been so hard on Russia. He cited US sanctions and the expulsion of alleged US spies from the United States, telling reporters that Putin "understands him, and he is not happy about it."
Confused waters have compounded critics' concerns that Trump is not threatening America's electoral system is serious enough. Boosting the reasons why Trump has repeatedly missed opportunities to publicly condemn Putin's actions, Sanders suggested that Trump was working to take advantage of an "opportunity" for the two leaders to work together. on shared interests. an "incredible offer" from Putin to allow the United States to access the Russians accused of electoral piracy and other interference. In exchange, Putin wants Russian interviews with Americans accused by the Kremlin of unspecified crimes.
Sanders said Trump was still weighing the offer with his team, adding, "We have nothing to do." Russian officials said that they wanted to interview Kremlin critics Bill Browder and former US ambassador to Russia Michael McFaul
McFaul tweeted Wednesday that he hoped the White House denounce "this ridiculous request of Putin."
Legislators urged Trump to dismiss the case. "We will ensure that Congress does everything it can to protect this country," said Senator Cory Gardner, R-Colo, who leads the GOP campaign arm.
A number of senators sign quickly on a bipartisan bill of Sens. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., And Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., Who would strike new sanctions on Russia or any other country surprised by posting advertisements, giving false news or interfering with the news. Electoral Infrastructure [196590] 02] Sanders called the legislation "hypothetical" and declined to say if the president would support it.
Van Hollen said that Trump "is not willing to protect the integrity of our democracy in the United States, so Congress must act."
Two other lawmakers, Sens. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., And Chris Coons, D-Del., Will attempt to force a vote on Thursday on a resolution supporting the intelligence community's findings that Russia interfered in the 2016 elections and must be held accountable. Republican senate committee chairman Richard Burr of South Carolina said that if Trump doubted that Russia would again try to intervene, "He needs to read the intelligence."
At the Hudson Institute think tank in Washington last Friday, Coats said, "We do not yet see the kind of voter interference in specific states and voter databases that we have experienced in 2016; However, we realize that we are only one click away from a similar situation. "
His comments came on the same day as the Department of Justice unveiled an act of Accusation against 12 Russian military intelligence officers for their role in piracy Groups during the campaign of 2016.
"The president was completely wrong", Michael Morell, former vice president and acting director of the CIA , said to Trump's remarks after the cabinet meeting. "The Russians continue to interfere in our democracy.Despite the US government's fears that preceded the 2016 presidential elections, hacking of the nation's electoral infrastructure seemed to take precedence over theft and theft. leak of salacious documents from the Democratic National Committee and House Democrats The success of the apparent rehearsal is not a good omen for the next election cycles in 2018 and 2020, as intelligence leaders have noted the threat Increasing and continuing Russian pirates.
At least 18 states have had their electoral systems targeted in one way or another, and perhaps as many as 21 have found a sweep of their networks for possible vulnerabilities, according to a report released in May by the Senate Special Committee on Intelligence.
[ad_2]
Source link
