Exclusive: Trump never raised Russia’s Taliban bounties with Putin

Axios logoPresident Trump has never confronted Vladimir Putin with intelligence indicating Russia paid the Taliban to kill U.S. troops, he told “Axios on HBO” in an interview on Tuesday.

Why it matters: Democrats have seized on the issue, and Trump’s reluctance to discuss it, as evidence he’s unwilling to challenge Putin even when American lives are at stake.

  • Trump spoke with Putin on Thursday, and subsequently deflected a question about whether he’d raised the alleged bounty scheme, saying on Monday: “We don’t talk about what we discussed, but we had plenty of discussion.”

In Tuesday’s interview, he was definitive:

“I have never discussed it with him.”

Continue reading.

Trump Won’t Say Whether He Discussed Soldier Bounties With Putin

President Donald Trump refuses to tell the American people whether or not he has talked with President Vladimir Putin about Russia’s bounty program to pay the Taliban to kill U.S. soldiers.

Trump was finally asked about it, and if he discussed it last week during his call with the President of the Russian Federation.

“We don’t talk about what we discussed, but we had plenty of discussion,” Trump told reporters when finally asked. He added, “I think it was very productive.” Continue reading.