Tag: Vladimir Putin

Trump vows to hold second meeting with Putin

The following article by Brett Samuels was posted on the Hill website July 19, 2018:

President Trump on Thursday said he wants to have a second meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, even as he endures days of stark, bipartisan criticism over his performance at his first summit with the Russian leader Monday in Helsinki.

Trump, who at the summit appeared to put equal weight in Putin’s denial of involvement in the 2016 election with the findings of his intelligence agencies that Russia did interfere in the election, pronounced the summit a huge success and said he was looking forward to meeting Putin again.

“The Summit with Russia was a great success, except with the real enemy of the people, the Fake News Media,” Trump tweeted.

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GOP seeks separation from Trump on Russia

The following article by Alexander bolton and Jordain Carney was posted on the Hill website July 19, 2018:

Republicans on Capitol Hill are scrambling to distance themselves from President Trump’s controversial comments on Russia earlier this week.

With less than four months before the election, Senate Republican leaders say they will likely act on legislation sponsored by Sens. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) and Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) this year. That measure would impose stiff economic penalties on Russia if it meddles in a U.S. election in 2018 and beyond.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has indicated to colleagues that he may bring the bill straight to the floor, skipping the committee process to save time. White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders on Wednesday declined to say whether the administration supports the Rubio-Van Hollen bill.

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White House attempts to clarify Trump’s response to whether Russia is still targeting U.S. elections

The following article by John Wagner and Felicia Sonmez was posted on the Washington Post website July 18, 2018:

President Trump said ”no” when asked if he thought Russia was still targeting the U.S. The White House says Trump was rejecting the question not answering it. (Reuters)

For the third straight day, President Trump cast doubt on whether he views Russia as a threat, despite warnings from his own government that Moscow continues to target the United States with hostile actions.

Trump triggered a new uproar Wednesday morning when he appeared to suggest that Russia is no longer seeking to interfere in U.S. elections — prompting the White House to assert hours later that his words had been misconstrued.

At the start of a Cabinet meeting at the White House, a reporter asked Trump, “Is Russia still targeting the U.S., Mr. President?”

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Trump Again Skips Intel Briefing After Siding With Putin

The following article by John T. Bennett was posted on the Roll Call website July 18, 2018:

President broke with DNI Coats standing alon(g)side Russian strongman

President Trump and Russian President Putin arrive Monday for a press conference in Helsinki, Finland. Credit: Chris McGrath, Getty Images

For the second consecutive day since he broke with America’s spy agencies over Russia’s election meddling, President Donald Trump on Wednesday will not get an intelligence briefing.

The daily presidential guidance email sent out each evening by the White House initially featured only one item, an 11:30 a.m. Cabinet meeting. It was was updated Wednesday morning to include a 2 p.m. press briefing with Sarah Huckabee Sanders.

Trump’s public schedule typically begins with a late-morning intelligence briefing in the Oval Office after his “executive time” in the White House residence, during which he tweets while watching cable news. He also uses that time to call lawmakers and friends, aides say.

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As Russians describe ‘verbal agreements’ at summit, U.S. officials scramble for clarity

The following article by Karen DeYoung, Missy Ryan and Anton Troianovski was posted on the Washington Post website July 19, 2018:

President Trump said that he and Russian President Vladimir Putin made “significant progress,” on problems in the Middle East and nuclear proliferation. (Photo: Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post)

Two days after President Trump’s summit with Russian President Vladi­mir Putin, Russian officials offered a string of assertions about what the two leaders had achieved.

“Important verbal agreements” were reached at the Helsinki meeting, Russia’s ambassador to the United States, Anatoly Antonov, told reporters in Moscow Wednesday, including preservation of the New START and INF agreements, major bilateral arms control treaties whose futures have been in question. Antonov also said Putin had made “specific and interesting proposals to Washington” on how the two countries could cooperate on Syria.

But officials at the most senior levels across the U.S. military, scrambling since Monday to determine what Trump may have agreed to on national security issues in Helsinki, had little to no information Wednesday.

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From the Start, Trump Has Muddied a Clear Message: Putin Interfered

The following article by David E. Sanger and Matthew Rosenberg was posted on the New York Times website July 18, 2018:

President Trump was shown clear evidence on Jan. 6, 2017, that President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia had ordered cyberattacks to sway the 2016 election. But his statements since have suggested other explanations.Published OnJuly 19, 2018CreditImage by Sam Hodgson for The New York Times

WASHINGTON — Two weeks before his inauguration, Donald J. Trump was shown highly classified intelligence indicating that President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia had personally ordered complex cyberattacks to sway the 2016 American election.

The evidence included texts and emails from Russian military officers and information gleaned from a top-secret source close to Mr. Putin, who had described to the C.I.A. how the Kremlin decided to execute its campaign of hacking and disinformation.

Mr. Trump sounded grudgingly convinced, according to several people who attended the intelligence briefing. But ever since, Mr. Trump has tried to cloud the very clear findings that he received on Jan. 6, 2017, which his own intelligence leaders have unanimously endorsed.

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Trump says he told Putin “we can’t have meddling”

The following article by Shannon Vavra was posted on the Axios website July 18, 2018:

Credit: Yuri Kadobnova, AFP/Getty Images

President Trump, in an interview with CBS News’ Jeff Glor, said that he told Russian President Vladimir Putin Monday that he was “very strong” on the fact that “we can’t have meddling” in our elections, despite failing to confront him on the issue during their joint press conference.

I let him know we can’t have this, we’re not going to have it, and that’s the way it’s going to be.
— President Trump

Why it matters: There’s no way to verify Trump’s account of what he said, since he met with Putin in private. But here’s what Trump said in public about Russian election interference: “I have great confidence in my intelligence people but I will tell you that President Putin was extremely strong and powerful in his denial today.”

View the complete article on the Axios website here.

Facing The Russian Dictator, Our Bullyboy President Cowered

The following article by Gene Lyons was posted on the National Memo website July 17, 2018:

It’s almost proverbial to say that every bully is a coward at heart. But that’s wishful thinking. In politics, many strongmen are like Vladimir Putin, ruthless, cunning and sadistic. As the world witnessed in Helsinki, a posturing blowhard like Donald Trump is simply no match for the Russian dictator.

Faced with a real thug, the trust-fund poser cowered.

Thankfully, Putin is also a bloody-minded realist. Because the disgraceful spectacle of Trump belittling America’s NATO allies, lying about it, and then cringing before the Russian dictator might otherwise tempt him to do something reckless. If the U.S. president is weak, the western democracies are still far stronger than Russia. But events are definitely moving in Putin’s direction.

View the complete post on the National Memo website here.

How Trump retreats: Grudging apologies, plus a wink and a nod to the original insult

The following article by Marc Fisher was posted on the Washington Post website July 17, 2018:

After his Helsinki comments, President Trump said he accepts U.S intelligence findings on Russia’s election interference, but it “could be other people also.” (Photo: Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post)

As a young man on the make in Manhattan, as a political candidate and as president, Donald Trump has relied for half a century on a basic rule of behavior: To win, one must never apologize.

But sometimes life offers no choice but to back down, and when that happens to Trump, he has crafted a method of apology that is equal parts retreat and doubling down.

On Tuesday, President Trump felt compelled to pull back on his statement in Helsinki on Monday that embraced Russian President Vladi­mir Putin’s version of the 2016 presidential campaign interference story over the facts presented by U.S. intelligence services.

View the complete article on the Washington Post website here.

Meet the Republicans who want ‘Tax Reform 2.0’ as Russia controversy rages on

The following article by Tana Ganeva was posted on the RawStory.com website July 17, 2018:

President Trump and Russia’s President Putin shake hands in Helsinki, Finland July 16, 2018. Credit: Kevin Lamarque, Reuters

On Tuesday, as the controversy continued to rage over President Donald Trump’s meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, some Republicans are going back to business as usual: pushing forth tax reforms most likely to benefit corporate interests and the wealthy.

According to the White House pool report, President Trump is slated to meet with Republican members of Congress today to discuss “tax reform 2.0.”

The President plans to meet with the following congresspeople, many of whom, like Rep. Diane Black (R-TN), have previously issued soft critiques of the President on issues like trade policy but nevertheless signal their support for most of Donald Trump’s agenda:

Chairman Kevin Brady (R-TX)
Rep. Mike Bishop (R-MI)
Rep. Diane Black (R-TN)
Rep. George Holding (R-NC)
Rep. Jim Renacci (R-OH)
Rep. Peter Roskam (R-IL)
Rep. Erik Paulsen (R-MN)

View the complete article on the RawStory.com website here.