Move FM Global News

WASHINGTON, U.S. – Starting his day by blaming American foolishness and the “Rigged Witch Hunt,” for the country’s bad blood with Russia – the 45th President of the United States, Donald Trump was slammed on Monday for delivering one of the “worst performances by any American president in recent memory.”

At the end of his high stakes meeting with the Russian President Vladimir Putin in Helsinki, Finland – Trump had probably been hoping to deliver a key breakthrough that would keep him afloat even as his administration continues to face the heat back home, over tariffs and a spiraling investigation into alleged collusion between his campaign and Kremlin.

And with discussions being focussed on some of the world’s most dangerous conflicts, Trump hoped to deliver at least one breakthrough that would help him and his party sail through the upcoming U.S. midterm elections with ease. 

He needed it too, considering that the follow through after his heavy on optics summit with the North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has been so poor that Trump himself has stopped touting his “successful talks” with the despot. 

However, after delivering an optimistic opening statement, and then huddling with Putin in a close-door meeting attended only by their respective interpreters – Trump emerged to deliver his joint press conference standing alongside the Kremlin leader. 

At the press conference, standing right next to Putin, Trump openly questioned his own intelligence agencies’ conclusions that Russia was to blame for meddling in the 2016 U.S. election to Trump’s benefit.

Further, he seemed to accept Putin’s insistence that Russia played no role in the American election and that the accusations against it are all false.

Meanwhile, Putin told the global press that because of his policies, he did indeed want to Trump to win in 2016, but took no action to make it happen.

Trump met Putin merely a few days after the U.S. Department of Justice charged 12 Russian intelligence officers with hacking Democratic officials during the 2016 Presidential election.

After Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein announced the indictment on Friday last week, Trump faced increasing calls to either cancel his summit with Putin or strongly confront the Russian leader over his actions. 

Trump however, turned around the following day and blamed his predecessor, Barack Obama, for not responding aggressively enough to Russian hacking of Democratic targets in the 2016 U.S. election.

However, on Monday, after holding talks with Putin, Trump declared, “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.”

He repeatedly denounced Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian interference efforts, and even though American intelligence officials have warned that such interference efforts are ongoing – Trump said, “I don’t see any reason why Russia would interfere in the 2016 election.”

U.S. intelligence agencies insist that Russians meddled with the elections in a bid to swing the election in Trump’s favor – an effort they are said to have carried out by hacking of Democratic emails.

However, on Monday Trump said that he and Putin “spent a great deal of time” discussing allegations of Russian election meddling but, at the end of it, the U.S. President declined the opportunity to denounce Putin for the interference efforts.

Reiterating his often used phrase, Trump said there was “no collusion” between his campaign and the Russians. 

He declared, “We ran a brilliant campaign and that’s why I’m president.”

Further, Trump even jumped on the Russian President’s suggestion that Moscow and Washington could jointly conduct criminal investigations into a dozen Russian intelligence officials accused of hacking during the 2016 U.S. election campaign.

Trump hailed the idea as an “incredible offer.”

Meanwhile, when questioned about whether Russia could extradite the 12 Russian military intelligence officers, Putin challenged the U.S. to take advantage of a 1999 agreement envisaging mutual legal assistance.

He explained that the agreement would allow U.S. officials to request that Russian authorities interrogate the 12, adding that U.S. officials could request to be present in such interrogations.

The Russian President also noted that Moscow would expect the U.S. to return the favor and cooperate in the Russian probe against William Browder, a British investor charged of financial crimes in Russia. 

At the end of the press conference, when questioned about whether he held Russia responsible for anything at all – Trump said he held “both countries responsible.”

Trump said that he thinks the United States has been “fooling” and that “we’re all to blame.”

He repeated, “The probe in a disaster for our country. There was no collusion at all.”

Chiming in, Putin too seized the opportunity to deny the “so-called interference of Russia.” 

He called it “nonsense” and insisted the Russian state had never interfered and would never interfere in the American electoral process.

Trump comments were slammed not only because he had questioned the intelligence findings by his own country in front of the powerful Russian leader – but also because his extraordinary statements delivered what amounted to a warm embrace to the man who for years has been isolated by the U.S. and Western allies for his country’s activities in Ukraine, Syria and beyond.

So obvious was this embrace of the Russian leader, that even prominent Republicans criticized Trump’s actions.

One of the most outspoken critics of Trump, Sen. John McCain was most outspoken, declaring that Trump made a “conscious choice to defend a tyrant,” and his meeting “a tragic mistake.”

He said that Trump had achieved “one of the most disgraceful performances by an American president in memory.”

Meanwhile, Sen. Bob Corker of Tennessee said Trump made the U.S. “look like a pushover.”

Trump’s statements also incited a response from the Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats, who was a Trump nominee approved by Congress, said in a statement, “We have been clear in our assessments of Russian meddling in the 2016 election and their ongoing, pervasive efforts to undermine our democracy, and we will continue to provide unvarnished and objective intelligence in support of our national security.”

Meanwhile, Republican Senator Lindsey Graham said Trump’s performance would send a message of “weakness” to Moscow.

Graham tweeted, “Missed opportunity by President Trump to firmly hold Russia accountable for 2016 meddling and deliver a strong warning regarding future elections. This answer by President Trump will be seen by Russia as a sign of weakness and create far more problems than it solves.”

Further, Arizona Senator Jeff Flake, a frequent Trump critic, said, “I never thought I would see the day when our American President would stand on the stage with the Russian President and place blame on the United States for Russian aggression. This is shameful.”

Bob Corker, the Republican head of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Bob Corker, Trump’s comments at the joint news conference made the United States look like a “pushover.”

U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Paul Ryan, the top congressional Republican insisted that Trump “must appreciate that Russia is not our ally.”