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| Trump finds Putin's denial of election meddling 'powerful' | Trump finds Putin's denial of election meddling 'powerful' |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| Donald Trump stood with Vladimir Putin at a stunning press conference in Helsinki on Monday and indicated that he accepts the Russian’s leaders denial of meddling in the 2016 US presidential election over the findings of his own intelligence agencies. | |
| Following one-on-one talks that lasted more than two hours in the Finnish capital, the US president offered no criticism of Putin or election interference, saying only: “President Putin was extremely strong and powerful in his denial today.” | |
| The comments set off a new firestorm in Washington and only fuelled the intrigue of why Trump’s refusal to criticise Putin remains one of the few constants of his presidency. | |
| Addressing reporters in the baroque surroundings of the presidential palace, Trump acknowledged that Dan Coats, the director of national intelligence, had told him that Russia was behind the cyber-attack on American democracy but that Putin insisted it was not. “I don’t see any reason why it would be,” he said. | |
| He then veered off into a rambling discussion of the Democratic National Committee’s server and Hillary Clinton’s missing emails – a move a seen by critics as a crude attempt to deflect and distract. | He then veered off into a rambling discussion of the Democratic National Committee’s server and Hillary Clinton’s missing emails – a move a seen by critics as a crude attempt to deflect and distract. |
| “Where is the server? I want to know. Where is the server and what is the server saying?” And bridling at the suggestion that his election victory might be discredited, Trump added: “We ran a brilliant campaign and that’s why I’m president.” | |
| There was swift condemnation from some of Trump’s leading critics in Washington, where intelligence agencies have concluded that Russia actively sought to interfere in the election to help Trump and harm his rival, Hillary Clinton. | |
| Jeff Flake, a Republican senator from Arizona, tweeted: “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.” | |
| Senator Lindsey Graham, a Republican from South Carolina, 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.” | |
| For his part, Putin, addressing reporters at the Finnish presidential palace, reiterated his denial of election meddling. He said: “We should be guided by facts. Can you name a single fact that would definitively prove collusion? This is nonsense.” | For his part, Putin, addressing reporters at the Finnish presidential palace, reiterated his denial of election meddling. He said: “We should be guided by facts. Can you name a single fact that would definitively prove collusion? This is nonsense.” |
| In the wake of last week’s indictment of 12 Russian military officers for hacking and leaking Democratic emails, Putin offered to allow the special counsel Robert Mueller’s team to visit Russia and witness the accused being questioned – but only if the US made a reciprocal arrangement concerning individuals charged with crimes on Russian territory. | |
| The Russian leader was also asked about claims that he holds compromising material on Trump; there have long been rumours of a video tape in which Trump was caught in a Russian hotel with sex workers. He quipped: “I was an intelligence officer and I know how dossiers are made up.” | The Russian leader was also asked about claims that he holds compromising material on Trump; there have long been rumours of a video tape in which Trump was caught in a Russian hotel with sex workers. He quipped: “I was an intelligence officer and I know how dossiers are made up.” |
| Putin added: “I did hear these rumours. When President Trump visited Moscow back then, I didn’t even know he was in Moscow ... Nobody informed me that he was in Moscow ... Please disregard these issues.” | Putin added: “I did hear these rumours. When President Trump visited Moscow back then, I didn’t even know he was in Moscow ... Nobody informed me that he was in Moscow ... Please disregard these issues.” |
| Trump interjected: “If they had it, it would have been out long ago.” | |
| The news conference followed a dialogue between Trump and Putin where only interpreters were present and a working lunch - the first such event between a US and Russian president since 2010. | |
| Journalists gathered in a ballroom decorated with columns, golf leaf and crystal chandeliers and, behind the podium, five American and five Russian flags. Before the press conference started, a man, said to be holding a sign protesting against nuclear weapons, was bundled out of the room by three security guards. | |
| The two leaders were an unlikely match at the podium. Trump, bigger and taller, had held political office for just 18 months; Putin has been at the top of government for 18 years. | |
| Trump shook his counterpart’s hand and whispered, “Thank you very much”, before congratulating him on the successful hosting of the World Cup. Eager to take credit, he claimed: “Our relationship has never been worse than it is now. However, that changed as of about four hours ago.” | |
| Later, questioned why relations had deteriorated so badly, he said he holds both countries responsible and that the US has been “foolish”. He said: “We should have had this dialogue a long time ago... We have both made some mistakes. I think the probe is a disaster for our country... There was no collusion at all.” | |
| The comment prompted consternation in Washington. Republican Senator Ben Sasse of Nebraska said: “This is bizarre and flat-out wrong. The United States is not to blame. America wants a good relationship with the Russian people but Vladimir Putin and his thugs are responsible for Soviet-style aggression. When the President plays these moral equivalence games, he gives Putin a propaganda win he desperately needs.” | |
| There was some relief for western diplomats in that the press conference offered few clues as to whether Trump had made major concessions that would undermine Nato or Ukrainian sovereignty. Asked abotu Crimea, Putin said Trump “continues to maintain that it was illegal to annex it. Our viewpoint is different.” | |
| Once again Trump seemed utterly resistant to criticising the Russian president. “I called him a competitor, and a good competitor he is. The word competitor is a compliment.” | |
| Asked if he wanted Trump to win the election, Putin replies: “Yes I did because he talked about bringing the Russian relationship back to normal.” | |
| And Putin, basking in the afterglow of Russia’s hosting of the World Cup, presented Trump with a football and said: “Now the ball is in your court.” Trump, smiling, replied: “That will go to my son Barron, no question.” He passed it to his wife, Melania, sitting on the front row. | |
| Senator Graham tweeted: “Finally, if it were me, I’d check the soccer ball for listening devices and never allow it in the White House.” | |
| Axios✔@axios | |
| Putin: “The Russian state has never interfered and is not going to interfere into internal American affairs including [the] election process.” | |
| 6:23 PM - Jul 16, 2018 | |
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| More Key quotes from Trump: He said that the relationship between the U.S. and Russia “has never been worse than it is now. However, that changed as of about four hours ago.” | |
| On that deteriorating relationship, Trump said: “I hold both countries responsible. I think the United States has been foolish... I think we’ve all been foolish. We’re all to blame.” | |
| He called Putin a “good competitor,” not an adversary. | |
| “I beat Hillary Clinton easily... We won that race. And it’s a shame that there can even be a little bit of a cloud over it.” | |
| “There was no collusion. I didn’t know the president. There was nobody to collude with.” | |
| Trump called the Russia investigation “a disaster for our country.” | |
| When asked whether he believes the U.S. intelligence community or Putin over what happened in 2016, Trump said “I don’t see any reason why it would be [Russia], I really want to see the server.” He added, “President Putin was extremely strong in his denial.” | |
| And Putin: | |
| “The Russian state has never interfered and is not going to interfere into internal American affairs including [the] election process.” | |
| “Could you name a single fact that would definitely prove the collusion? This is utter nonsense. Just like the President recently mentioned.” However, Putin offered to interrogate the 12 Russians indicted by the Justice Department. | |
| Combatting the idea that Trump and Putin trust one another, Putin said, “You can trust no one.” | |
| When asked about reports that Russia has compromising material on Trump: “Now to the compromising material, I did hear this rumor. When Trump visited Moscow back then, I didn’t even know he was in Moscow.” | |
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