Donald Trump condemned as 'disgraceful' after siding with Vladimir Putin on election meddling

Tom Powell16 July 2018

Donald Trump has been condemned for siding with Vladimir Putin over his own security services after appearing to accept the Russian leader’s denial of election meddling in an extraordinary press conference .

The US president refused to criticise Mr Putin over interference in the 2016 election despite the US intelligence community unanimously concluded it was orchestrated by the Kremlin.

“They said they think it’s Russia; I have President Putin, he just said it’s not Russia,” Trump told reporters. “I will say this: I don’t see any reason why it would be. 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.”

Mr Trump’s comments following a high stakes summit with the Russian president in Helsinki sparked uproar in the US as critics described him as “treasonous”.

Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin met for a high stakes summit in Helsinki
Getty Images

John McCain, chairman of the Senate armed services committee and a former Republican presidential nominee, said: “Today’s press conference in Helsinki was one of the most disgraceful performances by an American president in memory.

“The damage inflicted by President Trump’s naivety, egotism, false equivalence, and sympathy for autocrats is difficult to calculate. But it is clear that the summit in Helsinki was a tragic mistake.”

John Brennan, a former director of the CIA, tweeted: “Donald Trump’s press conference performance in Helsinki rises to & exceeds the threshold of ‘high crimes & misdemeanors.’

“It was nothing short of treasonous. Not only were Trump’s comments imbecilic, he is wholly in the pocket of Putin.”

House speaker Paul Ryan, the most senior elected Republican, reiterated the fact that US intelligence services had all concluded that Russia did interfere in the election.

“The president must appreciate that Russia is not our ally. There is no moral equivalence between the United States and Russia, which remains hostile to our most basic values and ideals,” he said. “The United States must be focused on holding Russia accountable and putting an end to its vile attacks on democracy.”

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.”

When directly asked by a reporter at the press conference if he believed Mr Putin over the US intelligence agencies, the president avoided the question by instead pointing the finger at Hillary Clinton’s missing emails.

It came after the leaders spent two hours having a one-on-one meeting, with only translators present. That was followed by a lunch with senior officials from both countries at the Finnish presidential palace.

Mr Putin said the talks with Mr Trump took place in an "open and businesslike atmosphere" and he characterised them as "successful and useful".

Mr Trump said the US and Russia must find ways to "co-operate in pursuit of shared interests".

The US leader said a productive dialogue between America and Russia is good for both countries and "is good for the world".

Mr Trump added they had discussed disagreements between their countries "at length", and accepted that relations between them have never been worse.

However, Mr Trump added that he thinks "that changed as of about four hours ago".

He said he is sure that he and Mr Putin will meet again often in the future.

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