WASHINGTON – US President Donald Trump, under fire over his Helsinkisummit with Vladimir Putin, doubled down Thursday by saying he looksforward to meeting the Russian leader again — with talks already underwayfor a visit to Washington in the fall.
Trump has come in for bipartisan criticism for what many saw as hisunsettling embrace of the Russian strongman this week — and his seemingdisavowal of his own intelligence agencies and their assessment that Moscowmeddled in the 2016 election.
The backlash has thrust Trump onto the defensive, leading to days ofconflicting statements from both the president and the White House.
But Trump has largely shrugged off the criticism and took aim at the “fakenews media” Thursday for failing to recognize his achievements.
“The Summit with Russia was a great success, except with the real enemy ofthe people, the Fake News Media,” Trump said on Twitter. “The Fake NewsMedia wants so badly to see a major confrontation with Russia, even aconfrontation that could lead to war.”
In an interview with CNBC television, Trump said “getting along withPresident Putin, getting along with Russia s a positive, not a negative.
“Now with that being said if it doesn t work out I ll be the worst enemyhe s ever had,” he said of Putin.
“I look forward to our second meeting so that we can start implementingsome of the many things discussed,” Trump said.
White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said that meeting may come this fall.
“President Trump asked (National Security Advisor John Bolton) to invitePresident Putin to Washington in the fall and those discussions are alreadyunderway,” Sanders tweeted.
The invitation came as an apparent surprise to the Director of NationalIntelligence Dan Coats when he was told about it during a live interview atthe Aspen Security Forum in Aspen, Colorado.
“Say that again?” Coats asked the interviewer.
“OK. That s going to be special,” he said, laughing.
Coats also said that three days after Trump met with Putin he does not knowwhat the two men discussed.
“I don t know what happened in that meeting,” he said.
The two leaders held two hours of closed-door talks with no one elsepresent but the interpreters.
“If he had asked me how that ought to be conducted, I would have suggesteda different way,” Coats said.
Trump on Thursday listed the topics discussed as “stopping terrorism,security for Israel, nuclear proliferation, cyber attacks, trade, Ukraine,Middle East peace, North Korea and more.”
The top Senate Democrat, Chuck Schumer, had a scathing reaction to newsthat Trump planned to invite Putin to Washington.
“Until we know what happened at that two hour meeting in Helsinki, thepresident should have no more one-on-one interactions with Putin. In theUnited States, in Russia, or anywhere else,” he said in a statement.
The US upper chamber issued a sharp rebuke to Trump earlier in the day,voting 98-0 to oppose any move by his administration to make US officialsavailable for questioning by Russian government officials.
Asked in Helsinki whether he would extradite 12 Russian intelligence agentsindicted in the United States for hacking Democratic Party computers, Putinsaid he could meet the US government “halfway.”
Putin said he would permit the 12 to be questioned inside Russia if theUnited States allowed Russia to question former US envoy to Russia MichaelMcFaul and 11 others in Moscow s case against billionaire investor andhuman rights activist William Browder, the driving force behind MagnitskyAct sanctions on Russian officials passed by the US Congress.
Trump initially called it an “incredible offer,” but McFaul and othersexpressed outrage and the White House — just minutes before the Senatevote — made clear a deal with Putin was not in the cards.
“It is a proposal that was made in sincerity by President Putin, butPresident Trump disagrees with it,” Sanders said.
“Hopefully President Putin will have the 12 identified Russians come to theUnited States to prove their innocence or guilt,” she added.
The indictments of the 12 Russians were issued by special counsel RobertMueller, who is investigating possible collusion between Trump s campaignand Russia.
According to opinion polls published Thursday, a large majority ofAmericans disapproved of Trump s handling of the summit — but members ofhis party approved by a wide margin.
While just one third of Americans approved of Trump s handling of the Putinsummit, that number rose to 68 percent among Republicans, according to aCBS poll.
Among Republicans expressing concern was Senator Lindsey Graham, aprominent voice on foreign policy.
Trump wasn t “prepared as well as he should have been” for the meeting,Graham said, adding that it is “imperative that he understand that he ismisjudging Putin.”
In Moscow, Putin slammed Trump s domestic opponents as “pathetic, worthlesspeople” who were “ready to sacrifice Russian-American relations for theirown ambitions.”
In a toughly-worded speech to Russian diplomats, Putin said US-Russia tieswere by “some parameters” worse than during the Cold War. -APP/AFP