Trump’s facetious warning to Putin denounced in US
The tone of the president’s comment, which came after a reporter asked if he would warn Putin, was immediately open to interpretation. But it may do little to silence questions about Trump’s relationship with Russia in the aftermath of special counsel Robert Mueller’s conclusion that he could not establish a criminal conspiracy between Trump’s campaign and Russia.
It was the latest remarkable moment for Trump at Putin’s side after meeting nearly a year ago in Helsinki, considered one of the defining days of Trump’s presidency, when he pointedly did not admonish Putin over election interference and did not side with U.S. intelligence agencies over his Russian counterpart.
The leaders had traded brief remarks Friday, the first time they sat together since Helsinki, about issues they planned to discuss when a reporter shouted to Trump about warning Putin “not to meddle” in the 2020 election.
The president answered “Of course,” then turned to Putin and facetiously said, “Don’t meddle in the election.” He playfully repeated the request while pointing at Putin, who laughed.
Trump said he enjoyed a “very, very good relationship” with Putin and said “many positive things are going to come out of the relationship.”
Trump had said in advance of meeting Putin that he expected a “very good conversation” but told reporters that “what I say to him is none of your business.” The official White House readout released after the meeting did not mention interference.
Though the meeting occurred in the early morning hours back in the United States, some were quick to denounce the president’s comments. Michael McFaul, who was U.S. Ambassador to Russia under Barack Obama, tweeted that he found Trump’s conduct “depressing.”
“Trump’s admiration and appeasement of Putin is so bizarre,” he wrote. “I can’t think of one concrete U.S. interest that has been advanced by Trump’s behavior.”
White House aides had grown worried that Trump could use the meeting to once again attack the Russia probe on the world stage, particularly since Mueller recently agreed to testify before Congress next month, but the president did not utter the special counsel’s name.
Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer had pressed the president to directly challenge the Russian leader on election interference and send a signal “not merely to Putin but to all of our adversaries that interfering with our election is unacceptable, and that they will pay a price — a strong price — for trying.”
Putin has denied meddling in the American election to help Trump, but Mueller detailed extensive evidence to the contrary.
Trump opened the G-20 summit by meeting with the host, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, followed by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Germany’s Angela Merkel. He sounded optimistic about inking trade deals with all three, praised alliances he has strained and expressed hope in dealing with North Korea.
Ahead of Saturday’s talks with China’s Xi Jinping, the president said he believed there was “a very good chance” they could make progress toward ending their trade dispute.
There was friction among some world leaders at the summit as they clashed over values that have served as the foundation of their cooperation as they face calls to fend off threats to economic growth.
Defying Chinese warnings not to bring up the issue of recent protests in Hong Kong, Abe told Xi it was important for “a free and open Hong Kong to prosper under `one country, two systems’ policy,” Japanese officials said, referring to the arrangement for the former British colony’s autonomy when China took control in 1997.
European Union Council President Donald Tusk blasted Putin for saying in an interview with the Financial Times newspaper that liberalism was “obsolete” and conflicts with the “overwhelming majority” in many countries.
“We are here as Europeans also to firmly and unequivocally defend and promote liberal democracy,” Tusk told reporters. “What I find really obsolete are: authoritarianism, personality cults, the rule of oligarchs. Even if sometimes they may seem effective.”
In the interview, Putin praised Trump for his efforts to try to stop the flow of migrants and drugs from Mexico and said that liberalism “presupposes that nothing needs to be done. That migrants can kill, plunder and rape with impunity because their rights as migrants have to be protected.”
On Saturday morning, Trump tweeted an invitation to North Korea’s Kim Jong Un to shake hands during a possible visit to the Demilitarized Zone when the president stops in South Korea later Saturday after concluding meetings in Osaka.
“I will be leaving Japan for South Korea (with President Moon). While there, if Chairman Kim of North Korea sees this, I would meet him at the Border/DMZ just to shake his hand and say Hello(?)!” he wrote.
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