Russia’s interference in the 2016 presidential election was multi-faceted, but a key pillar involved using social media to spread fake news and disinformation to sow political discord and promote Trump’s candidacy. The Republican president on Thursday invited Putin to Washington for a second meeting in the fall, defying a barrage of criticism in the United States that followed the two leaders’ first official summit on Monday in Helsinki. Coats, the nation’s top intelligence official, said “Did I hear you”, per the HuffPost, then paused before saying: “OK”. He said he had mis-spoken when he appeared to side with Putin, who denies any state-sanctioned interference, over his own agencies.
Advertisement
A White House official said the next Trump-Putin meeting would address national security concerns they discussed in Helsinki, including Russian meddling.
“OK”, he continued, pausing for a deep breath.
“I let him know we can’t have this, we’re not going to have it, and that’s the way it’s going to be”, Trump said in an interview with the American CBS cable network.
Asked whether he would extradite 12 Russian intelligence agents indicted in the United States last week for hacking Democratic Party computers, he said he could meet the U.S. government “halfway”. Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats said Thursday he had yet to be briefed on the private session.
The idea for another summit with Putin comes as Congress struggles with a response to the first, and Thursday brought a flurry of actions as politicians tried to uncover details of what happened in Helsinki. “The system is blinking”. I think it’s kept us apart. Only five percent of Americans think that the United States benefited more than Russian Federation in the Helsinki summit. The White House has not said whether Trump has asked her to do that. “Covert propaganda and disinformation are the primary weapons”.
Trump faced another hurdle on Friday when The New York Times reported that his longtime lawyer and fixer Michael Cohen had secretly recorded a conversation with Trump just two months ahead of the election about making a payment to former Playboy model Karen McDougal, who alleges she had an affair with Trump.
Trump asserted Wednesday at the White House that no other American president has been as tough on Russian Federation.
The news was confirmed through White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders’ social media account.
The zigzagging laid bare the White House’s search for a path out of trouble that has dogged the administration’s discussions of Russian Federation from the start, but spiraled after Trump’s trip to Helsinki.
Among those Russian Federation was seeking to question was former United States ambassador to Moscow Michael McFaul.
Russia’s President Vladimir Putin gestures during a joint news conference with U.S. President Donald Trump after their meeting in Helsinki, Finland, July 16, 2018. She said the USA hopes Putin will have the indicted Russians “come to the United States to prove their innocence or guilt”.
Advertisement
All this on top of a Europe trip in which Trump criticized North Atlantic Treaty Organisation members for not sharing mutual defense burdens and described the European Union as a trade “foe” – attacks on European institutions that Russian Federation opposes. He previously worked in the Canberra press gallery and recently finished a Masters of Journalism at Columbia University in NY.
