US President Donald Trump has doubled down on his efforts for better ties with Russia, saying the Helsinki summit was a success. The US president now hopes to host Putin in Washington before year's end.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo/C.Kaster
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Just three days after his controversial summit in Helsinki, President Donald Trump is said to have asked his national security adviser to invite Russian President Vladimir Putin to the White House. The White House announced the plan on Twitter, indicating that the meeting could take place before the end of the year.
Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders tweeted that Trump had asked national security adviser John Bolton to invite Putin to Washington in the autumn.
Trump's appearance with Putin in Helsinki was met with a strong backlash from across the political spectrum. In particular, critics rejected his acceptance of Putin's denial that Moscow had meddled in the 2016 presidential election.
Earlier on Thursday, the US president tweeted that he was looking forward to meeting with Putin again to continue discussing the issues that were raised in the summit. Trump also told his followers that the Helsinki meeting was a success, except for "the real enemy of the people, the Fake News media."
Among the issues that he planned to discuss at a future meeting with Putin were "stopping terrorism, security for Israel, nuclear proliferation, cyberattacks, trade, Ukraine, Middle East peace, North Korea and more."
Chuck Schumer, the Senate's top Democrat, criticized Trump, tweeting that election security and the American people were the "biggest losers" this week.
Trump's director of national intelligence, Dan Coats, was unaware of the invitation that had been extended to Putin until he was notified while on stage at the Aspen Security Forum.
Coats said he was also not aware of the content of the private the president's private conversation with Putin.
On whether Putin and Trump should have had one-on-one talks, Coats said it remained the "president's prerogative." "If he would have asked me how it should be conducted, I would have suggested a different way," Coats added.
jcg/rc (Reuters, AFP)
The weirdest moments of the Trump-Putin summit
Despite praising each other ahead of the meeting, the body language between the two leaders was anything but warm. Hillary Clinton's emails, awkward hugs and non-answers were the major takeaways from the summit.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/TASS/V. Sharifulin
Stiff body language
Although the US president had nothing but warm words for his Russian counterpart ahead of their meeting, their posture upon meeting was significantly more awkward. As they met for a brief photo call before closed-door talks, the two men avoided eye contact and seemed unsure of how best to approach one another, with Trump slouching in his seat and Putin remaining enigmatic.
Image: Reuters/K. Lamarque
Trump questions US intelligence services
"They said they think it's Russia; I have President Putin, he just said it's not Russia," said Trump, on assurances from US intelligence agenices that the Russian government meddled in the 2016 presidential elections. This came mere seconds after Putin admitted in a press conference that he had be hoping for him to win over rival Hillary Clinton.
Image: Getty Images/AFP/B. Smialowski
Reporter pulled for protest
A reporter for the progressive US publication "The Nation" was forcibly removed from the presidents' joint press conference, apparently for holding a sign that seemed to read "Nuclear Weapon Ban Treaty."
After giving a series of rambling answers to questions about Syria and Russian hacking, Trump was asked why he would trust President Putin's assurances over his own intelligence services. He abruptly changed the subject to Hillary Clinton. "Where are those servers?" he asked. "Where are Hillary Clinton's emails?"
Image: Reuters/G. Dukor
Power posturing
President Putin reacted aggressively to questions from US reporters from the new agencies Reuters and the Associated Press. "Can you name a single fact?" he asked. He also swerved around a US reporter's question as to whether he directed government agents to interfere in American politics.
Image: Reuters/Lehtikuva/A. Aimo-Koivisto
In your court
"The ball's in your court," said Putin with an air of forced joviality as he presented Trump with a gift to mark their meeting. Trump had already congratulated the Russian president on "one of the best ever" World Cup tournaments. After he was handed the soccer ball, Trump appeared to surprise onlookers by tossing it into the crowd, where it was given to his wife Melania Trump.
Image: picture-alliance/newscom/D. Silpa
Half-hearted hug
The two men again appeared ill at ease with one another at the end of the press conference, a stark contrast to their vows to work towards stronger ties. Both leaders were uncomfortably prompted to deny the existence of a "dossier" of compromising material collected by Russian agents during Trump's visits to the country before he was president.
