Someone must have finally told President Trump that it doesn’t look good for the Commander-In-Chief to throw his intelligence agencies under the bus.
Trump tried to walk back his comments about believing Russian President Vladimir Putin when he denied any responsibility for election meddling in the last year’s presidential elections.
He originally told reporters aboard Air Force One:
“Every time he sees me he says, ‘I didn’t do that,’ and I really believe that when he tells me that, he means it,” Mr Trump said of Mr Putin. “I think he is very insulted by it, which is not a good thing for our country.”
The backlash against the president for saying he trusted an ex-KGB agent over his own security agencies was quick and fierce, with criticism coming even from within his own party.
There's nothing "America First" about taking the word of KGB colonel over US intelligence community. There's no "principled realism" in cooperating w/ Russia to prop up murderous Assad regime. To believe otherwise is naive & places nat'l security at risk. https://t.co/SYiVHtHXPX
— John McCain (@SenJohnMcCain) November 11, 2017
His initial reaction to the backlash was to first send out a series of tweets that defended his attempts to play nice with Russia:
When will all the haters and fools out there realize that having a good relationship with Russia is a good thing, not a bad thing. There always playing politics – bad for our country. I want to solve North Korea, Syria, Ukraine, terrorism, and Russia can greatly help!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 12, 2017
Does the Fake News Media remember when Crooked Hillary Clinton, as Secretary of State, was begging Russia to be our friend with the misspelled reset button? Obama tried also, but he had zero chemistry with Putin.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 12, 2017
When these tweets didn’t stop the criticism, Trump attempted to clarify his position while addressing reporters at a news conference in Hanoi, Vietnam, confusing the issue of what he really believes even further.
“What I said is, I believe [Putin] believes that,” Trump said. “I believe that he feels that he and Russia did not meddle in the election. As to whether I believe it or not, I’m with our agencies, especially as currently constituted, with their leadership.”
“I believe in our intel agencies. I’ve worked with them very strongly,” Trump added.
With the President’s constantly shifting statements, it’s difficult to tell if Trump is now just saying something that his advisors have told him that he has to say, whether he believes it or not, and will later switch back to his original position.
His back and forth statements on whether to blame the white supremacists for the violence at the neo-Nazi rally in Charlottesville, Virginia prove that whatever the President says on any given day may be reversed the next day and then reversed again a day later.
Whatever Trump really believes about Russia and election interference, it’s a topic that won’t be going away anytime soon. He’d better learn to get his story straight.
