Mr. Trump additionally has invited Mr. Putin to hitch a Group of seven summit in Washington in September, dropping previous American insistence tha
Mr. Trump additionally has invited Mr. Putin to hitch a Group of seven summit in Washington in September, dropping previous American insistence that Russia should first reverse its annexation of Crimea and its persevering with, low-level struggle in jap Ukraine.
The president seems to be giving no floor on the bounty story; on Saturday morning, he tweeted anew that the story was a “phony hit job by the @nytimes. That they had no supply, they made it up. FAKE NEWS!”
To this point the White Home has declined to declassify the part of a Presidential Each day Transient from February that described the proof, or to make public a recently-commissioned nationwide intelligence estimate concerning the proof.
Mr. Trump has by no means earlier than taken credit score for ordering a cyberattack, even one meant extra as a public sign than a long-lasting, damaging strike. Just some days in the past, the US was warning that Russians had been engaged in ransomware assaults, suggesting that the 2018 assault might have been briefly efficient, however didn’t set up a long-term deterrent.
The president was not requested about different, extra vital actions that American cyberforces have taken in Russia, together with planting malware in its energy grid to remind the Russians that in the event that they turned off the lights in American cities, America was able to retaliate in form. (When The New York Instances revealed that operation, Mr. Trump referred to as it a “digital act of treason,” however went on to allege that the story was not true.)
Lots of Mr. Trump’s aides, most just lately his former nationwide safety adviser, John R. Bolton, have mentioned they may not talk about Russia’s election-related actions with the president as a result of he believed the very dialog referred to as into query the legitimacy of his election. However within the new interview, he appeared to acknowledge that the Russians acted — and blamed President Barack Obama for underreacting.
He mentioned that Mr. Obama “knew earlier than the election that Russia was enjoying round. Or, he was advised. Whether or not or not it was so or not, who is aware of? And he mentioned nothing. And the explanation he mentioned nothing was that he didn’t wish to contact it as a result of he thought” Hillary Clinton would win “as a result of he learn phony polls.”