Asked about whether he would challenge Putin, then on stage with him, about interference with the election and demand he not do it again, Trump deflected blame onto the Democrats, demanded to know where Hillary's emails went, protested he had no idea why the Russians would interfere, and denounced the Russiagate investigations as a witch hunt and disgrace to our country.
Live on MSNBC just before noon.
Standing beside his buddy the KGB man.
Trump attacks Mueller at joint press conference with Putin, advances conspiracy theories
At a press conference with Russian President Vladimir Putin on foreign soil, President Donald Trump attacked fellow Americans — Democrats, Special Counsel Robert Mueller and members of the news media — for damaging U.S.-Russia relations by pursuing questions about Moscow's efforts to help him win the presidency in 2016.
"There was no collusion at all," Trump said here following a one-day summit. "It’s ridiculous what’s going on with the probe."
"The probe is a disaster for our country. It’s kept us separated," he added.
Trump also touted several conspiracy theories related to the election, including asking about the 33,000 Hillary Clinton emails he has long claimed are missing — the very emails he publicly asked Russia to hack before what Mueller says was an "after hours" Russian attack on accounts connected to Clinton's personal office.
He threw in references to the whereabouts of a computer server at the Democratic National Committee and the activities of a former House Democratic staffer who some conspiracy theorists have alleged penetrated lawmakers’ computers.
Trump also blamed the U.S. in part for the deterioration of the relationship between the two countries in recent years.
"I hold both countries responsible," he said "I think that the United States has been foolish."
Donald Trump sent the worst tweet of his presidency this morning
"Our relationship with Russia has NEVER been worse thanks to many years of U.S. foolishness and stupidity and now, the Rigged Witch Hunt!," tweeted Trump.
Let's be very, very clear about what Trump's tweet suggests: That the reason the US and Russia have an adversarial relationship is because of the special counsel investigating Russia's interference in the 2016 election.
Staggering. Stunning. Surreal.
Remember that the intelligence community -- unanimously! -- has concluded that Russia actively interfered in the 2016 election to help Trump and hurt Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton.
The Senate Intelligence Committee, which is chaired by Republican Sen. Richard Burr of North Carolina concluded the same earlier this summer.
Special counsel Robert Mueller charged a dozen Russians last week for their roles in what the charging document made clear was a broad and deep operation to influence the US presidential election.
Simply put: With the exception of a handful of Republicans on the House Intelligence Committee, there is simply no one in a position to know who thinks that a) Russia didn't meddle in the 2016 campaign and b) wasn't trying to help Trump and hurt Clinton.
All you need to know about Trump's Monday morning tweet is that it was a big hit in Russia. "We agree," tweeted the Russian Foreign Ministry in response to Trump's tweet.
Putin: I wanted Trump to win the election
Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Monday that he wanted President Donald Trump to win the 2016 election because he believes Trump's policies would be more friendly to the Kremlin.
"Yes I did. Yes I did. Because he talked about bringing the U.S.-Russia relationship back to normal,” Putin said, standing alongside Trump at a joint news conference.
Putin was asked whether he directed any of his officials to help Trump’s presidential campaign, but Putin appeared to sidestep that part of the question.
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