Tag: Helsinki

Trump’s ‘confiscation’ of interpreter’s notes from private Putin meeting set off alarm bells over spy’s safety: CNN’s Sciutto

AlterNet logoAppearing on CNN’s “New Day,” host Jim Sciutto — who broke the story that the CIA was forced to pull an highly-placed U.S. spy from Russia after Donald Trump reportedly exposed him — said American intelligence officials grew more concerned after Trump held a private meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Appearing with fellow host John Berman, Sciutto said he felt at liberty to discuss more details about the agent who is back in the U.S., now that the New York Times released information they had received.

According to the CNN reporter, not only were intel officials concerned about Trump exposing sensitive information in the Oval Office with Russian officials, but they grew concerned when he confiscated his interpreter’s transcripts from his Putin meeting.

View the complete September 10 article by Tom Boggioni from Raw Story on the AlterNet website here.

Trump criticizes media amid growing criticism of his handling of Putin

The following article by Brett Samuels was posted on the Hill website July 17, 2018:

Faced with growing bipartisan criticism of his performance at a summit with Russian leader Vladimir Putin, President Trump on Tuesday blamed the media for unfair coverage of the meeting.

In a series of tweets, Trump blasted the media and touted the economy in response to a day of negative coverage about the summit, where the U.S. president appeared to take Putin’s word that Russia didn’t interfere in the 2016 election over the findings of his own intelligence agencies.

“While I had a great meeting with NATO, raising vast amounts of money, I had an even better meeting with Vladimir Putin of Russia,” Trump tweeted.

“Sadly, it is not being reported that way – the Fake News is going Crazy!” he added.

View the complete article on the Hill website here.

Fox News’s Chris Wallace gives Putin the grilling Trump won’t

NOTE: We typically don’t post articles about FOX News, but this one is telling.

The following article by Aaron Blake was posted on the Washington Post website July 16, 2018:

After his summit with President Trump on July 16, Russian President Putin sat down for a Fox News interview with journalist Chris Wallace. Here’s what he said. (Melissa Macaya /The Washington Post)

President Trump refuses to press Vladimir Putin on the questions pretty much every official in American government thinks he should. Luckily, there’s Fox News’s Chris Wallace.

The host on Trump’s favorite cable channel jousted ably with the Russian president — despite the use of interpreters — in an interview airing Monday night. He pressed Putin on the questions Trump has played off, including during Monday’s news conference with Putin in Helsinki. The interview turned heated at points, with Wallace clearly frustrated by Putin’s trademark filibustering and Putin clearly frustrated by a journalist actually challenging him.

Perhaps the most notable exchange came toward the end, when Wallace probed Putin on why many of his critics wind up dead or near death. The most recent high-profile example of this is Sergei Skripal in Britain, an attack for which the Trump administration officially holds Russia responsible but Trump himself seems to view as an obstacle to making friends.

View the complete article on the Washington Post website here.

Trump meets Putin after blaming US for bad relations

The following article by Jordan Fabian and Brett Samuels was posted on the Hill website July 16, 2018:

President Trump meets with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Group of 20 Summit in Hamburg in 2017. Credit: Evan Vucci, AP

President Trump met with Russian President Vladimir Putin for more than two hours in a one-on-one setting Monday in Helsinki, Finland, hours after blaming the United States for the bad relationship between the two countries.

As the two sat down in front of photographers before heading into their meeting, Trump said he and Putin would discuss trade, arms control and China, but made no mention of hot-button issues that have created tensions between the U.S. and Russia, such as Moscow’s interference in the 2016 presidential election, Syria, Ukraine and nerve-agent attacks in the United Kingdom.

“I think we will end up having an extraordinary relationship,” Trump said. “I really think the world wants to see us get along.”

View the complete article on the Hill website here.

‘Maybe he’ll be a friend’: Trump highlights common ground with Putin ahead of summit

The following article by Anton Troianovski and Philip Rucker was posted on the Washington Post website July 15, 2018:

President Trump landed in Helsinki on July 15 ahead of a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin. (Reuters)

HELSINKI — He allegedly helped him get elected. He has charmed him and egged him on. And on Monday, when Russian President Vladimir Putin meets President Trump face to face here in Finland’s capital, he will see what he gets out of it.

Coming into Monday’s one-on-one summit, Trump faces intense pressure back home to confront Putin over Russia’s interference in the 2016 presidential election, especially in the wake of Friday’s indictment of 12 Russian intelligence officers for hacking and releasing Democratic Party emails.

In Washington and throughout the West, leaders are also pressing Trump to hold firm in counter­ing Putin’s intervention in Syria and Ukraine by refusing to recognize Russia’s annexation of Crimea.

View the complete post on the Washington Post website here.