Trump Putin: US president defends meeting and press conference
Trump Putin: US president defends meeting and press conference
(about 4 hours later)
US President Donald Trump has defended his meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, amid a backlash over his performance.
US President Donald Trump has lashed out at "haters" who condemned his meeting with Russia's president.
On Twitter, Mr Trump condemned "haters" who did not want him getting along with Mr Putin, saying they suffered from "Trump Derangement Syndrome".
On Twitter, Mr Trump said his critics were suffering from "Trump Derangement Syndrome".
Mr Trump said he misspoke at the press conference with Mr Putin.
The broadside came a day after he said he misspoke during Monday's Helsinki summit when he appeared to side with Vladimir Putin over claims of Kremlin meddling in US elections.
He had sided with Mr Putin over his own intelligence services on claims of Russian election meddling.
Despite the controversy, Republican voters still seem to support Mr Trump.
That had sparked outrage from both sides of the political divide.
Responding on Twitter on Wednesday morning, the Republican president said his critics would "rather go to war" and "wanted to see a boxing match" between him and Mr Putin.
Posting on Twitter, Mr Trump said people "who wanted to see a boxing match" were bothered by his rapport with Mr Putin.
"There's never been a president as tough on Russia as I have been," he told reporters at the White House later in the day.
"They would rather go to war than see this!" he wrote.
A Reuters/Ipsos poll this week found that despite a firestorm of media criticism, Mr Trump's Finland summit had no real impact on his overall approval ratings.
The tweets came a day after Mr Trump said he had missed out a word when appearing to support Mr Putin's claim that there was no Russian involvement in the 2016 US presidential election.
In the survey, 42% of all registered voters approved of his job performance, which is consistent with averages thus far.
President Trump said he accepted his intelligence services' assessment that Russia had interfered.
Some 71% of Republicans polled approved of his response to Russia, while only 14% of Democrats were in favour.
Damage done
Will there be consequences?
Analysis by the BBC's Anthony Zurcher in Washington
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is scheduled to testify before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee next week amid calls from both sides of the aisle to detail what was discussed during Mr Trump's two-hour meeting with Mr Putin.
Does Donald Trump believe in ominous metaphors? As he affirmed his support for US intelligence agencies, the lights went to black in the White House conference room.
Nancy Pelosi, Democratic leader in the US House of Representatives, tried on Tuesday to stage a symbolic vote to support the findings of Russian interference, but was blocked by Republicans.
Once order was restored, he said he had been in the dark as to why a storm had swirled around his presidency since his Helsinki summit with Vladimir Putin. It was, he said, because he had misspoken.
Senators Jeff Flake and Chris Coons, an Arizona Republican and a Delaware Democrat, are reportedly working on a nonbinding resolution to endorse the intelligence committee's findings.
That is going to be hard for many of the president's critics to swallow, however. Even if he did mean to say, "I don't see a reason why it wouldn't be Russia", it is a pretty weak way to confront the head of a nation accused of targeting the heart of American democracy.
But Texas Republican John Cornyn said the Senate should focus on "additional sanctions instead of just some messaging exercise".
What is more, the context of the president's comments make a simple slip of the tongue seem less likely.
What was the reaction?
At the very least, the president gave his supporters some material to rally around.
Senate Committee on Foreign Relations chairman Bob Corker, a Republican, called the Helsinki news conference "saddening and disappointing".
The damage, however, has been done. Mr Trump can give as many White House statements as he likes, but on the biggest stage - standing beside the Russian president - he fumbled. All the explanations cannot change that.
Even one of Mr Trump's most loyal Republican supporters, Newt Gingrich, said the comments were the "most serious mistake of his presidency".
What Trump said then...
House Republican Mike Turner accused Mr Trump of having damaged American foreign policy by failing to take Russia to task.
The controversy centres on a response he gave to a question at a news conference on Monday following the summit with Mr Putin.
Yet the president's support held firm among the Republican rank-and-file, especially from members of the hardline conservative House Freedom Caucus.
This is an extract from the transcript posted by the White House.
Representative Andy Biggs, a member of the Caucus, criticised reporters at the summit for asking "odd" questions.
REPORTER: President Putin denied having anything to do with the election interference in 2016. Every US intelligence agency has concluded that Russia did. My first question for you, sir, is, who do you believe?
Fellow member Representative Andy Harris said: "I disregard and discount anything that involves the mainstream media press."
TRUMP: My people came to me... they said they think it's Russia. I have President Putin; he just said it's not Russia. I will say this: I don't see any reason why it would be.
What exactly did Trump say?
.... what he says now
During a news conference after Monday's summit, Mr Trump was asked about alleged Russian meddling in the US election.
Mr Trump said he had reviewed the transcript and realised he needed to clarify.
According to a transcript posted by the White House, he said: "My people came to me... they said they think it's Russia. I have President Putin; he just said it's not Russia. I will say this: I don't see any reason why it would be."
"In a key sentence in my remarks, I said the word 'would' instead of 'wouldn't," he said.
On Tuesday, Mr Trump said he had reviewed the transcript and realised he needed to clarify.
"The sentence should have been: 'I don't see any reason why I wouldn't' or 'why it wouldn't be Russia'. Sort of a double negative."
"The sentence should have been: 'I don't see any reason why I wouldn't' or 'why it wouldn't be Russia'. Sort of a double negative."
The US president added: "I accept our intelligence community's conclusion that Russia's meddling in the 2016 election took place. Could be other people also. A lot of people out there."
Mr Trump said that the interference had had no impact on the election, in which he defeated Hillary Clinton.
Mr Trump said that the interference had had no impact on the election, in which he defeated Hillary Clinton.
However, he did not respond when reporters asked him if he would condemn Mr Putin.
However, he did not respond when reporters asked him if he would condemn Mr Putin.
During the press conference with President Putin - in the same answer as the transcript above - Mr Trump went on to say: "President Putin was extremely strong and powerful in his denial today. And what he did is an incredible offer; he offered to have the people working on the case come and work with their investigators with respect to the 12 people. I think that's an incredible offer."
In another tweet on Wednesday, Mr Trump said his meeting with Mr Putin was "positive" and "may prove to be, in the long run... an even greater success".
In another tweet on Wednesday, Mr Trump said that Russia had "agreed to help with North Korea", adding that "the process is moving along".
"There is no rush, the sanctions remain! Big benefits and exciting future for North Korea at end of process!" the president wrote.
He said that his meeting with Mr Putin was "positive" and "may prove to be, in the long run... an even greater success".
How great has been the outrage?
Chuck Schumer, leader of the opposition Democrats in the Senate, said Mr Trump's retraction of his previous comments was a sign of weakness.
"He made a horrible statement, tried to back off, but couldn't even bring himself to back off," he told the Senate. "It shows the weakness of President Trump that he is afraid to confront Mr Putin directly."
Republicans and Democrats alike were dumbfounded that Mr Trump had sided with Russia over his own intelligence officials after Monday's summit.
The US and Russia have been long-term adversaries and remain far apart on major issues. Some lawmakers were also upset that Mr Trump had refused to offer specific criticisms of Russia and Mr Putin, instead saying both countries were responsible for poor relations.
Even one of his most loyal Republican supporters, Newt Gingrich, said the comments were the "most serious mistake of his presidency".
House Republican Mike Turner accused Mr Trump of having damaged American foreign policy by failing to take Russia to task.
"He's given them a pass and is certainly not holding them accountable for what they're doing," he added.
