Trump-Putin Summit: The Morning After (Video & Complete News Conf.)

HELSINKI (Reuters) – Standing side by side with Vladimir Putin, U.S. President Donald Trump refused on Monday to blame the Russian leader for meddling in the 2016 U.S. election, casting doubt on the findings of his own intelligence agencies and sparking a storm of criticism at home.

HELSINKI, Finland — President Trump stood next to President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia on Monday and publicly challenged the conclusion of his own intelligence agencies that Moscow interfered in the 2016 presidential election, wrapping up what he called a “deeply productive” summit meeting with an extraordinary show of trust for a leader accused of attacking American democracy.

Monday in Helsinki, President Trump left many deeply disappointed in his approach to his summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin.  There was nothing inherently wrong with Trump’s summit with Putin. In fact, I would argue that in many cases, some of the best diplomacy comes through face-to-face meetings with adversaries. Still, the meeting was highly problematic in how little Trump delivered on the serious issues surrounding Vladimir Putin and Russia’s place in the modern world.

Outgoing House Speaker Paul Ryan reacted to the news conference between President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin, reminding the president that Russia was not a friend to the United States.

“The president must appreciate that Russia is not our ally,” Paul Ryan said in a statement to reporters. “There is no moral equivalence between the United States and Russia, which remains hostile to our most basic values and ideals.”

Ryan also responded to Trump’s critical comments about the Russia investigation, defending the work conducted by Special Counsel Robert Mueller and other officials.

The national news media widely condemned President Trump following his performance at a joint press conference with Russian President Vladimir Putin, in which Trump repeatedly declined to criticize his Russian counterpart for Russia’s interference in 2016 election.

“You have been watching perhaps one of the most disgraceful performances by an American president at a summit in front of a Russian leader, certainly, that I’ve ever seen,” CNN’s Anderson Cooper said Monday after the conference concluded. “An extraordinary press conference.”

On Fox News, Trump-backer Lou Dobbs said, “It was not a very forceful presentation from President Trump with Putin standing right next to him.”

Given the attitude with which President Trump has greeted all news of the Russian interference in the 2016 election, his performance in Helsinki on Monday should have come as no surprise. And yet there was surprise — even shock — when the president of the United States stood on stage alongside Russian President Vladimir Putin and accepted the former KGB officer’s denials regarding that interference.

President Trump’s refusal Monday to denounce Russian President Vladimir Putin for interfering in the 2016 U.S. presidential campaign sparked pointed criticism from Republican leaders, including several of Trump’s legislative allies who warned that his actions could ultimately hurt national security interests.

At a joint news conference with Putin in Helsinki, Trump spoke admiringly of Putin’s denials and said he did not “see any reason why” Russia would be at fault for election-year hacking, effectively siding with the Russian leader over the assessment of the U.S. intelligence community.

Within hours of the event’s conclusion, Republicans had joined Democrats in criticizing the president’s comments. Many more in the president’s party reasserted the findings of Russian culpability, distancing themselves from their leader.