Donald Trump being ‘played’ by Putin on US election meddling

INTELLIGENCE officials claim Vladimir Putin is manipulating his United States counterpart and this poses a great peril to the US.

Russian President Vladimir Putin pictured with US President Donald Trump during the family photo session at the APEC Summit in Danang, Vietnam, on Saturday. Picture: Mikhail Klimentyev, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool/AP

UNITED States President Donald Trump has been slammed for giving Vladimir Putin a free pass amid claims he is being ‘played’ by the Russian leader, critics argue.

Intelligence officials have also questioned whether Mr Putin was manipulating his US counterpart with flattery during the President’s trip to Asia.

Mr Trump’s trip, which is focusing on trade and the North Korean crisis, has seen him dogged by the continuing investigation into Russian interference in last year’s presidential election.

He said he believes both the US intelligence agencies when they say Russia meddled and Mr Putin’s sincerity in claiming that his country did not.

“I believe that he feels that he and Russia did not meddle in the election,” Mr Trump said in Hanoi, Vietnam. “As to whether I believe it, I’m with our agencies.

“As currently led by fine people, I believe very much in our intelligence agencies.”

However in a barrage of tweets, the President criticised the haters and fools who questioned his effort to improve ties with Moscow.

When will all the haters and fools out there realize that having a good relationship with Russia is a good thing, not a bad thing. There always playing politics - bad for our country. I want to solve North Korea, Syria, Ukraine, terrorism, and Russia can greatly help!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 12, 2017

His comments come just one day after he lashed out at the former heads of the US intelligence agencies, dismissing them as “political hacks”.

Mr Trump said he believed his country’s intelligence agencies. Picture: Mikhail Klimentyev/AFP/ SPUTNIK

Mr Trump also claims there were plenty of reasons to be suspicious of their findings that Russia meddled to help him defeat Democrat opponent Hillary Clinton.

Appearing on CNN’s State of the Union on Sunday with former national intelligence director James Clapper, former CIA director John Brennan said Mr Trump was deriding them in an attempt to “delegitimise” the intelligence community’s assessment.

“I think Mr Putin is very clever in terms of playing to Mr Trump’s interest in being flattered,” Mr Brennan said.

“And also I think Mr Trump is, for whatever reason, either intimidated by Mr Putin, afraid of what he could do or what might come out as a result of these investigations.”

Mr Clapper called the threat from Russia “manifest and obvious”.

“To try to paint it in any other way is, I think, astounding and, in fact, poses a peril to this country,” he told CNN.

Mr Brennan said the President’s ambiguity on Russia’s involvement was “very, very worrisome from a national security standpoint”.

“I think he’s giving Putin a pass and I think it demonstrates to Putin that Donald Trump can be played by foreign leaders who are going to appeal to his ego and play upon his securities,” Mr Brennan said.

Critics argue Mr Putin is manipulating his US counterpart with flattery. Picture: Jorge Silva/Pool/AP

Mr Trump has been plagued by questions since January about whether he believed there had been Russian meddling in the election and if he accepted that Russia was behind last year’s hacking of Democratic officials that roiled the White House race.

A special counsel’s examination of potential collusion between Moscow and Trump aides involved in the election win so far has led to indictments against Mr Trump’s former campaign chairman and another top aide — for crimes unrelated to the campaign — and a guilty plea from a Trump foreign policy adviser for lying to the FBI.

Mr Trump told reporters travelling with him to Hanoi on Saturday that Mr Putin had again vehemently denied the allegations.

The two spoke during an economic conference in Danang, Vietnam and Mr Trump danced around questions about whether he believed Mr Putin but stressed his denials.

“Every time he sees me, he says: ‘I didn’t do that’. And I believe — I really believe — that when he tells me that, he means it,” Mr Trump said.

He also argued that it made no sense for him to push the matter when Russia could help the US on North Korea, Syria and other pressing issues.

The two leaders pictured with Vietnamese President Tran Dai Quang and Indonesian President Joko Widodo during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit. Picture: Hau Dinh/AP

Mr Trump also pointed to sanctions the US had imposed on Russia as punishment for election meddling.

“They were sanctioned at a very high level, and that took place very recently,” he said.

“It’s now time to get back to healing a world that is shattered and broken.”

‘AMERICA FIRST?’

In a stinging rebuke US Senator John McCain, a strong critic of the President, said it was clear the Russian President didn’t have America’s best interests at heart.

Mr McCain also said the view was not only naive but also put the country’s security at risk.

“There’s nothing “America First” about taking the word of a KGB colonel over US intelligence community,” he said in a statement.

“There’s no ‘principled realism’ in co-operating with Russia to prop up the murderous Assad regime. To believe otherwise is naive and places national security at risk.”

There's nothing "America First" about taking the word of KGB colonel over US intelligence community. There's no "principled realism" in cooperating w/ Russia to prop up murderous Assad regime. To believe otherwise is naive & places nat'l security at risk. https://t.co/SYiVHtHXPX

— John McCain (@SenJohnMcCain) November 11, 2017

‘RIDICULOUS STATEMENTS’

Meanwhile, Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin criticised the former intelligence leaders, dismissing their claims, the New York Daily News reported.

“Those were the most ridiculous statements. President Trump is not getting played by anybody,” he said.

Mr Mnuchin instead suggested Mr Trump’s tactic was meant to encourage Russian co-operation in North Korea and Syria.

“Those are areas we need to work together with Russia and get them on board with our strategy,” he said.

White House director of legislative affairs, Marc Short, said Mr Trump does believe the intelligence assessment that concluded Russia had interfered with the vote but downplayed Russia’s actions as “buying Facebook ads.”

He insisted the election outcome was not affected.

— with the Associated Press

Originally published as Donald Trump being ‘played’ by Putin on US election meddling