Thread: Trump to invite Putin to White House in the fall

Trump to invite Putin to White House in the fall

AP July 19, 2018

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump has asked national security adviser John Bolton to invite Russian President Vladimir Putin to Washington in the fall.

That’s the latest update Thursday from White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders following Trump’s meeting with Putin earlier this week in Finland.

Sanders says ‘‘those discussions are already underway’’ for a fall meeting between the two presidents.
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It presumably would take place at the White House, but Sanders did not say where Trump and Putin would meet.

In a tweet about Putin earlier Thursday, Trump said, ‘‘I look forward to our second meeting.’’

https://www.bostonglobe.com/news/pol...QiI/story.html

Trump to invite Putin to White House in autumn

21:30, UK, Thursday 19 July 2018
By Sharon Marris, news reporter

Donald Trump has asked his national security adviser to invite the Russian president to the White House in the autumn.

White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said on Twitter that Mr Trump had "agreed to ongoing working level dialogue between the two security council staffs" during Monday's summit in Helsinki.

She added: "President Trump asked (national security adviser John Bolton) to invite President Putin to Washington in the fall and those discussions are already underway."

Earlier on Thursday, the US president had said of Mr Putin: "I look forward to our second meeting."

The news comes as the US director of national intelligence Dan Coats revealed that he did not know what had been said between the two leaders during their one-on-one meeting.

Dan Coats told the Aspen Security Forum in Colorado: "Well, you're right, I don't know what happened at that meeting."

Mr Coats also restated the US intelligence assessment about Russian meddling and Moscow's "ongoing, pervasive efforts to undermine our democracy".

On Monday Mr Trump had claimed that he "didn't see any reason" why Russia would be involved in US election meddling, a comment that had sparked bemusement and anger among US politicians and commentators.

But the next day he said that he had mis-spoke, saying "would" instead of "wouldn't".

What he meant "should have been obvious - I thought it would be obvious but would like to clarify in case it wasn't", he said.

It was the first clarification that had to be issued after a number of deeply controversial comments made by Mr Trump during that news conference.

In the latest, on Thursday, the White House had to distance itself from what he had described as an "incredible offer" made by the Russian president.

That offer was to allow the US to question 12 Russians accused of interfering in the 2016 presidential election, in exchange for them being allowed to interview Americans they had accused of unspecified crimes.

Ms Sanders was asked about the offer by reporters on Wednesday and she had said it was under consideration.

But anger grew in the US at the prospect of turning American citizens over to the Russians for questioning, and on Thursday the White House stepped back.

The Americans in question include former US ambassador to Russia Michael McFaul and alleged crimes include fraud and corruption.

Mr McFaul said the request from Mr Putin was "ridiculous", and it was also rubbished by the Senate, where all 98 politicians voted to support a resolution against allowing Russia to question US officials.

In an interview with The Christian Broadcasting Network on Thursday, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said it was "not going to happen".

Ms Sanders said that, while the offer had been "made in sincerity" by Mr Putin, Mr Trump "disagrees with it".

She added that the US hoped Mr Putin would have the Russian suspects brought to the US "to prove their innocence or guilt".

https://news.sky.com/story/trump-to-...utumn-11442704

That's right, Mr. President, double-down, time for peace and a new and improved relationship with Russia.

Don't risk the controversy, wait until after the elections.