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I’m toughest US president on Russia and Putin knows that: Trump

US President Donald Trump listens during a cabinet meeting on July 18, 2018, at the White House in Washington, DC. (Photo by AFP)

Struggling to deal with criticism about his handling of a recent meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, US President Donald Trump has claimed that none of his predecessors have been as tough on Russia as him.

“We’re doing very well, probably as well as anybody has ever done with Russia,” Trump said at a cabinet meeting at the White House on Wednesday.

“And there’s been no president ever as tough as I have been on Russia,” he added. “And I think President Putin knows that better than anybody, certainly a lot better than the media.”

The Monday meeting between Trump and Putin in the Finnish capital Helsinki was overshadowed by Russia’s alleged interference in the 2016 US presidential election, a conclusion made by all US intelligence agencies following Trump's surprising victory against his Democratic rival Hillary Clinton.

During the Monday meeting, Trump refused to hold Putin responsible for alleged hacking attacks that American intelligence agencies say tipped the scale in his favor during the race for the White House.

Trump initially appeared to contradict that conclusion, saying he did not see any reason “why it would be” Russia behind the attacks. He walked back that statement on Tuesday, however, claiming he meant to say “wouldn’t.”

Trump holds Putin responsible for election meddling 

On Wednesday, Trump changed his narrative again. He said “no” when asked by reporters whether Russia was still targeting the US. But in an interview with CBS later, the president said he held Putin personally responsible for attempts to interfere in the 2016 election.

Trump stirred further outrage after refusing to push for the extradition of 12 Russian military intelligence officers, who US officials claim orchestrated the cyber attacks.

The businessman-turned-president, who has always shown willingness to establish better ties with Russia since entering the White House in January 2017, said Wednesday that Putin was not “happy” with how tough he was on him.

“All you have to do is look at numbers, look at what we have done, look at sanctions, look at ambassadors not there, look at unfortunately what happened in Syria,” he argued.

The statements signal a major about-face by Trump and his administration, who had initially described the meeting as “very positive.”

Earlier in the day, White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders also defended Trump’s Helsinki performance, claiming that Trump was tough with Putin.

“Certainly we’ve called them out. We’ve been tough. We’ve approached this in a totally different fashion than has been previously done, because what’s been done in the past hasn’t worked,” Sanders said. “But to act like he hasn’t been tough on Russia, that he hasn’t called them out, is simply not true.”


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